[MRIC] Appendix A - HF Winlink

[brettham at aol.com]

Maryland RACES Officers:

At the November MRIC meeting we approved a Recommended Capabilities 
document that contains all our RACES interoperability recommendations 
in a single document. Per many requests, we agreed to add an Appendix A 
to include a list of equipment that might be employed to meet those 
interoperability recommendations. Appendix A has several parts. Please 
find below the part that details the HF Winlink equipment. I will 
provide the other parts (VHF voice, HF Voice) later today.

Please, please review this part and come to the meeting Saturday with 
recommendations on how we can improve it. If you don't have time to do 
anything else, please review this HF Winlink part before the meeting 
and look for technical errors and omissions. Please feel free to 
distribute it to your staff for their feedback. We want the best 
technical recommendataions we can provide to jurisdictions. This is 
just my first (or second) attempt at it, and I am not very familiar 
with HF antenna, so I expecially appreciate any feedback in that area 
(note I deleted the BWD folded dipoles). As discussed at the meeting, 
whenever possible we want to limit our recommended choices so as to be 
able to provide better technical support to inexperienced jurisdictions 
requiring help implementing a Winlink HF station.

As agreed at the previous meeting, please be prepared to vote on this 
Saturday. Very little of the content has changed since the20last two 
meetings. The changes are mostly word-smithing as agreed at the last 
meeting.

Thank you.

Brett Hammond
Chairman, MRIC
410-829-6749 (cell)



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Equipment for Maryland RACES Data Net (Winlink2000 email)

Unlike the Maryland RACES HF Voice Net, the HF station for Winlink 
should be equipped with an antenna for distant (not-NVIS) operations in 
order to be able to connect to a distant RMS with Internet connectivity 
outside the affected area in the event of catastrophic emergencies. 
Winlink2000 RMSs operate on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15 and a very few on 12 
and 10 meters. You can successfully operate a HF Winlink client on just 
80, 40 and 20 meters if necessary. This station (radio and antenna 
system) should be dedicated to Winlink operation.
Total Estimated cost for an HF Winlink station: $4000 excluding 
feedline and installation.

1. Winlink HF Tranceiver

All band 100-watt HF transceiver that is simple to use with limited 
feature set, high precision oscillator compatible with Pactor-III 
operations and capable of 24x7 continuous operation, with a proven 
track record and all other functionality required for successful 
Winlink2000 RMS operations.

MRIC recommends the ICOM IC-718 All-band HF Transceiver with the high 
stability crystal unit installed. This is a low cost commonly-deployed 
transceiver for Winlink2000 stations world-wide with demonstrated 
reliab
ility.It requires a 13.8 VDC power supply and will draw 20 Amps. 
It has a UHF female (SO-239) 50 ohm antenna connector on the rear.
Approximate price: $650

2. Winlink HF Tranceiver Power Supply

Power supply for Winlink HF Tranceiver listed above capable of 
providing adiquate power out from a standard 115 VAC wall outlet while 
generating no RF interference.

MRIC recommends one of the following:

Samlex America SEC1235M, 30 Amp (continuous) switching DC power supply 
(115VAC to 12VDC). Includes both Volt and Amp meters built-in.
Approximate price: $140

or

ICOM PS-125, 25 Amp (continuous) DC switching power supply (115VAC to 
12VDC). No meters or controls.
Approximate price: $300

3. Winlink HF Antenna

HF antenna for long distance Winlink operation, capable of transmitting 
and receiving on 40 and 80 meter amateur bands as a minimum, while 
generating no stray RF inside the EOC building.


Alpha Delta DX-CC Single Wire Dipole Antenna for 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 
meters – Center fed 82-foot wire.
Approximate price: $160

or

Alpha Delta DX-B Single Wire Dipole Antenna for 160, 80, 40, 30 meters 
– Center fed 60-foot wire with RF choke coils.
Approximate price: $110

or

6-BTV - Hustler 24-foot vertical. Requires very good ground (radials). 
10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 75/80 meters. ($220)

or

HF6V - Butternut 26-foot vertical, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 80 meters. 
Requires goo
d ground plane. ($350), Also requires STR-II resonant 
radial kit for above ground mounting ($130).

or

Outbacker or Perth Plus??? - Outback 6 or 7-foot vertical for fixed, 
mobile or portable installations. Covers 10-80 meters plus 2 and 6 
meters. Requires good ground plane. ($330)

or

9140 - Ham Stick, 7-foot long, 40 meter ($27)

or

9175 - Ham Stick, 7-foot long, 75 meter ($30)

or

HS-1800pro - High Sierra, 9-foot verticle, 3.5 to 30 MHz, includes 
20-feet of motor wires, ($546)

or

Sidekick - High Sierra, 4-foot, 3.7 to 60 MHz, vertical for fixed, 
mobile or portable. ($396)

or

Challenger - GAP 32-foot verticle, 2, 6,10, 12, 15, 20, 40, 80 meters. 
Ground or elevated mount (requires 3 25-foot insulated radial wires). 
($300)



4. HF Feedline Lightening Protection

A device to be mounted on the feedline within 2 feet of the feedline 
building entry point to prevent antenna lightening surges from entering 
the EOC building.

MRIC recommends the PolyPhaser IS-B50LU-CO Bulkhead Mount Lightening 
Suppressor for 1.5 to 400 MHz operation directly mounted on the 
bulkhead cable entry master ground bus (MGB), or grounded using 6 AWG 
copper strand wire with green jacket. MGB should be grounded to several 
10-foot ground rods 20 feet apart as a minimum, using 2 AWG stranded 
copper wire with green jacket. The IS-B50LU-CO has UHF female (SO-239) 
connectors on both 
sides, and supports up to 2 KW of HF, 375 Watts VHF, 
or 125 Watts UHF power out.
Approximate price for PolyPhaser alone: $65

5. Feedline and Connectors

The feedline and connectors will vary from site to site and depends on 
the specific installation.

MRIC recommends Andrew LDF4-50 half-inch hardline and the appropriate 
Andrew connectors to prevent stray HF radiation inside the EOC 
building. Attenuation per 100 feet is 0.46 dB at 50 MHz, 0.82 dB at 150 
MHz, and 1.45 dB at 450 MHz. When using the recommended ICOM-718 
tranceiver and recommended PolyPhaser, you will need the following 
connectors:
1 UHF male (PL-259) for the tranceiver
2 UHF male (PL-259) for the tuner
2 UHF male (PL-259) for both sides of PolyPhaser
1 UHF male (PL-259) for the HF antenna if required, and/or
1 UHF femal (SO-239) for the HF antenna if required


6. Winlink HF Tuner

Tuner capable of supporting 100 Watt RF output on all HF bands and can 
be remotely controlled and powered by HF tranceiver to eliminate cables 
and provide tuning capabilities from the Winlink computer.

MRIC recommends the LDG AT-7000 Tuner that supports 100 Watts on all 
bands and can be remotely controlled and powered by ICOM HF 
transceivers, and automatically controlled via the Winlink computer.
Approximate price: $170

or

LDG Z-100 Tuner – Supports 100 Watts on all bands except 6-meter (50 
Watts). Requires no power once tuned. Also suppo
rts remote control and 
DC power from ICOM rigs.
Approximate price: $150

7. Winlink HF Modem

Pactor III Modem capable of connecting to remote HF Winlink stations 
around the country when connected to the Winlink HF Tranceiver.

MRIC recommends the SCS PTC-IIex Pactor III modem with USB interface. 
Be sure to specify you want the Pactor III option. The USB (as opposed 
to the serial version) allows you to remotely control the tuner and 
transceiver frequency from the Winlink computer via the single USB 
computer connection.
Approximate price: $1000

8. Winlink Computer

Computer capable of running Winlink RMS and Airmail software. Must have 
a minimum of 2 GB of memory running Windows XP Pro or Linux, and be 
capable of continuous operation for months without interention. Must be 
portable enough to relocate if EOC needs to be evacuated to support 
continuity of government (COG) plans.

MRIC recommends a Dell latitude laptop with 2 GB memory, XP pro, 60 GB 
HD, at least 2 USB ports and a spare battery.
Approximate price: $1000

9. Winlink Printer

Any 3-in-1 HP or Brother printer/copier/fax, possibly HL2070N brother 
laser or brother 2040 color fax/printer/copier.
Approximate price: $100

10. Optional Remote Control

For those stations that may need to install the laptop remotely from 
the radio, they may want to consider Network Technologies Inc.'s 
XTENDEX ST-C5KVM2ARS (remote and local) that supports speak
ers and 
microphones & RS-232. They can be reached at 1-800-742-8324 or via the 
net at www.networktechninc.com.