Winlink
Introduction to Winlink
Winlink, formerly known as RMS Express, is a system designed to deliver email over radio links
Originally designed to meet the needs of off-shore boaters, Winlink has evolved to become the primary email tool used by government and non-government response agencies in austere disaster response situations
In Georgia, agencies such as GEMA, the Salvation Army (SATERN) and the Red Cross have adopted Winlink as a standard communications package. Therefore, Fayette ARES has adopted it and will integrate its use across all ARES activities
Winlink is a free service, but users must have an amateur radio callsign and be registered with the Winlink system before using it
This introductory video, produced by Rick Frost, K4REF, is an excellent introduction to the Winlink system. It's a bit dated, the the fundamental information he provides is sound and relevant
RMS Express Presentation.pdfWinlink Configuration
This presentation was given at the 2018 Fayette County Amateur Radio Club Field Day and covers some of the recent changes made to the Winlink system, particularly the changes to the Remote Message Server infrastructure
Email to Text Message Protocols
Sending an email to a cell phone is easy, but you have to use a specific email address protocol to make sure it gets to the intended recipient. This is a list of known US-based carriers and their email addressing formats. For example, if you wanted to send an email to someone who has a cell phone on the AT&T system and their phone number is (444) 555-6789 then you would use the format: 4445556789@txt.att.com
Please keep in mind that recipients may be charged per text message according to their plan
What if you have someone's phone number but don't know their carrier? You can do a free carrier look-up using the FreeCarrierLookup website