Ham Radio at Sea

[PDA1]

I'm an Extra class ham but have only used radio on land principally using voice or QRP CW.

I'd like to install my radio onto my boat and use it for sending and receiving email and WX fax. The technical complexities of the installation aren't a concern.

I only use Linux (Ubuntu) and know about and have used Navigatrix (but not all the features).

What would you recommend for an HF Ham based email service/system while at sea?

[Stu Jackson]

Are you aware of Panbo: The Marine Electronics Hub

[denverd0n]

Winmor or pskmail.

[Paul Elliott]

Winlink is probably the most-used ham email service. People usually use a Pactor-3 modem, but there is a newer, faster, Pactor modem version available. I don't know how many gateway base-stations are using the newer model though.

The Pactor modem is expensive so some people are using the WINMOR modulation protocol instead, which has a software-only implementation. There are fewer gateways that use WINMOR, but that number is growing. WINMOR is generally slower than Pactor-3.

[PDA1]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Are you aware of Panbo: The Marine Electronics Hub

No idea what that has to do with my question.

[PDA1]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Winlink is probably the most-used ham email service. People usually use a Pactor-3 modem, but there is a newer, faster, Pactor modem version available. I don't know how many gateway base-stations are using the newer model though.

The Pactor modem is expensive so some people are using the WINMOR modulation protocol instead, which has a software-only implementation. There are fewer gateways that use WINMOR, but that number is growing. WINMOR is generally slower than Pactor-3.

Do you have any opinion about Airmail?

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by PDA1

Do you have any opinion about Airmail?

Sure, it works great with Pactor-based Winlink. I occasionally use Sailmail (marine SSB) and Winlink (Ham), and Airmail is the program I use for both services. Airmail has a good companion program (called GetFax and/or ViewFax) for GRIB / WFAX / etc. Airmail is free, and has many good features.

I don't think that Airmail works with WINMOR though (but I could be wrong). For WINMOR I use "RMS Express", which is another free mail/control program that I downloaded from the Winlink2000 website. Here's a comparison of the various email client programs: http://www.winlink.org/ClientSoftware

[conachair]

Originally Posted by PDA1

I'm an Extra class ham but have only used radio on land principally using voice or QRP CW.

I'd like to install my radio onto my boat and use it for sending and receiving email and WX fax. The technical complexities of the installation aren't a concern.

I only use Linux (Ubuntu) and know about and have used Navigatrix (but not all the features).

What would you recommend for an HF Ham based email service/system while at sea?

I use RMS express for winlink email and jvcomm for wfax, but as neither run on Linux I ended up going dual boot Linux/win xp on the boat computer. Tried running them in Linux through wine but gave up. If you have a spare copy of xp around then dual boot is pretty easy.

[Capt.Don]

Are there any email programs for the iPad that work like WINMOR w/out the Pactor modem?

[goboatingnow]

WINMOR is generally slower than Pactor-3.

!!!!, in the way that tortoises are slower then cheetahs , sure.

Dave

[Communicator]

Originally Posted by PDA1

I'm an Extra class ham but have only used radio on land principally using voice or QRP CW.

I'd like to install my radio onto my boat and use it for sending and receiving email and WX fax. The technical complexities of the installation aren't a concern.

I only use Linux (Ubuntu) and know about and have used Navigatrix (but not all the features).

What would you recommend for an HF Ham based email service/system while at sea?

Hi,

if you are a linux user, try taking a look at jpskmail PSKmail, I have only used windows versions of this software, however I am told it is easier to use with linux.

There is a lot of help available on the web and I may be able to help get you started.

Hope this helps.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

!!!!, in the way that tortoises are slower then cheetahs , sure.

Well, I did say "generally". In very poor conditions they all slow down to a similar speed. In good conditions Pactor-3 and -4 are significantly faster. I most conditions I believe that WINMOR is comparable in speed to Pactor-2.

[El Rubio]

If you're a ham and into any soundcard modes, you have everything to use WINMOR now. I think it's not a this or that, but since WINMOR is free and soundcard interfaces are cheap, why not start with it and purchase an SCS TNC later if necessary.

[donradcliffe]

While Winmor may be comparable to P2 speeds if you have a similar connection, how many Winmor stations are there to connect to?

[jeremiason]

We used Airmail while we were cruising. Although I have a Winlink Account, I found that the station were frequently busy and I would have to wait long periods before connecting.

As a result, I broke down and bought a Sailmail account, which was much more reliable for us.

Also since you just getting into Marine HAM/SSB radio here is a link to my BLOG with a free list of World Wide Marine SSB/HAM Nets in PDF Format.

I have been working on this for five years and all I ask in return is that if you find mistakes or additions/deletions that you email me.

HAM INFO | SAILING CAMELOT