Your first Winlink mail over ARDOP

The goal: send and receive a mail over HF without internet — just a Mac, a radio and a USB cable. HAM-Tools brings the modem along, no extra software needed.

Prerequisites

• A Winlink account (free, created on your first connect over the internet)
• A radio with USB, carrying audio and CAT over the same cable — standard on Icom (IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-705)
• An antenna for 40 m, 30 m or 20 m — that is where most European gateways sit
• About 30 minutes, half of it for the drive level

Internet first, then radio

Set Winlink up over internet (CMS) first and send a test mail. That settles whether callsign and password are right — otherwise you will be hunting a login problem inside the radio path, where it isn't. See Winlink module → Setup.

Step 1 — Point the audio at the USB codec

Settings → Winlink → Radio: ARDOP, TNC set to Integrated (ardopcf).

Then set the two audio paths:

Field	What belongs there
Audio input (from the rig)	The radio's USB codec, e.g. “USB Audio CODEC”
Audio output (to the rig)	The same codec

The most common mistake

If those say Mac microphone or Mac speaker, you will hear the modem whistling in the room and the other end will never hear you. Both fields must point at the USB codec, not at “System default” — that only happens to be right by accident.

On the first connect macOS asks for microphone permission. Without it there is no receive path.

Step 2 — Choose the PTT path

This decides how the modem keys the transmitter. HAM-Tools offers five paths; one of them is almost always the right one.

Path	When
HAM-Tools CAT connection (default)	Your rig is connected in the CAT module. Nothing else to set, and the automatic QSY comes along
CAT (Icom CI-V)	Winlink only, CAT module not connected. Knows the rig's data mode most precisely
rigctld	The rig hangs off an external instance — wfview, kappanhang, or “share CAT” from the CAT module
RTS	Your own PTT line on a serial port
None (VOX)	No CAT involved

Take the default if your rig is connected in the CAT module anyway. It is the path with the fewest moving parts: no second port, no second configuration, and automatic retuning to the gateway channel is included.

A serial port belongs to one program at a time

If you pick CAT (CI-V) or RTS while the CAT module holds the same port, the session fails with a connection error — and you will look for it at the wrong end. The connect dialog detects this and offers a button that switches to the CAT connection. Take it.

Step 3 — Set the drive level

The step everyone skips, and the one that decides more about link quality than power does.

In data mode the audio goes straight to the modulator — without the microphone chain that would otherwise limit it. Too much level overdrives, widens the signal and costs decodes. Too little costs hardly any range.

1. Rig into USB-D and onto a clear frequency or into a dummy load — the procedure keys the transmitter
2. Settings → Winlink → Radio: ARDOP → Level assistant …
3. It sends a two-tone signal, raises the level step by step and reads ALC and output power along the way
4. It takes the step below the first one where ALC responds

Three possible outcomes, and the assistant says what to do in each:

• Level found — with measured power as evidence
• The rig reports no ALC — then by hand: turn down until the ALC meter just barely moves
• The rig's input level is too low — then the software slider has no effect and the USB MOD Level in the rig needs raising. This is the case people hunt for hours without that message

Measuring isn't always possible

With PTT over CAT (CI-V) or RTS, ardopcf opens the serial port itself — HAM-Tools can no longer reach the rig and cannot measure. The dialog says so before you start. The tone still comes out: read the ALC on the display and set the slider by hand.

Step 4 — Pick a gateway

⌥⌘G opens the gateway directory. The list comes from the Winlink Web Services and knows the distance and bearing from your locator.

How to go about it:

1. Sort by distance — that answers the practical question directly
2. Watch the Transport column: a gateway can offer ARDOP and VARA on the same frequency. You want the ARDOP row
3. Band by time of day: 40 m in the evening and at night, 20 m during the day, 30 m in between
4. A double-click takes the channel into the connect dialog

A gateway 150–400 km away is a good first attempt: close enough for stable conditions, far enough that ground wave isn't doing all the work.

Favourites save hunting

The star in the first column lifts a gateway to the top. Two or three favourites on different bands and you will always find one that is working.

Step 5 — Run the session

1. In the Winlink module: Receive & send → arrow menu → over ARDOP
2. The dialog shows the gateway, dial frequency, centre frequency with band, bandwidth, plus distance and bearing
3. Leave max bandwidth at 2000 Hz — that is the normal case. FORCED insists on exactly that bandwidth; otherwise it is an upper limit and the modem negotiates down
4. Connect

What happens next shows in the status bar, and the log at the bottom right shows every line:

Setting 7'051.5 kHz dial, USB-D via the CAT connection …
QRG 14'074.0 kHz (USB) → 7'051.5 kHz (USB-D) — stays after the session.
Starting the integrated ardopcf modem …
Calling HB9AK — over radio this can take a while …
Link established, starting the B2F exchange

Be patient while calling

Over radio, establishing the link takes time. Ten to twenty seconds is normal, and longer if the channel is busy. You can abort at any point.

Step 6 — After the session

The rig stays on the gateway's channel. That is deliberate: whoever has just worked a gateway usually calls it again shortly after, and the remembered gateway is already in the dialog. The next call is two clicks.

If you would rather find your rig the way you left it, switch on “Restore frequency after the session” under Settings → Winlink → Radio: ARDOP.

When it doesn't work

Symptom	Likely cause
No QSY, the frequency stays put	No path to the rig. The log says “please set the QRG by hand”. Connect the CAT module or enter a rigctld
Modem starts but nothing decodes	The audio input is not pointing at the USB codec
Connection error right at the start	Serial port taken twice — see the note in step 2
The other end does not answer	Check frequency, bandwidth and callsign. Or the channel is busy: wait a moment, try another gateway
Transmitter keys but hardly any power	The rig's input level is too low (USB MOD Level)
It transmits, but wide and loud	Drive level too high — run the level assistant

The log is the first place to look

The Log button at the bottom right shows the whole session, copyable. It belongs in a bug report — it says which PTT path applied, whether the QSY ran and what the connection failed on.

Next steps

• Full module documentation: Winlink — email over amateur radio
• All settings in detail: Settings → Winlink
• Gateway directory and favourites: Gateway directory