By Steve Hansen, KB1TCE

For a good many years, there has been a series of radiogram forms available in the Winlink Express client program. The common element is that each has presented a form with the various fields identified. There have been a number of assists built into the form, such as forced capitalization, automatic special character substitutions, etc. The output has been the standard text format. In the original incarnation, the radiogram was intended to be sent to another Winlink operator or to an email address.

Around 2018 it came to my attention that some exercise radiograms were sent via Winlink using the Digital Traffic Network addressing format of zipcode@NTS(2 letter state code) in the To: line.

These messages were duly ingested into the Winlink server but then disappeared forever, leaving the hams in the exercise scratching their heads. Apparently, this was not an isolated incident.

It seemed to me that there could be some benefits from providing a way for Winlink operators to send a radiogram. This could include occasional radiogram initiators, those without ready access to a net, and so forth.

Working with the Winlink team, we decided that the best option would be a set of tactical addresses of the form RRI-REGION# where # is the region number. Then we could have a set of operators who are both Winlink users and traffic handlers who would be assigned a tactical address to monitor. When a message comes in, that operator would then take the message to a net, inject it into the DTN or deliver it. A call went out and most of the regional liaison positions were filled quickly. In some regions, multiple liaisons are in place.

Over the years, the volume of traffic has been fairly constant at about 200 per month.

Some variations on the Winlink Radiogram form have been developed and released. The first was based on the Radiogram ICS-213 format discussed in the April 2026 edition of The NTS Letter. Several others were developed specifically to support Welfare traffic. These will be discussed in the next section.

Welfare Traffic

After the introduction of the new form and liaison system, a small flood of Welfare radiograms was received during the 2022 Field Day. These included messages with incomplete addresses and other anomalies. A bit of inquiry revealed that the messages had all originated from a group called Seattle Emergency Hubs (seattleemergencyhubs.org). They were conducting a test of Welfare messaging using the Winlink radiogram form. This quickly led to a partnership between the Seattle group and RRI. The result was a Welfare-specific “I Am Safe” radiogram message and a process for using it. The process covers message generation at an intake station, off-line message composition and then the sending of batched messages via Winlink. At the intake station, the client can pick 3 short ARL messages from a list and add a few words of free text. The radiogram converts the ARL NUMBER to plain text in the message to simplify delivery.

The full Seattle Hubs documentation for the process is available on the RRI website.

The next step was to create a “Quick Welfare Message” for clients who have email or mobile numbers for their key contacts. This is increasingly prevalent in this era of smartphones. The form is also in Winlink Express and will go direct from Winlink to email or SMS with no intervention. (Ongoing changes in carrier policies are affecting our ability to move messages from Winlink email to SMS/MMS. Options are being explored. An interim manual relay process is currently in place.)

At the Intake station, a decision is made with regard to the message form and transmission method. If the person has an email or mobile number, the message will go by that route. If all they have is a complete (or mostly complete) street address, perhaps with a landline number, the message will be sent as a radiogram.

Radiogram-Related Projects In the Works

In these days of cell phones and spam calls, there is a reduced use of land-lines and a general inclination of people not to answer their phones if they don’t recognize the caller’s number. As a result, it can be difficult to deliver radiogram messages without resorting to postal mail. New ham messages are an example of this.

My favorite method of delivery of this type of message is to prepare a one page note with the radiogram content inserted into W1HKJ’s flmsg Radiogram form along with a semi-customized explanation letter. The flmsg form is a half page, fillable and printable. The process involves several steps: open flmsg, use cut & paste to populate the form field by field from the radiogram “as received” text, print, open and modify the letter text in Word (or equivalent) and then print the letter under the radiogram form on the same sheet of paper.

Figuring there must be a simpler way, I developed a tool in which you simply paste the formatted radiogram text into a custom html form, select the letter text from a small collection of user-composed letters and then click a button. Everything gets put into the proper places and the addressee’s first name is inserted in the letter’s greeting. Also, if there’s an ARL number, the text of the ARL message is printed below the radiogram. If the ARL includes one of more blanks, those get filled in. This shortens a 10-15 minute process to about a minute.

Along this line, I also have a similar tool that takes raw formatted ICS-213 radiogram text and parses it into the fields of a “standard” ICS-213 form. The radiogram preamble is also reproduced across the top of the form as a reference. In the text, while all upper-case text is preserved, prowords are converted to common language. As examples, ATSIGN becomes @ and X, DOT and R become periods and decimal points.

These two tools will work with any operating system’s browser and are in the final stages of debugging. They will be placed on the RRI site when ready. For anyone who’s interested in trying out either of these html forms and providing feedback, please send an email to kb1tce@belljar.net.