Radio Amateurs and the League are responding to the destruction of communication infrastructure in Puerto Rico with time and equipment donations. I have been advised of the availability of substantial equipment that would appear to significantly enhance the ability of the volunteers to provide communications. as well as reduce the financial burden on the League. Apparently, these offers have not been accepted by the ARRL staff "due to time constraints." My objective here is only to document the potential availability of these assets to the highest levels of the League. Although these offers may seem attractive to me, and I would likely accept them if I were in charge, I am not. You should at least be aware of the offers. *Background - Winlink Capability Desired* The Red Cross request specifically requested, "Familiarity with WinLink, HF voice, and VHF simplex communications." It appears that they desire the E-mail capabilities that Winlink can provide. The ARRL equipment has been described as consisting of, "a modern, digital HF transceiver, special software, a dipole antenna, a power supply and all the connecting cables, fitted in rugged waterproof container." This does not seem to provide for Winlink, other than with the possibility of using Winmor, a computer sound-card interface that can provide hobby-level capability. However, the Winlink administration has advised that this is not suitable for heavy traffic, and is in no way comparable to the Pactor protocol due to the hardware requirements for an OFDM ARQ protocol. In other words, the hardware used for Winmor (ONLY with a secondary soundcard such as SignalLink) is used only because it is inexpensive. It is not recommended for emergency communications, and not allowed off the Amateur spectrum. The Winlink administration has advised against using this protocol for this venture, and has communicated this to the ARRL. *Equipment Offer #1 - SCS Modems* AT&T has 20 SCS 7400 Pactor 4 modems already in Atlanta, that they offer to the the NCC SHARES program, and NCC SHARES can make these modems available to the ARRL effort. These are high-performance modems, capable of PACTOR 3 and PACTOR 4 operation, which cost around $1200 each. Cables to connect the modems to the particular radios can be provided. The Winlink software can limit the modem operations to Pactor 3 only per Part 97, but will allow Pactor 4 should the SHARES system be used. The Winlink administration hightly recommends this option for a successful operation. If these are to be added to the League's kits, it is necessary that the offer be accepted ASAP. The Firmware *may* need updating, which is a quick and simple automated process over the Internet. *Equipment Offer #2 - * There are approximately 5 higher-capability drop kits available through TN Homeland Security District 5. These consist of an SCS PACTOR 4 Dragon modem, a 200-watt radio, and a 200-watt antenna tuner, suited for 3 to 30 MHz operation. These have been offered to the League, and apparently turned down. These would work perfectly for the offer of NCC SHARES (below). *SHARES Frequency Allocations Available* The head of the Department of Homeland Security’s NCC SHARES Program, Ross Merlin, has offered to issue temporary SHARES call signs to the ARRL-Red Cross team so that they can use the SHARES HF channels, with higher performing PACTOR 4, and allow encrypting if needed. This is accomplished through the already existing SHARES Winlink Hybrid Radio Email network. This offer extend to voice as well. According to both the Winlink team and the SHARES program manager, this would greatly enhance the ARRL-Red Cross team operation, assuming that they had the proper equipment. *Connection to Accept Any of This* Should there be any desire to accept any of these offers, please contact Ross Merlin, SHARES program manager, 202-631-0690 <(202)%20631-0690> Ross.Merlin@dhs.gov or Steve Waterman, the Winlink administrator, at (615) 300-5296, k4cjx@comcast.net. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA, acting only as messenger