Boat Email

[Mike DiMario]

I just recently accompanied a marina neighbor and his wife from the chesapeake to Block Island, Rhode Island. He is in the boat electronic business and has an onboard laptop. I didn't know it was possible and wanted to share the info. He is able to send and receive email via HAM radio. They have been sending me emails from a free email site, Winlink 2000. It not only delivers the email but is accompanied by a map of their present location. Very K-E-W-L!I will ask his permission to publish his call sign so you all can see the locator at work. I think he said the cost was a SSB radio set (cost?) and a modem, of sorts, that costs around $600. No bad compared to some of the commercial email services with monthly rates.Mike D.

 

[Gregg]

WinLink

Mike - Here are a couple of links to ham radio web pages - one is the ARRL's home page, where you can get lots of info about ham radio, and the other is a brief description of WinLink. The ARRL has other WinLink articles, but you must be a member to access them.www.arrl.orgGregg KE2SX

 

[Bruce Mulford]

Mike, Chesapeake to Block Island is on my list..

of trips I want to do someday. Can you give a brief description of your itineary and time table? You could e-mail me at mulf@aol.com if you want to take this tangent off the board. Thanks, Bruce Mulford

 

[Jack Swords]

Go to http://winlink.org

We use Winlink twice daily from our boat in La Paz Mexico. You need to be a licensed ham and the service is without cost. A suitable ham rig is $1000-$1500 and the modem is around $600 (made in Germany). Not all ham radios can handle the digital transmission modes and rapid electronic switching so check before you buy. If you are not familiar with the electronic installation and setup, that will be an additional cost for a qualified technician. The system uses Pactor II and works quite well. It works all over the world. It is text only, no Internet surfing. If you are not a ham, check out Sailmail which uses the same radio/modem, but different frequencies (not ham bands) and will cost you about $200 per year for the service.

 

[Jack Tyler]

And if you want to try it yourself...

...attend the next SSCA Annual Gam in Melbourne, FL in early November. They put on a separate all-day seminar where multiple radios, TNCs (modems) and laptops are available for anyone interested to use, and with help too. The speakers are top of the line: Jim Corenman (author of Sailmail/Airmail's laptop software), all the developers of the Winlink (shore based) software, many of the shore station operators that make all that email and weather data available, and lots of other good folks, too. It's amazing how much solid sailing, cruising (and also radio) info can be had in that one setting over 3 days for a paltry few dollars for registration fees. For more info, stop by ssca.org to learn more.Jack