High Frequency Marine Data Communications Demystified...(warning, this entry may contain technobabble)

The general process which we use to send/receive emails is superficially similar to the old dial-up days: (1) write email on computer, (2) hit "send" button and emails queue up waiting to be actually sent, (3) connect computer to means of transmission (e.g., via modem to phone line for dial-up), and finally (4) connect to email account and send/receive emails. Remember how long that used to take? Multiply that by about 10 for us...that's why we always remind folks to cut out extraneous info (e.g., old email text when replying to a message) when emailing the boat.

What I'd like to do here is to actually explain how our system works, offering several levels of technical detail to satisfy everyone's level of interest (just keep in mind that there's probably a level or two of detail that I don't understand properly, but I'll give it a try):

Explanation #1: Think of it as a black box, where our emails are magically sent from the boat laptop to your office or den.

Explanation #2: There is this button, we'll call it the "power button", which it actually is for that matter. It turns on the radio and modem, neither of which are black, but they are box shaped. These not-exactly-black boxes work just like the black box described in Explanation #1.

Explanation #3: Aforementioned power button is turned "on", powering radio (dark grey box) and modem (light grey box). Modem is plugged into computer via a port (I never can remember whether it's the "serial" or "parallel" port...just that it's not the one you'd use to plug in a printer). Find list of land-based stations in email program and select a frequency. Turn the frequency gizmo on the radio to a value 1.5 MHz below the frequency actually listed in the email program (please see Explanation #1 for details). Listen to make sure no one is already using that frequency, then hit the "connect" button.

Explanation #4 (technojocks only): A network of land-based stations has been set up by ham (amateur) radio users around the world; each station has several frequencies it monitors. The Winlink/Airmail email program, developed by the folks who set up the network, is designed to help you find an appropriate destination station and frequency combination for your particular source location and time of day (solar and atmospheric conditions affect the transmission [called propagation; distance and direction that they can travel] of high frequency radio waves, which typically bounce off various layers of the ionosphere en route to their destination). Data is transmitted from our computer via the modem and ham radio to the land-based ham station, where it gets uploaded to a server and sent on its way to the ultimate destinations...your dens or offices. Our first emails were sent through Olympia, Wa; while we still use that station, we also use the ones in LA and San Diego. To really understand exactly how this all works, which is way above my head, check out the internet (e.g., Winlink or Sailmail websites) or pursue an advanced degree in electrical engineering with a focus on radio communications.

What is truly amazing, is that this service, because it's amateur radio, is FREE. The station operators do this as a hobby. While I'm sure this is rapidly changing, in some parts of the world (e.g., Aussie outback) this was the only reliable means of communicating.