HF Email on the cheap (sort of)

[taugust]

There is a thread under the Indian Country Expedition 2010 about setting up HF email. The gist of it was that the hardware modem was prohibitively expensive for most. While HF radios are not cheap, plunking down another $1K to $2K for just the pactor modem leaves quite a few of us behind.

After doing some research and hearing some presentations on HF email, I have found a much less expensive solution, and, while not as fast as pactor 3, it does work. The cost for the hardware is a mere $99 and the software is a $49 registration fee.

What is needed for remote use:

General Class ham radio license,
HF radio with antenna and tuner(best to have this working before you attempt the rest),
Laptop computer,
Sound card interface (recommended is SignaLink USB from Tigertronics),
RMS Express software.

It seems that others agreed that the high cost of entry for a Pactor modem warrented a less expensive solution and they set out to develop a software package using inexpensive hardware. The result is RMS Express, which recently was out of beta testing and is now in full release. It uses the WINMOR sound card protocol to communicate with the radio and pass the data.

While I am still getting my feet wet with this setup, I thought I would post up and let others know that it is possible to use HF email in the backcountry. The other parts and pieces are expensive ($700+ radio, $300+ laptop, etc.), but some of us already have them, so the last piece is relatively cheap. The SignaLink is available from HRO and other ham radio equipment sources. The software and more information is available here: http://www.winlink.org/

RMS Express is an email client program, which controls the soundcard and the radio. No other software is required. I spent the better part of today getting things working and was able to send two emails today. I don't have it working completely, as the software does not control the frequency setting on the radio, so that is a manual set for now. More work to do. It was a challenge to get the radio, soundcard, and computer settings all working together, but it can be done.

Hope this helps some of you that have the interest in HF email, but not the budget for the big guns.

[cruiserlarry]

Thanks for the great info.

I was very excited about AirMail HF e-mailing, as I already have an HF radio and laptop in my rig....until I checked out the price of a Pactor modem - that put the whole project on the back burner...

This new program, using simpler components and inexpensive software, gives me (and many others) hope of trying out HF e-mail technology without breaking the bank.

Is there a reason for needing an antenna tuner, or is a tunable antenna system workable ?

[taugust]

The tuner is not required if your antenna system is tuned or tunable. It just improves the match. I am using a Carolina Windom antenna, which does not really need a tuner, and works on multiple (most) bands, but the match is improved with an auto tuner. Most of the Remote Mail Servers (RMS's) are on the 20m and 40m bands, so your antenna needs to work on those.

[jgorm]

Please excuse my ignorance on this, but how does the email make it to the internet after the HF communication? Is there a piece of hardware that is free to use that will complete that interface transfer? Having email in the middle of nowhere would be a huge benefit for us.

[DaveK]

Please excuse my ignorance on this, but how does the email make it to the internet after the HF communication? Is there a piece of hardware that is free to use that will complete that interface transfer? Having email in the middle of nowhere would be a huge benefit for us.

Joe:

Good question. Long answer.

To work, your set up requires first that you hold an Amateur Radio license of General or higher. You will need an HF radio, with antenna, that will allow access to several bands on which the system relies, including 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12, and 10m. While many of your connections will be in the 20m and 40m bands, I have used many of the others, with ease. The ability to cover more bands will give greater flexibility to connect to a station to send your email. This will prove useful when the bands are crowded or when conditions are not optimum.

If mobile, you will need a notebook computer loaded with messaging software, such as Airmail, which will allow access to dozens of HF radio mailbox stations (RMS). Look at Airmail (or any other messaging software) as being similar to Outlook. The last piece of hardware that traditionally was required was a modem. At the present, the modem offering the highest performance (quickest speed) are the Pactor units, only sold and manufactured by the SCS company out of Germany.

Once all the hardware and software is in place and working, it is a matter of preparing the message on your computer in the Airmail program (which can include attachments, such as pictures), selecting an RMS, and hitting the send button.

The RMS stations, with whom you connect via your HF radio, act as internet email gateways, allowing your message to enter the regular internet, just as it would from your home computer.

The beauty of this set up is that you can keep in touch with anyone, ham or not, using regular email, virtually anywhere your travels take you.

Check out our report for the Navajo Nation trip for a good idea of what Airmail is capable of: http://www.outdooradventureusa.net/foru ... 118&t=1970

Hope that helps.

[DaveK]

There is a thread under the Indian Country Expedition 2010 about setting up HF email. The gist of it was that the hardware modem was prohibitively expensive for most. While HF radios are not cheap, plunking down another $1K to $2K for just the pactor modem leaves quite a few of us behind.

After doing some research and hearing some presentations on HF email, I have found a much less expensive solution, and, while not as fast as pactor 3, it does work. The cost for the hardware is a mere $99 and the software is a $49 registration fee.

Tim:

I am very pleased to see more interest in HF email. The cost of the Pactor Modems have been one of the biggest hurdles to getting involved and even though there are a few alternatives, none, at this time, offer the performance of the Pactor III modems. The high cost of the Pactor III has discouraged many emergency response/preparedness groups as well as occasional outdoor users from taking advantage of this incredible communication tool. It seemed to be just a matter of time before cheaper alternatives to the Pactor modem would be developed.

The approach by Winmor may give Pactor a run for it's money. At the present, the performance of the Winmor system is about as follows, from the Winlink Site:

WINMOR does NOT replace Pactor but be used in addition to Pactor in the WL2K system. On the HF bands RMS gateway stations will operate either WINMOR or Pactor (1-3). While WINMOR may not equal P2 and P3 in total performance it provides lower cost, higher performance and more robustness than P1. The primary applications will be for low usage EmComm applications where station owners have trouble justifying the high cost and low utilization of a P2 and P3 modem.

If you will be setting up Winmor, please do a write-up, when it is finally finished and let us know how it works.

[jgorm]

Thanks for the reply dave! One more question, Does the RMS allow you to check your email and communicate via the IMAP email protocol, or is only a sending email option?

[DaveK]

Thanks for the reply dave! One more question, Does the RMS allow you to check your email and communicate via the IMAP email protocol, or is only a sending email option?

With Airmail, you can both send and receive email, just as with regular email. Keep in mind that neither those who receive emails from you nor those who send you an email are required to be licensed Amateurs - only you.

[jgorm]

Wow, this is really cool, and may be justification to the wife to spend some $$$ on a radio setup. 2 more questions. Will the 857D be able to work with this setup? (I've had my eye on that one) How slow is the system? Say to download a 0.5mb email.

[DaveK]

Wow, this is really cool, and may be justification to the wife to spend some $$$ on a radio setup. 2 more questions. Will the 857D be able to work with this setup? (I've had my eye on that one) How slow is the system? Say to download a 0.5mb email.

Joe:

Yes, the Y857 will work with the SCS Pactor Modems, including those with the Pactor III license.

On the speed question, there are several considerations and variables. Before I mention these, you should remember that the system was designed to be used for emails, and when appropriate, with relatively small attachments. It is not a DSL or cable high speed connection, at least at this time.

The biggest variable will involve which Pactor license you purchase. Pactor III, as I recall, is about 3-5 times faster than II and can maintain a connection better than II. MFJ and Kantronics make controllers which are Pactor I compatible, but the speed is very slow. Time will tell just how fast the Winmor set-up is.

The other variable will be the strength of the connection and the stations ability to offer full speed. I have found that there is a considerable speed difference, on occasion, between various RMS, even with Pactor III.

Before our last trip, I utilized the Airmail Yahoo talk group to get a feel for permissible email size so I would have some guidelines on how much I could send. There does not appear to be any universal limit but you will find that there are time limits on how much you can use any one RMS - usually 1450 minutes per week or month (I could never tell which, although I did notice that many of the stations I used, refreshed my minutes on a weekly basis). I did get the impression from the Yahoo group that 50-75 kb was about the most you could push the size of an email, with an attachment. All this meant was that I needed to resize my pictures so that they met this limit. As you can see from our posts (http://www.outdooradventureusa.net/foru ... 78&start=0), the quality of the photos was more than sufficient.

Text emails, without attachments, will take about a minute, give or take a little. Pictures will take a bit longer.