>Greetings, As one who has been inactive in amateur radio emergency communications for several years, I heartily endorse the use of the Winlink system for EMCOMM. The reasons are as follows: Winlink 2000 tries to have 24/7 availability. And mostly succeeds, through the use of Automatic / Semi-Automatic (call it what you will) responders, we are able to connect to "the world" from anywhere at any time, if we have the capability to connect to the Winlink 2000 network. They have stations that monitor most (all ?) bands that will let us get through under almost all conditions. From my viewpoint, the important thing is communications. If necessary, we can send messages to the control operators theirselves with instructions to connect a particular telephone number, etc. and I AM SURE they will carry out the task to get the emergency message through. I have been inactive in NTS for several years, however in the several emergency situations I have been through, I would have been very happy to have a system equivalent to the Winlink 2000. NTS was typically manned by hams like me, I worked full time. I was not available 247 most of the time. In response to the tornado that ripped through Wichita Falls, Texas, my employer saw fit to let me off for one day to support emergency communications, but for the most part, I was only available for the evening NTS nets. I started the DFW Traffic Net on 146.88 and the Texas Slow speed CW net. Served as one of the DFW representatives to the Texas Traffic net, RN5 Liaison and CAN Liasion. We handled almost exclusively personal message, some 3rd party and some ham to others, except during emergencies. But, when the chips were down, we had the capability to pass message traffic that mattered. Whether we use HF, VHF, UHF, Satellite, or magic, the key ingredient to emergency capabilities is training. Untrained hams are part of the problem. Trained hams are part of the solution.
Regards, ChuckM aa5j mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
