The author of Sailmail provided the ham radio community the free
Airmail software so the boating ham community could use HF to
maintain contact with friends on solid ground while they were out
bobbing around the ocean. In the early days, the winlink land
stations were mostly located at yacht clubs. He has to maintain
land based stations for Sailmail and charges just enough to cover the
costs incurred. It is definitely not a profit making situation.
As I understand it, Airmail and Sailmail are essentially the same
program running on your laptop. You can also use Airmail for
computer to computer connections, and I used it lots when a friend
was on his boat in Mexican waters. Twenty meters was reliable for
the path during the day. The KamPlus worked fine.
Jim wrote the software while bobbing around the ocean himself. He
also has modified Airmail for our emcomm group here in the county to
provide additional capabilities. He currently isn't part of the
winlink community, but continues to add features to Airmail as
requested. No charge. Just a good ham who also likes boats.
Dave
K9MRQ
Besides, it's not the location, it's the content of the communication.
Careful, though. Is it a pecuniary interest to use an autopatch
instead of my cell phone to call home in order to save a few
cents? What if I don't own a cell phone? Or does the widespread
availability of cellular phone service now make it illegal to use an
autopatch for anything except 911 calls?
Personally, I think this is a line of argument fraught with
unintended consequences. A better argument is made concerning the
assertion that anyone initiating a Winlink session is a "control
operator" in the sense that the FCC means.
Al
AB2ZY
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