Winlink Procedures for Subnet Controllers - Revision history

BruceSchafer: /* From Field */ Corrected typos in form numbers

2026-06-01T19:12:17Z

From Field: Corrected typos in form numbers

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:12, 1 June 2026
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	==== From Field ====		==== From Field ====
	In this case, we're talking about the From field of the Winlink message, which will typically be different than the From field of of an ICS Form 213 being sent by Winlink. The From field of the Winlink message should indicate which station is sending the message by Winlink while the From field in an ICS Form ~~212~~ indicates the person who originated the Form ~~21e~~ (or equivalent NET Form 8).		In this case, we're talking about the From field of the Winlink message, which will typically be different than the From field of of an ICS Form 213 being sent by Winlink. The From field of the Winlink message should indicate which station is sending the message by Winlink while the From field in an ICS Form 213 indicates the person who originated the Form 213 (or equivalent NET Form 8).

	For NET exercises we recommend that you use tactical addresses for the From field instead instead of your FCC call sign Using a tactical addresses instead of your FCC has several advantages. In particular, they can be associated with the name of regional subnets. Using a regional tactical address as your From address will help assure that replies are directed to the subnet controller for the region on duty when replies to that message after a shift change.		For NET exercises we recommend that you use tactical addresses for the From field instead instead of your FCC call sign Using a tactical addresses instead of your FCC has several advantages. In particular, they can be associated with the name of regional subnets. Using a regional tactical address as your From address will help assure that replies are directed to the subnet controller for the region on duty when replies to that message after a shift change.

BruceSchafer: Moved subsection on reporting roster by Winlink here

2026-05-20T20:02:36Z

Moved subsection on reporting roster by Winlink here

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:02, 20 May 2026
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			=== Using the Winlink Check-in Form to Report a Roster to the Portland EOC ===
			Winlink Express includes a template called Winlink Check In. This is a very general form that allows operators to use Winlink to check in during a drill, exercise, or deployment. We sometimes ask subnet control operators to use this form to report the roster of NET teams that have checked into their regional subnet

			* Create a new message
			* Click on Select a Template.
			* Click on the + next to Standard Templates.
			* Click on the + next to General Forms.
			* Click on Winlink Check-In.txt.
			* Click on Select.
			* This should open your web browser and display a form.
			* Fill in the form.
			* When you get to the Comment field
			** Enter the tactical call sign of the first station that checked in.
			** Enter the name of the team represented by the tactical call sign.
			** Press Enter to start a new line
			** Repeat the above steps for each of the other stations that have checked into your subnet.
			* Click on Submit at the bottom.
			* Click on OK. (You may want to close the browser tab that you just used for the template.)
			* Navigate back to Winlink.
			* You should see the content of the form reformatted in the body of your message.
			* Fill out the To field with the call sign of the station that should receive the message: W7ECC
			* See [[Winlink Procedures for Subnet Controllers#Preparing Your Winlink Traffic for the Portland EOC\|Preparing Your Winlink Traffic for the EOC.]]
			* See [[Winlink Procedures for Subnet Controllers#Transmitting and Receiving Traffic Using a Gateway\|Transmitting and Receiving Traffic Using a Gateway]]

	=== Handling Winlink Formal Traffic from EOC ===		=== Handling Winlink Formal Traffic from EOC ===
	During an exercise or deployment you may receive formal messages from EOC in the form of Winlink messages with attached ICS 213s. Normally, Winlink will automatically open a web browser window or tab to display the message in a format that looks much like a printed ICS 213. If it doesn’t and you receive a message that has a subject starting with “213-”, you should also see a paperclip icon in the left-most field of the summary line in your Inbox. If you click on the paperclip icon, Winlink should open the message in a browser window. When you are ready to enter a reply to the message, you should use the steps described in Instructions for sending a REPLY to a ICS213. Note, however, you should not have more than one reply open at once as it's easy to confuse Winlink about which message is being replied to and it may lose a reply if you have more than one open at a time.		During an exercise or deployment you may receive formal messages from EOC in the form of Winlink messages with attached ICS 213s. Normally, Winlink will automatically open a web browser window or tab to display the message in a format that looks much like a printed ICS 213. If it doesn’t and you receive a message that has a subject starting with “213-”, you should also see a paperclip icon in the left-most field of the summary line in your Inbox. If you click on the paperclip icon, Winlink should open the message in a browser window. When you are ready to enter a reply to the message, you should use the steps described in Instructions for sending a REPLY to a ICS213. Note, however, you should not have more than one reply open at once as it's easy to confuse Winlink about which message is being replied to and it may lose a reply if you have more than one open at a time.

BruceSchafer: /* Handling Winlink Formal Traffic from EOC */ added reference to deployment

2026-05-20T20:00:58Z

Handling Winlink Formal Traffic from EOC: added reference to deployment

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:00, 20 May 2026
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	=== Handling Winlink Formal Traffic from EOC ===		=== Handling Winlink Formal Traffic from EOC ===
	During ~~the~~ exercise you may receive formal messages from EOC in the form of Winlink messages with attached ICS 213s. Normally, Winlink will automatically open a web browser window or tab to display the message in a format that looks much like a printed ICS 213. If it doesn’t and you receive a message that has a subject starting with “213-”, you should also see a paperclip icon in the left-most field of the summary line in your Inbox. If you click on the paperclip icon, Winlink should open the message in a browser window. When you are ready to enter a reply to the message, you should use the steps described in Instructions for sending a REPLY to a ICS213. Note, however, you should not have more than one reply open at once as it's easy to confuse Winlink about which message is being replied to and it may lose a reply if you have more than one open at a time.		During an exercise or deployment you may receive formal messages from EOC in the form of Winlink messages with attached ICS 213s. Normally, Winlink will automatically open a web browser window or tab to display the message in a format that looks much like a printed ICS 213. If it doesn’t and you receive a message that has a subject starting with “213-”, you should also see a paperclip icon in the left-most field of the summary line in your Inbox. If you click on the paperclip icon, Winlink should open the message in a browser window. When you are ready to enter a reply to the message, you should use the steps described in Instructions for sending a REPLY to a ICS213. Note, however, you should not have more than one reply open at once as it's easy to confuse Winlink about which message is being replied to and it may lose a reply if you have more than one open at a time.

	When you receive a formal message from EOC, please route it to the appropriate teams by contacting the corresponding AROs and reading the message to them as a NET Form 8.		When you receive a formal message from EOC, please route it to the appropriate teams by contacting the corresponding AROs and reading the message to them as a NET Form 8.

BruceSchafer: /* Preparing Your Winlink Traffic */ Added detail to the subhead

2026-04-26T22:54:04Z

Preparing Your Winlink Traffic: Added detail to the subhead

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:54, 26 April 2026
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	For more on Tactical Addresses including how to set them up using Winlink Express see [[Using Winlink Tactical Addresses]]		For more on Tactical Addresses including how to set them up using Winlink Express see [[Using Winlink Tactical Addresses]]

	=== Preparing Your Winlink Traffic ===		=== Preparing Your Winlink Traffic for the Portland EOC ===
	If you have Emergency or Priority messages, prepare these messages by creating Winlink messages using the ICS 213 template. Alternative: Transcribe Emergency messages onto a NET Form 8 rather than entering it into a Winlink ICS 213 template.		If you have Emergency or Priority messages, prepare these messages by creating Winlink messages using the ICS 213 template. Alternative: Transcribe Emergency messages onto a NET Form 8 rather than entering it into a Winlink ICS 213 template.

BruceSchafer: /* Preparing Your Winlink Traffic */

2026-04-26T22:52:54Z

Preparing Your Winlink Traffic

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:52, 26 April 2026
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	Note: If the message you are transcribing does not have approval information, put “...” in the corresponding fields of the Winlink Form so it allows you to submit it.		Note: If the message you are transcribing does not have approval information, put “...” in the corresponding fields of the Winlink Form so it allows you to submit it.

	After you have ~~filled out the template~~, ~~clicked~~ on Submit and ~~closed~~ the browser window~~, you~~ will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.		After you have completed your ICS 213, click on Submit and close the browser window. You will see the content of the ICSE 213 in the body of a Winlink message.

	* If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. ~~During~~ a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised, you need to ~~assure that you either~~ mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".		* Update the From field by clicking on the the "V" shape next to your FCC call sign and selecting your region's tactical address. If no tactical address is shown, see the section above regarding enabling a tactical address.
			* Set the To field of the Winlink message to W7ECC.

			* If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. ''During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised'', you need to mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office" so all your subsequent messages will be treated as Post Office Messages.
	==== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message. ====		==== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message. ====

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	:: [[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png\|300px]]		:: [[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png\|300px]]
	* If you don't specify the Post Office message type your message will be considered a standard Winlink Message. In this cased, if the gateway doesn't have access to the Internet, no warning or error message will appear and your messages will remain in the Outbox. In this case if you want your unsent messages to be handled as Post Office messages, double-click on the messages in the Outbox, change the type to Post Office, and Start your gateway session again.		* If you don't specify the Post Office message type your message will be considered a standard Winlink Message. In this cased, if the gateway doesn't have access to the Internet, no warning or error message will appear and your messages will remain in the Outbox. In this case if you want your unsent messages to be handled as Post Office messages, double-click on the messages in the Outbox, change the type to Post Office, and Start your gateway session again.

	* Regardless of the message type, you should
	** Update the From field by clicking on the the "V" shape next to your FCC call sign and selecting your region's tactical address. If no tactical address is shown, see the section above regarding enabling a tactical address.
	** Set the To field of the Winlink message to W7ECC.

	=== Contacting EOC When You Have Emergency Traffic ===		=== Contacting EOC When You Have Emergency Traffic ===

BruceSchafer: /* Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message. */ Added clarification

2026-04-26T22:30:48Z

Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.: Added clarification

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:30, 26 April 2026
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	==== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message. ====		==== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message. ====

	:: [[File:Post Office Message.png\|500px]]		:: i[[File:Post Office Message.png\|500px]]

	==== Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type. ====		==== Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type. ====
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	:: [[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png\|300px]]		:: [[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png\|300px]]
	* If you don't specify the Post Office message type your message will be considered a standard Winlink ~~Messsage~~. In this cased, if the gateway doesn't have access to the Internet, no warning or error message will appear and your messages will remain in the Outbox. ~~To fix~~ this ~~problem, all~~ you ~~have~~ to ~~do is~~ double-click the ~~email~~ in the Outbox ~~and~~ change the type to Post Office.		* If you don't specify the Post Office message type your message will be considered a standard Winlink Message. In this cased, if the gateway doesn't have access to the Internet, no warning or error message will appear and your messages will remain in the Outbox. In this case if you want your unsent messages to be handled as Post Office messages, double-click on the messages in the Outbox, change the type to Post Office, and Start your gateway session again.

	* Regardless of the message type, you should		* Regardless of the message type, you should

BruceSchafer: /* Preparing Your Winlink Traffic */ Added more info

2026-04-26T22:27:30Z

Preparing Your Winlink Traffic: Added more info

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:27, 26 April 2026
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	:: [[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png\|300px]]		:: [[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png\|300px]]
			* If you don't specify the Post Office message type your message will be considered a standard Winlink Messsage. In this cased, if the gateway doesn't have access to the Internet, no warning or error message will appear and your messages will remain in the Outbox. To fix this problem, all you have to do is double-click the email in the Outbox and change the type to Post Office.

	* Regardless of the message type, you should		* Regardless of the message type, you should

BruceSchafer: /* Preparing Your Winlink Traffic */

2026-04-26T22:18:29Z

Preparing Your Winlink Traffic

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:18, 26 April 2026
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	After you have filled out the template, clicked on Submit and closed the browser window, you will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.		After you have filled out the template, clicked on Submit and closed the browser window, you will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.

	~~====~~ If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised, you need to assure that you either mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".		* If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised, you need to assure that you either mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".
	===== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.		==== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message. ====

	:: [[File:Post Office Message.png\|500px]]		:: [[File:Post Office Message.png\|500px]]

	===== Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type.		==== Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type. ====

	:: [[File:Set message type default.png\|500px]]		:: [[File:Set message type default.png\|500px]]

BruceSchafer: /* Preparing Your Traffic */

2026-04-26T22:17:07Z

Preparing Your Traffic

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:17, 26 April 2026
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	For more on Tactical Addresses including how to set them up using Winlink Express see [[Using Winlink Tactical Addresses]]		For more on Tactical Addresses including how to set them up using Winlink Express see [[Using Winlink Tactical Addresses]]

	=== Preparing Your Traffic ===		=== Preparing Your Winlink Traffic ===
	If you have Emergency or Priority messages, prepare these messages by creating Winlink messages using the ICS 213 template. Alternative: Transcribe Emergency messages onto a NET Form 8 rather than entering it into a Winlink ICS 213 template.		If you have Emergency or Priority messages, prepare these messages by creating Winlink messages using the ICS 213 template. Alternative: Transcribe Emergency messages onto a NET Form 8 rather than entering it into a Winlink ICS 213 template.

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	After you have filled out the template, clicked on Submit and closed the browser window, you will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.		After you have filled out the template, clicked on Submit and closed the browser window, you will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.

	* If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised, you need to assure that you either mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".		==== If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised, you need to assure that you either mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".
	** Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.		===== Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.

	:: [[File:Post Office Message.png\|500px]]		:: [[File:Post Office Message.png\|500px]]

	** Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type.		===== Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type.

	:: [[File:Set message type default.png\|500px]]		:: [[File:Set message type default.png\|500px]]

BruceSchafer: /* Preparing Your Traffic */ Fixed typos

2026-04-26T22:09:53Z

Preparing Your Traffic: Fixed typos

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:09, 26 April 2026
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	After you have filled out the template, clicked on Submit and closed the browser window, you will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.		After you have filled out the template, clicked on Submit and closed the browser window, you will see the content of the 213 in the body of a Winlink message.

	* If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message ~~they~~ send must have the Post Office type. During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet ~~acccess~~ is compromised, you need to assure that you either mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".		* If you will be accessing a gateway when gateways are unlikely to have access to the Internet, you need to indicate that your message should have the "Post Office" type so that it stays at the gateway rather than being routed to a Command Message Survey in the Internet "cloud". This will allow it to accessed by other Winlink Express clients by accessing the same gateway. To restrict message to a particular gateway, any message you send must have the Post Office type. During a Citywide Deployment Exercise or after a Cascadia earthquake or disaster when Internet access is compromised, you need to assure that you either mark each message as a "Post Office Message" or change the default message type to "Post Office".
	** Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.		** Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.