[RTTY] ARES E-Letter for July 16, 2014

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

Since the e-letter does not assert copyright and it is publicly
distributed, I *will* copy the specified article here as being of
general interest:

> Open Letter to the Winlink Team: Thanks from a Mariner
>
> I wanted to drop the Winlink managers and operators a sincere note of
> thanks and gratitude for volunteering the use of your amateur radio
> equipment on the Winlink system. I am on a 45-foot sailboat nearly
> 1,000 miles offshore sailing in the Victoria-to-Maui race; one of 14
> boats this year. It is our seventh day at sea. I am also the
> communications vessel for the fleet. We, and I'm sure a few other
> boats in our fleet with amateur operators have been connecting to
> your stations to access race vessel position info and vital wind and
> weather predictions. We have also had need to relay medical advice
> related to an injury on another boat and assist with another boat
> that had a catastrophic steering issue and is limping into San
> Francisco. I cannot convey enough thanks for the comfort of hearing
> the Pactor modem connect to each of you with a clear strong signal.
> We connect with and reassure our relatives and friends ashore that we
> are safe and are enjoying ourselves and I share a daily journal of
> our experiences with about 500 people. If you wish to follow our
> daily journal, send an email to Dan Pearce at frigidkid at gmail.com.
> Again, many thanks from everyone aboard! -- Paul Michael, KD7JST,
> Navigator, s/v Family Affair

This is simply another case of commercial interests subverting amateur
radio for commercial purposes (coordination and management of a race).
All of the communication for this commercial endeavor could have been
handled as effectively via maritime or satellite channels and, as such,
this regularly scheduled event has no business QRMing legitimate ham
activities.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV


On 2014-07-17 10:06 AM, Ben Antanaitis - WB2RHM wrote:
> All,
>
> To avoid copyright violation, I will only post this reference to today's
> "The ARES E-Letter for July 16, 2014",
>
> See Item titled: "Open Letter to the Winlink Team: Thanks from a Mariner".
>
> 73,  Ben - WB2RHM
>
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