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Author Topic: Army MARS dropping WL2K?  (Read 15116 times)

NA4IT

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Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« on: December 09, 2011, 11:26:27 AM »

I heard that Army MARS is dropping WL2K? Any truth? How about AFMARS and NAVMARS?
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W3LK

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RE: Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2011, 01:02:43 PM »

Yes, Army MARS is dropping WL2K and going to a "radio only" system. The other two services will be working in that direction over time. It's actually a DOD directive, not a unilateral decision by the Army. I have Chief, NAvy MARS latest message on the subject, but I am not sure I should post it here.

Lon - NNN0OOR / NNN0AS1 THREE (Former MDE SMD, Deputy SMD, Assistant For Net Operations)
Southern New England Navy-Marine Corps MARS
Proudly Serving Those Who Serve
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A smoking section in a restaurant makes as much sense as a peeing section in a swimming pool.

K8MTR

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RE: Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2011, 05:40:52 AM »

Lon,

The message "CHNAVMARCORMARS BCST 06-11 - 'RADIO ONLY' TRANSITION PLAN" is now posted on the navymars.com web site at

http://navymars.org/national/cmb/CMB2011-06.TXT

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KB6HOH

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RE: Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2011, 12:51:55 PM »

Well there goes DoD again, trying to stick all the Easter Eggs in one Basket!
Does anyone know if they have a Backup Plan?

                                Steve KB6HOH
            Formerly ARMY MARS AAA9CN/AAV9EB NorCal
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AA4PB

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RE: Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2011, 12:13:14 PM »

Well there goes DoD again, trying to stick all the Easter Eggs in one Basket!
Does anyone know if they have a Backup Plan?

I expect the radio network IS the backup plan. It seems to me that using the Internet as an important link in your emergency network is like carrying your eggs in a plastic baggy - pretty easy to break them.
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Bob  AA4PB
Garrisonville, VA

WA1OEZ

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RE: Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2011, 06:54:16 AM »

It appears the the big concern of the military is that WL2K will
provide a hackable way into the military's new e-mail system.

An isolated digital communications system, internet free, "RF only",
would provide them with a clean back-up.
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K0RGR

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RE: Army MARS dropping WL2K?
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2011, 04:58:20 PM »

This is very interesting. At least around here, ARES is struggling with what to adopt for digital use. There are so many 'standards' out there.

I don't want to talk out of school, but NTS has selected 'Winlink Classic' for it's standard for the NTS-D system. I think this may be an unfortunate choice for several reasons. Winlink systems can be set up to be 'radio only' but that's not the typical solution.

ARES teams around the country are adopting the NBEMS suite of programs, which run on top of FLDIGI, on many different protocols. MT-63/2000 is gaining popularity on VHF FM, and Olivia 16/500 or 8/500 on HF. The MT-63/2K works well with 'acoustic coupling' - eliminating the need for a soundcard interface. There is a smartphone app that could be used to send and receive MT-63/2K traffic over an HT or mobile rig.

Army MARS here has a PSKMail server in place. This program also runs on top of FLDIGI, so it's compatible with NBEMS, while providing many of the email capabilities of WL2K. Right now, there are number of people around the country doing NBEMS on 14065, 7065, and 3583.5 (USB - audio center frequency 1000 or 1500 Hz +/- QRM). It would be great if NTS-D would establish servers so NBEMS users could send NTS messages any time they can. 
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