Winlink Procedures for Subnet Controllers: Difference between revisions

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# Use Winlink to create a new message.  The reason we’re not asking you to put the replies from the teams in the reply section of a Winlink ICS 213 in this case is that Winlink Express doesn’t allow you to fill in the reply section unless you previously received the ICS 213 by Winlink.  In this case you received the original message by voice.
# Use Winlink to create a new message.  The reason we’re not asking you to put the replies from the teams in the reply section of a Winlink ICS 213 in this case is that Winlink Express doesn’t allow you to fill in the reply section unless you previously received the ICS 213 by Winlink.  In this case you received the original message by voice.
# If the reply is to a message that came from the EOC, put the appropriate tactical address or W7EOC in the To field of the Winlink message. (You can leave the Subject field blank because the next step will fill it in automatically.)
# If the reply is to a message that came from the EOC, put W7ECC in the To field of the Winlink message. (You can leave the Subject field blank because the next step will fill it in automatically.)
# Then select the ICS 213 template.  See Checklists for Winlink Tasks for details.  '''Note:''' Avoid having more than one Winlink template open at once. If you need to open another one, be sure and Save or Submit the first one before opening another.
# Then select the ICS 213 template.  See Checklists for Winlink Tasks for details.  '''Note:''' Avoid having more than one Winlink template open at once. If you need to open another one, be sure and Save or Submit the first one before opening another.
## In the To field of the 213, put the person that sent the original message.
## In the To field of the 213, put the person that sent the original message.
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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 and Notifying EOC ===
=== Preparing Your Traffic ===
If you have Emergency or Priority messages, prepare these messages by creating Winlink messages using the 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.  


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.  Please
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.   


* 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.  
* 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".  
* Update the To field of the Winlink with one of the EOC tactical addresses.  When in doubt use PDXEOCMSGC-1.
** Selecting the Post Office Message type for a particular message.  


If you have Emergency messages you should post them to your Winlink Outbox and then contact Tactical Net on MC-8 informing it of these messages before taking Priority messages. Tactical Net may
[[File:Post Office Message.png|500px]]
 
** Specifying that messages should default to Post Office type.
 
[[File:Set message type default.png|500px]]
 
[[File:Selecting Post Office as default.png|300px]]
 
* 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 ===
If you have Emergency Traffic, contact Tactical Net on MC-8 informing it about these messages before transcribing Priority messages. Tactical Net may


* take your Emergency messages by voice;
* take your Emergency messages by voice;
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If you have previously posted Emergency messages in your Outbox that have not yet been transmitted and you have just transcribed a new Priority message, it is best not to put it directly in your Outbox as you shouldn’t tie up the gateway transmitting messages of two or more precedence levels. Instead of posting the lower precedence message directly to your Outbox, click on Save in Drafts. You can move the messages in your Draft folder to your Outbox after you have transmitted your higher priority messages. Alternatively, you can copy messages in your Draft folder to personal folders named “Priority”, “HealthWelfare” and “Routine” and later copy messages of a particular precedence to your Outbox.
If you have previously posted Emergency messages in your Outbox that have not yet been transmitted and you have just transcribed a new Priority message, it is best not to put it directly in your Outbox as you shouldn’t tie up the gateway transmitting messages of two or more precedence levels. Instead of posting the lower precedence message directly to your Outbox, click on Save in Drafts. You can move the messages in your Draft folder to your Outbox after you have transmitted your higher priority messages. Alternatively, you can copy messages in your Draft folder to personal folders named “Priority”, “HealthWelfare” and “Routine” and later copy messages of a particular precedence to your Outbox.


If you have Priority messages and you have already handled any Emergency messages, you should post your Priority messages to your Winlink Outbox or copy any Priority messages you have previously saved in other folders to your Outbox and then follow the instructions in Transmitting and Receiving Traffic Using a Gateway.
If you have Priority messages and you have already handled any Emergency messages, you should post your Priority messages to your Winlink Outbox or copy any Priority messages you have previously saved in other folders to your Outbox and then follow the instructions in ''Transmitting and Receiving Traffic Using a Gateway'' below.


If you have Health & Welfare or Routine messages you can prepare them in the same way as described above, but do not put them in your Winlink Outbox until EOC has told you that it is taking messages at those precedence. Instead select “Save in Drafts” and wait until it is time to transmit them to move them to your Outbox.
If you have Health & Welfare or Routine messages you can prepare them in the same way as described above, but do not put them in your Winlink Outbox until EOC has told you that it is taking messages at those precedence. Instead select “Save in Drafts” and wait until it is time to transmit them to move them to your Outbox.
=== Preparing Traffic for Another Regional Subnet ===
If a Team ARO has a net Form 8 that is intended for another team, consider its precedence.
* If it is an Emergency Message you should transcribe it on a NET Form 8 or and ICS 213 and then contact the regional subnet for the team for which the message is intended. As you will probably not know which subnet that team has checked into you should contact Tactical Net on MC-8 and request the regional subnet associated with the team.
* If the message is a Priority message, you should transcribe the message into a Winlink ICS Form 213 as described above.  Then contact Tactical Net to obtain the regional subnet associated with the destination of the message.  Then use the table of Regional Tactical Addresses above to address the Winlink message.


=== Transmitting and Receiving Traffic Using a Gateway ===
=== Transmitting and Receiving Traffic Using a Gateway ===
After listening to the gateway frequency until it appears to no longer be busy, open and start a Packet Winlink or VARA FM Winlink session. If the exercise instructions indicate that a pair of experimental gateways have been set up at Portland Emergency Coordination Center, use one of the following gateways. Otherwise choose any gateway after asking Winlink Express to update its table of gateways.  See “Steps for Updating a Table of Available Gateways” in Checklists for Winlink Tasks.
After listening to the gateway frequency until it appears to no longer be busy, open and start a Packet Winlink or Vara FM Winlink session. If the exercise instructions indicate that a pair of experimental gateways have been set up at Portland Emergency Coordination Center, use one of the following gateways. Otherwise choose any gateway after asking Winlink Express to update its table of gateways.  See “[[Checklists for Winlink Tasks#Steps for Updating a Table of Available Gateways|Steps for Updating a Table of Available Gateways]]” in [[Checklists for Winlink Tasks]].
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|Function
|Function
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|Experimental Packet Gateway
|Experimental Packet Gateway
|KI7QIB-12
|KI7QIB-12
|145.010 (use VFO mode or channel 488 in the MCARES 2023 Standard Template)
|145.030
|-
|-
|Experimental VARA Gateway
|Experimental Vara Gateway
|KI7QIB-12
|KI7QIB-12
|145.010 (use VFO mode or channel 488 in the MCARES 2023 Standard Template)
|145.030
|}
|}
When you access a gateway you may receive a warning message "The server you are connected to does not currently have an Internet connection.  Do you want to connect to this server?" This will occur if there is an Internet outage or we are simulating one. Click "Connect to this server" to continue. Depending on your windows settings, it's possible that this pop-up window will covered by other windows and you'll have minimize the other windows to see it.  Here's a screenshot showing the pop-up.
[[Image:GatewayNoInternetWarning.png||500px]]
Try once or twice to send your message and then stop using the gateway regardless of whether you succeeded so they can be allocated to another subnet control operator.
Try once or twice to send your message and then stop using the gateway regardless of whether you succeeded so they can be allocated to another subnet control operator.


==== What To Do If the EOC Gateway Appears To Be Unavailable. ====
If you don’t succeed in using one of the experimental gateways, try these alternatives and log which alternative you end up using:  
If you don’t succeed in using one of the experimental gateways, try these alternatives and log which alternative you end up using:  


# Contact Tactical Net and request voice transmission if you have messages with a precedence Emergency.
# Contact Tactical Net and request voice transmission if you have messages with a precedence of Emergency.
# Use another gateway if you are relatively certain that the gateways can access the Internet to exchange mail with the Common Message Servers.  
# Use another gateway if you are relatively certain that the gateways can access the Internet to exchange mail with the Common Message Servers.  
# If you have Internet access, use Telnet Winlink.
# If you have Internet access, use Telnet Winlink.
# Transmit by regular email.  For instance, PDXEOCMSGC-1@winlink.org.  Put the following at the begining of the subject to facilitate obtaining “white list” status for your message: //WL2K
# Transmit by regular email.  For instance, W77ECC@winlink.org.  Put the following at the beginning of the subject to facilitate obtaining “white list” status for your message: //WL2K
# Hand deliver if that’s possible.
# Hand deliver if that’s possible.


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