Winlink 2000 Email As A QRP Buddy

Playing around with QRP is lots of fun and sometimes very challenging. But, it usually takes two to tango. You need somebody on the other end of the link to hear you and respond. Usually, we expect that to be a warm-blooded human being. If you have the itch to play radio with QRP and nobody is around, well, you're stuck.

There is another way....

Recently, I acquired an account on Winlink's Global Email System and can now connect to servers around the world and the country to send email via HF radio. It occurred to me that I am connecting to a computer that is, for the most part, impartial in it's judgement of my signal quality. If it doesn't like it, it won't answer. If it is too weak, it will not hesitate to dump me and move on to paying customers.

I use RMS Express as the client software for Winlink. It works well for my purposes. Within that software is a database that shows the available remote stations that you can connect if you have a Winlink Email account. The database shows the distance to the station as well as the expected propagation characteristics.

The table below shows some of my results using QRP power levels:

Station Date/Time	FREQ KHz	Distance (km)	Power Watts	km/watt miles/watt	Rate Bytes/Min
VE3ONN 10/19/2012 0405Z	7088	1988	1	1988 1235	38
KJ5YN 10/18/2012 0222Z	7094.5	1850	1	1850 1150	52
W0ECM	14092	1477	1	1477	131
KN6KB	7081.5	3155	5	631	134
KD4NUE	7079.5	2908	5	582	480
KE7XO	3585.5	567	1	567	328
VE3ONN	7088	1988	5	398	110
K5AEA	7098.5	1693	5	339	90
W0ECM	7082	1477	5	295	108

These results are not record breaking but I am just getting started.