Winlink VARA-FM Gateway Station WA7TPB-10

Hello to the group,

My name is Chris, and I am the system operator for the 2 meter WA7TPB-10 Winlink gateway station. I have noticed over the past month or so that there are radio operators in Jefferson, Island, and Clallam counties that have successfully connected to my station: AH6EZ, K7AHS, K7MRW, KD7WSG, KF7QYL, KI7AUH, W6EJE, W7TBL, W7WEC, WA4DFT, N7KN, WA7GJZ, KJ7PWM. And, for the curious, I thought it a good idea to let people know how the station is put together.

WA7TPB-10 is located in the Uptown area of Port Townsend WA, near the firehouse. It operates on a frequency of 144.93 MHz, and uses the VARA-FM digital modem, in WIDE bandwidth mode. This station also functions as a digipeater, having the call sign WA7TPB-5.

The attached photo shows the station components. The VHF radio is an Alinco model DR-135MK3. Its data port (on the rear panel) is connected to a digital-audio soundcard interface built by Masters Communication (www.masterscommunications.com); the model number is DRA-65. An ASUS laptop communicates with the DRA-65 through a USB cable. On the right hand side is a Heathkit SWR meter, used as a check on antenna performance.

Currently, the antenna is a 7/8 wave, two element vertical, manufactured by Diamond Antennas, and has an omnidirectional radiation pattern with a reported gain of 6.7 dB. It is temporarily mounted to the railing on my backyard deck, 6 ft off the ground.

The software package that controls the RMS is called RMS_packet, and runs under the Windows 10 operating system. This software is provided free of charge from the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, and is supported by a large development team doing software maintenance and updates. (Winlink Global Radio Email |).

Under normal operating conditions, Winlink email messages that are received by radio are immediately sent to one of five servers in the cloud, via my home internet connection. The internet service that I use is DSL, provided by Century Link. In principle, it is suppose to remain operational, even during a power outage. This has been my experience, but there are limits to this feature predicated on the emergency power at the switching station.

WA7TPB-10 also utilizes a supplemental software program called RMS_Relay that provides temporary storage of messages, and local routing of messages in the event internet access is lost. In other words, if the internet connection is no longer available, users can still post email traffic, but it will not be automatically forwarded via the internet. Instead, WA7TPB-10 will act as a local server (i.e., a local post office). And, once a piece of email is posted from a sender, the intended recipient (addressee) can connect with WA7TPB-10 to retrieve it.

Of importance is that WA7TPB-10 is connected to an automatic source of emergency power, provided by a 105 amp-hour deep-cycle marine battery. The electrical current draw by the system is about 1 amp, and so it should last a little over four days before a charge is necessary.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. And thank you for using Winlink.

73’s

Chris Gulacsik
WA7TPB