<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1>
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6001.18099" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=MailContainerBody
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 15px"
bgColor=#ffffff leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 CanvasTabStop="true"
name="Compose message area">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Someone mentioned the possibility of "bridging"
D-RATS to the Winlink e-mail system. Today, I've noticed discussions about using
gmail as the desired provider of POP3 e-mail accounts. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>While I'm sure there are merits to both ideas, I'd
really like to suggest considering bridging to the Winlink.org system. It seems
to me that this offers a lot of advantages, especially as it pertains to EMCOMM.
Winlink already enjoys a robust HF system, and being able to interconnect the
two systems would be desirable. At the local county EMA for example, we can
already connect to Winlink via our HF radio to send and receive e-mails in the
event of loss of Internet connectivity during an incident. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With D-RATS and our installed IC-2820H, we could
also provide that same capability via D-Star. It provides redundancy and as
Martha Stewart likes to say, that's always a "good thing" in my world.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Once the bridging was completed, any licensed
amateur radio operator could obtain a Winlink.org e-mail address by simply
sending an e-mail within D-star. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Are there other issues or problems with this that
I'm not considering?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>73,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Les Rayburn, N1LF<BR>ARES Alabama Section Emergency
Coordinator<BR>NCS-SHARES
NCS-047<BR>---------------------------------------------<BR>121 Mayfair
Park<BR>Maylene, AL 35114<BR>(205) 253-4867<BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>