I spent the month of December diving into VarAC. VarAC is a keyboard-to-keyboard chat client that utilizes the Vara modem. The program can be used on HF, VHF/UHF and with the Vara satellite that is geostationary over Africa. VarAC is a complex piece of software with many features and facets. Below are some of the key features.
Keyboard-to-keyboard Chat: This is the main purpose of the program. When you connect to another station, be prepared for a good ragchew. I think I averaged around an hour per contact. I met lots of interesting amateurs over the course of the month. One thing that I noticed that seemed to be a common denominator of each contact was the interest in emergency communications. You’ll see as you read deeper into this post how VarAC might be a strong tool for EmComm.
Broadcasts: You can send what is called a broadcast to all user on frequency or directed to a specific station. Examples include things like weather alerts, QSY alerts, and pathfinder requests (more on this later). There is a weekly “Broadcast” Net on the 20m VarAC calling frequency (14.105) every Sunday evening. Broadcasts are a great way to communicate with multiple stations at once, but are limited in size and function compared to 1-on-1 connected chat and sending VMails.
VMail: This is the VarAC internal messaging function. You can send a VMail message to the VarAC inbox of any station you need to communicate with. VMails can be sent directly or through relay stations. In EmComm mode, there are ICS form templates in the VMail options. EmComm mode should not be used unless actively engaged in emergency communications.
VMail Relay: You can type out and save a VMail to your outbox and connect to any station that is available and relay the VMail to that station. Stations holding VMail messages for another station will send a notification inside their beacon that alerts the recipient of mail being parked in another station’s outbox for retrieval.
Beacons: Like the heartbeat function of JS8call, the Beacon function in VarAC shows you who is online. There are 3 types of beacon. Basic, Advanced and EmComm. Basic beacons are a callsign and not much else. Advanced beacons contain a grid square and other information like whether the station is an email or AI gateway host. EmComm beacons sound a claxon alarm at every station online that alerts you that an EmComm station is online. There are other features of the EmComm beacon, but EmComm mode should not be used outside of actual emergencies.
Pathfinder Request: Do you need to send a VMail to a station that you can’t hear? Let the program run for about 10 minutes and then send a pathfinder request for the station you need to reach. All of the stations that hear your request will reply with a broadcast letting you know the last time they heard the station in question and the SNR report. Very handy for asynchronous messaging.
VMail to Email Gateways: Another asynchronous messaging option. You can draft a message in the VMail composition box and if you check “send to email”, you can add the email address of the intended recipient. Then connect to a station in the beacon list who offers Email Gateway service (signified by a lightning bolt in their beacon) and relay the message. You’ll get a notification almost instantly that you email was delivered. There are 2 caveats to this function. One, if you don’t also click the “reply to email” and add your email in, the recipient will reply to the gateway that your message was sent through. This will mean you’ll have to reconnect to that station to get your reply. 2nd, I have found that emails sent through email gateway stations almost always end up in the spam folder of the receiving person so be aware of this limitation.
Send Images/Files: With a good connection, you can send images and files to the person you are connected to. There is an image resizer that can help you compress images to make them smaller and easier to transmit. Be aware that this can still take quite a long time, so use sparingly with large files.
Digipeaters/Broadcast Via: If using VarAC over VHF/UHF, you can chat with stations that you can’t directly hear by utilizing digipeaters that both stations can hear. Another option is to send a broadcast message directed to the station you need and routed (via) another user that you both are able to hear.
Now, there are some cons of the program that should be mentioned. Single calling frequencies can get quickly congested and adjacent signals can make the calling frequencies and QSO slots unusable. You can modify the config file to add your own frequencies, but this is only useful if you and all others that you intend to communicate with add the same frequencies and schedule a time to be online. Another con is that there is a relatively small number of people actively using the program for more than beaconing and asynchronous messaging. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you are hoping to call CQ and get a pileup of stations coming back to you, this is probably not the mode for you. The Vara modem does have an additional license that can be purchased from the developer. This license is not needed to use the VarAC program.
In closing, download VarAC and give it a try. It is fun and can be addictive if keyboard-to-keyboard chat is your thing. It is a powerful program with big implications for EmComm. Winlink is still superior for EmComm use, but VarAC can become another strong tool. Periodic updates are always adding new features and development is active and ongoing. There is a link to the software website on the Links tab of the MCARES website if you’re intrigued enough to give it a try.