As part of our commitment to the emergency programs for the city of White Rock, club members spent time today learning about the digital message passing system called Winlink and the software called RMS-Express. We were instructed by our own club member, Don Hamilton, who has given training and presentations of the need for Winlink to several clubs and city Emergency Services groups across the region.

Don presented a system to address the need for providing a reliable digital e-mail system that can be used during emergency situations when normal communication channels are down. The older voice and CW modes of message handling are too slow for modern requirements and the newer digital modes address this need for speed and accuracy.

Don gave an overview of the Winlink system with the centralized message handling and the ease with which one can send messages. They really are just e-mails send via computer through a radio that end up on the internet as regular e-mails. Below are a few photos of our training session.