The ARDOP (Amateur Radio Digital Open Protocol) and VARA protocols are both now fully integrated into software by the Winlink Team. Where BPQ32 allowed both these soundcard modems (radio protocols) to be used on the Winlink system during protocol beta testing and after. Now they have been integrated into the systems' most popular software, RMS Trimode on the server side, and Winlink Express on the client side.

To get the beta software, enable the checkbox for allowing beta software to be auto-updated in your programs. You will also need the latest version of VARA from the author's web site https://rosmodem.wordpress.com.

If you join in the testing effort, please post your observations and results on the Winlink_Programs_Group (see the Support menu on the site).

Eventually, we expect WINMOR to be phased out as these new, more robust and speedy protocols become regularly used. There will be a long and healthy overlap during the transition.

Give them a try! Rigorous testing has shown their promise, and now there are many positive real-world performance reports over HF pathways with today's typical poor band conditions.

73,
The Winlink Development Team

On January 31, 2018 the Winlink Team and it's third-party partners rolled out updates to most every gateway and client program that will work on the system. Each has been updated to take advantage of the CMS's ability to use passwords with both UPPER and lower-case alpha characters. Previously, the system limited and stored passwords only using UPPERCASE alpha characters, and user software in many cases allowed input in lower case and then corrected it to uppercase for you before submitting it.

If you have had a password problem with a program or this web site, try this: enter your password using uppercase characters.

If this doesn't work for you, we suggest changing your password. You can do that using the link on your [My Account] page, or by changing it using Winlink Express client software. From now on with new software released on or near the 31st of January, you can use a password with mixed-case characters.

Still have a problem? Post on the support groups (see the main menu) details of your experience and someone will assist you directly by email.

UPDATE: February 12, 2018 -- We found several bugs in gateway programs and the WebMail app that caused users with mixed-case passwords not to authenticate with the CMS properly. These have all been fixed. If you run a gateway station, check that a user can successfully get a connection to a CMS when connected to your station. If not, the solution is in the latest version of RMS Trimode and RMS Packet. If you had an error when sending a message using WebMail, give it another try!

--The Winlink Development Team

On Sunday, July 16th from 15:00 UTC until 17:00 UTC (two hours) the Winlink development team will be testing a new central messaging server (CMS) system.

This test requires no action on your part, other than to use the system as you normally would during the period. However, if you use it during this period, potential impacts could include:

• Temporary system outage (unlikely)
• Messages from a winlink account to another winlink account that are not retrieved by the addressee before the end of the testing period will be lost. Mail to Internet (SMTP) accounts as well as mail from Internet accounts will not be impacted.
• Mail from Internet accounts may be duplicated (received a second time) after the testing period.
• Changes made to account settings (password, forwarding address, sysop details, etc.) during the test period will be lost.

With these impacts in mind, we hope you help us by using the system during this period.

Thanks.
Winlink Development Team