I seem to remember that the satellite links came later, in 1983 the Winnebiko only had CB radio for communication (no email) and an audio-casette deck to store what he was writing on his stops.

Winnebiko 2 added packet radio for email in 1986-88, but I don't think the satellite links came until Behemoth which was in the 1990s.

Neat presentation he did describing it at Xerox PARC in 1989. http://youtu.be/tDaz8vaKzdQ