After the planning, installation, troubleshooting, testing, and the inevitable collection of cables that somehow never includes the one you need, The Bennett Project is starting to settle into its groove.
The KE7ADD Winlink Gateway on Bennett Butte has now been online and serving stations for six days, and we’re beginning to get a good picture of how the system performs in regular use. The launch of Weekly Winlink With KE7ADD (WWW-KE7ADD) has also given operators another reason to put the system to work—and the traffic is showing it.
📊 The first week’s numbers
The Winlink Gateway Activity Report covering activity since August 3 shows:
64 Winlink B2 connections
📤 42 messages sent to the CMS
📥 40 messages received from the CMS
⬆️ 107,357 bytes uploaded
⬇️ 429,723 bytes downloaded
That’s more than half a megabyte of Winlink traffic through KE7ADD during its first week of operation.
The two sides of the Bennett system are both getting used:
📡 VHF — KE7ADD 144.970 MHz
- 43 connections
- 29 messages to CMS
- 30 messages from CMS
- 92,267 bytes up / 424,355 bytes down
🌎 HF — KE7ADD 3590.000 kHz
- 21 Winlink B2 connections
- 13 messages to CMS
- 10 messages from CMS
- 15,090 bytes up / 5,368 bytes down
- 28 minutes of HF B2 traffic
And the system isn’t just collecting statistics—people are actually using it.
HF stations connecting during the reporting period included AD7FC, KF7JCK, KF7RSF, KJ7MMU, KK7APK, KK7WXV, N6BLU, W7WVF and others, while several stations have been making use of the local gateway as well.
⚡ 7,087 bps on VARA FM!
One particularly fun milestone came this morning.
While testing the 144.970 MHz VHF gateway using VARA FM, I saw a 7,087 bps download rate from Bennett.
For a system that was still a collection of radios, antennas, computers, cables, and ideas not very long ago, watching data come off Bennett at more than 7 kbps over VHF radio is pretty satisfying.
🏁 WWW-KE7ADD enters its first full week
Meanwhile, Weekly Winlink With KE7ADD has completed its initial testing and moved into its Version 2 format. We’re now taking check-ins for the first full week under the new system.
And we already have a little history:
🏆 Dan, W7WVF, has the honor of becoming the first station to check in two weeks in a row—and he’s currently holding the lead!
The idea behind WWW-KE7ADD is simple: give operators a reason to actually use Winlink, experiment with different modes, test their equipment, and build experience before that experience is needed during an emergency.
Weekly Winlink With KE7ADD — rules and check-in information
📻 From project to working system
That’s probably the biggest milestone of Episode 4.
We’re moving beyond building the Bennett Project and into using it.
The WRFK333 GMRS repeater, KE7ADD VHF Winlink Gateway, and KE7ADD HF Winlink Gateway are no longer just equipment sitting on Bennett Butte. They’re becoming working communications resources, carrying traffic, connecting stations, supporting training, and giving local operators another reason to get on the air.
There will certainly be more tinkering, tuning, improvements—and probably a few more trips up the hill.
But after six days of operation, Bennett is alive, it’s carrying traffic, and we’re getting into the groove.
The Bennett Project — Prepared Today. Connected Tomorrow. Together. 📡
#BennettProject #KE7ADD #Winlink #VARAFM #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #GMRS #WRFK333 #EmergencyCommunications #CoosCounty #Oregon #WWWKE7ADD
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