This document is available on gaares.groups.io both in the posting and in the Files section in pdf format. That document is a bit more readable than it is presented here.
Thanks to Murdock W4JNR for operating WG4PTP today. Weather impacted the net today with lightning requiring Murdock to shut down at 1013. ND1J picked up control of WG4PTP until weather required shutdown about 1512.
To review: This week’s tasks were to send an actual Winlink Position Report to Winlink (QTH) via Telnet and then retrieve the auto-generated acknowledgment from Winlink (SYSTEM). Finally, this ACK message was to be forwarded to GAARES-P2P, sent via P2P to Net Control to check into the Net. This entire process only took about 5 minutes. An optional Training Section taught you how to get data from Winlink and map the nearest 30 stations to your location. The vast majority of participants chose to also do the optional mapping exercise that goes along with today’s Winlink Position Report. Fantastic!
PROBLEMS?
This was Winlink Position Report ACK MSG week. If your message was not a forwarded Winlink Position Report Acknowledgement Message, you were not checked in today.
ADVANCE LOOK AT NEXT WEEK’S NET:
- Next week is phase test time, an evaluation of your P2P proficiency with practically no instructions. The check-in process will be a simple subject line check-in like we have done for months now. The question of the week will be a survey question.
APR 6 NET STATISTICS:
Callsigns checking in today: 34
Check-in msgs – 80m: 17
Check-in msgs – 40m: 27
Total Check-in msgs: 44
Message Analysis:
Callsigns sending at least one PERFECT message: 29 (85%)
Callsigns who completed the optional nearest 30 mapping: 26 (74%)
Callsigns with message dated before current day: None!
Callsigns using Grid Square: None!
MSGs addressed to WG4PTP, rather than GAARES-P2P: None!
MSS using Grid Square, contrary to instructions: None!
Callsigns with Lat/Lon errors: 1 (East Longitude)
Common errors today:
Very few noted. A couple stations called but WG4PTP was not answering them. That almost always means they are calling the wrong callsign. Nearly everyone used the instructions this week and that was terrific. Three stations did not use the instructions and were not checked in. Try to pay attention to little details on the lines that need ALLCAPS,NOSPACES,ETC. : 80M needs to be 80M, not 80 or 80m. GA stations do not include GA in the check-in info line.
MAPPING OF CHECK-INS:
On the map below, click on your station to see how your check-in message and location rated. If you would like to get feedback on specifics of your message, just email me directly to nd1j73@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to provide details for your message(s) in a private email.
If you were not mapped, drop me an email to nd1j73@gmail.com and I will be happy to explain why.
GAARES-P2P NET MAP LINK for 2025-04-06:
ORANGE SQUARE ICONS – 80M CKINS
PURPLE DIAMOND ICONS – 40M CKINS
RED STARS – WG4PTP (Murdock W4JNR & David ND1J)
To FILTER to one layer (40 or 80), UNCHECK the box for the band you don’t want.
To find your info, click on the down caret left of “All Items” in each of the 80m & 40m map layers at left side of map for a dropdown of each station. Click on your callsign for each band to see how you did on location and check-in message.
FUN QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
You are ready to connect to WG4PTP and send your check-in message addressed to GAARES-P2P. However, you notice the red Channel Busy flag is displayed. It’s okay to ignore this flag and proceed with the transmission only when?
A. Always
B. Never
C. When you have verified no signals are within the 500 Hz bandwidth
D. When you don’t hear any signals through the rig speaker
E. When both C & D are met
ANSWERS:
A. Incorrect – duh. The flag does have a purpose.
B. Incorrect – you could wait until the flag is not there but you might wait for hours!
C. Correct – If no signals are within the 500 Hz area, it is okay to start transmitting, even if you hear signals in the speaker
D. Incorrect – This choice is way too restrictive. Note the question said “only when”.. You will oftentimes hear signals on a rig speaker that are 1.5 kHz or more above or below the edges of the 500 Hz band but you will still be able to use the clear 500 Hz portion.
E. Incorrect
QUIZ RESULTS:
Today’s quiz question was easy if you read last week’s “Training Section”, as that section covered it explicitly. Still, we had a lot of participants choose E. My chief proofreader K5MEG suggested I not have choice E available and just go with A thru D. Perhaps she was right. Still, including choice E made it considerably more thought-provoking. Answers in check-in messages today are reported below. If you sent more than one check-in message, we counted your answer only once. If you submitted messages with different answers, we took the answer in your final message.
A 0
B 1
C 18 (58%)
D 0
E 12 (39%)
Total callsigns that gave an answer: 31
Callsigns that did not give an answer: 3
I hope you had fun with today’s check-in process! If you have any questions about P2P, please send them to me. I may be able to incorporate them into a weekly training session.
73,
David – ND1J
GAARES P2P Net Manager