Loving Echolink

[Wheels47130]

I think of it as just one of the many ways to connect with others on Ham radio. It's sort of a cheat, however it's fun. I just talked to a guy in Russia for a while. I just have my Tech right now. So it's nice to be able to use the net as a repeater to other ham radios everywhere. I'm studying for my General and saving for an HF radio.
Anyone that thinks Ham radio is old and out dated hasn't checked into it lately!

[n4yek]

I went to school with a guy named Tim Agee, wierd....
I know, to the younger generation, that echolink can be a neat way of communicating, but what was more fun was waiting for a band opening and actually talking on another repeater from your radio. That was always exciting when that happened.
Using echolink might be fairly new, but the technology was there way before amateur radio ever utilized it.
I remember making a phone call from my radio on the repeaters autopatch, everyone thought that was neat and was way ahead in technology. Now everyone has a cell phone and thinks nothing of it.
I always hear talk about how echolink is great during the time of disasters, well during super storm Sandy there was a big link up on a Weather Net and had many people linked into it but only one or two stations were from the entire north-east and they eventually weren't heard. If you have no power and no internet, you can't have a reliable system for disasters. Radio communications is the only reliable source, even cell towers will eventually run down the batteries and shut down.

Now echolink is a fun way for communicating, I just think people put too much reliability in it.
Have fun and enjoy the hobby, always continue to expand your usage of it.

[rapidcharger]

Originally Posted by n4yek

I went to school with a guy named Tim Agee, wierd....
I know, to the younger generation, that echolink can be a neat way of communicating, but what was more fun was waiting for a band opening and actually talking on another repeater from your radio. That was always exciting when that happened.)))

See for me, it's the other way around. I like having a reliable band opening all the time.

Originally Posted by n4yek

(((
I always hear talk about how echolink is great during the time of disasters, well during super storm Sandy there was a big link up on a Weather Net and had many people linked into it but only one or two stations were from the entire north-east and they eventually weren't heard. If you have no power and no internet, you can't have a reliable system for disasters. Radio communications is the only reliable source, even cell towers will eventually run down the batteries and shut down.

Now echolink is a fun way for communicating, I just think people put too much reliability in it.
Have fun and enjoy the hobby, always continue to expand your usage of it.

I agree with this 100%. Having power is a rarity, let alone internet. The only time I ever heard any traffic on one of those severe weather nets on Echolink was during a Nor'Easter and frankly, that wasn't technically a disaster. Even on a good day, Echolink just mysteriously stops working then mysteriously starts working again. IRLP seems more reliable but both rely in infrastructure that few have in a wide area disaster.

[gewecke]

You can have IRLP, the allstar net and all that junk but it's annoying with all the beeps and squawks through the repeater system. When it come up here at night, I just shut the link off.
...Peace and quiet once again.

73,
n9zas

[N8OHU]

Originally Posted by gewecke

You can have IRLP, the allstar net and all that junk but it's annoying with all the beeps and squawks through the repeater system. When it come up here at night, I just shut the link off.
...Peace and quiet once again.

73,
n9zas

Technically, the linked parts don't need the ID's and cutesy (or is that courtesy) tones, and those are muted on my AllStar system; you also won't hear them anywhere on D-Star. They really aren't liked on linked Echolink systems either, from what I've heard.

[kc2wtj]

i love echolink since i just moved to delaware i can talk to the guys back home on the w2njr repeater system. my next question is now that im in delaware is the any echolink stations i can connect to out here?

[knightrider]

I'm sure many use Echolink as a computer to computer way of communicating, but I use RF to get into it most of the time when there is anything going on in this part of Texas (Central). Others use it via RF here as well. Many times we have a Net Control on the computer, and can have other areas linked in to us. Having access to NWS in Fort Worth is very valuable at times. We also use it during some of the heavy wild fires we get. There are various Nets operated where everyone is on, or most are on computers. I have the Freemason's Net to be that way, but we are making contacts around the globe at the time. I have a friend in Indy who uses an HT to talk to me here in Texas via Echolink. He cam connect to Echolink, and I can use RF via a repeater about 60 miles away. It's like anything else in life, it's no more than you make of it. Echolink has a couple of benefits during the Hurricanes here, in that as we are working them during our usual awake time, our partners in Australia and elsewhere, can take over much of the operations for us to get some rest. They have access to the same satellites, announcements, etc as we have right here. We in turn, can provide them assistance. Speaking of phone calls via a repeater and phone patch, when I was in the military, we were lucky to get a call through to family via MARS and a real phone patch. Now, a young couple I am friends with, get to see and talk in nearly real time almost any time. I told them a big difference is, that we waited on physical mail to come, and really liked it when it was from our girl, it ALWAYS had a wonderful fragrance to it, and it made the week for you. The digital improvements have a lot of great advantages, but we as Hams, should always be prepared, to go back to the old ways when technology fails us. As for not having internet during bad situations, there are ways in OUR digital world, to have access to get info in and out via OUR own systems based on IT.
Ya'll have a GREAT time with technology, and NEVER stop learning, experimenting, or trying.

[N4JKD]

I have the echolink app on my phone, and works good. Echo link also works good for people who live in apartments, or in town where large antennas may not be allowed. I use echolink to get into repeaters back home in Indiana, but that is very seldom. I mostly use HF for distant communications.

[Fuzy_GSXR1000]

How do you use it I did the audio test and it sounded perfectly, how do you connect is it only the stations in blue that are connected to the network?

[mikepdx]

Originally Posted by n4yek

Using echolink might be fairly new, but the technology was there way before amateur radio ever utilized it.

With the exception of direct PC to PC comms via echolink,
the technology has indeed been around for many decades.
It's called wire line control of a remote transmitter.
And that is nothing new at all.

Being able to do it cheaply and
on a huge scale is what's new

Those that call echolink 'cheating' probably
wouldn't call an amateur using wire line control
of his simplex base atop a nearby hill, a 'cheater'.
With echolink, that 'hill' can now be many thousands of miles away.

[robertmac]

Echolink any different than VOIP? Since most want to use it PC to PC for "secret" communications?

[mikepdx]

Originally Posted by robertmac

Echolink any different than VOIP?

Really it's ROIP - Radio Over Internet Protocol
Radio over IP - Wikipedia

[SouthSideScannerGuy]

Originally Posted by N4JKD

I have the echolink app on my phone, and works good. Echo link also works good for people who live in apartments, or in town where large antennas may not be allowed. I use echolink to get into repeaters back home in Indiana, but that is very seldom. I mostly use HF for distant communications.

I currently live in an apartment building that is built like a bomb shelter. Although the owners don't expressly forbid outside installation of amateur radio antennas, they do kind of frown upon them, so my J-pole is sitting in a corner of my living room. Being that this place is not RF friendly, it makes it somewhat difficult for me to hit a couple of the local two meter repeaters, especially one that has a nightly net that I like to participate in. Thankfully they are on Echolink, so I can check-in on a somewhat semi-regular basis. Otherwise I'd be out of luck.

[robertmac]

VOIP with PTT and that is the only thing that is close to radio!

[N8OHU]

Originally Posted by robertmac

VOIP with PTT and that is the only thing that is close to radio!

How about Echolink Sysop mode? You know, the part where someone actually hooks up a radio to the computer and passing the incoming audio stream to a transceiver so it can be picked up by other radios?
there is more to Echolink than most people realize at first glance, and a lot of it is about putting the radio into Amateur Radio (apologies to David Cameron, VE7LTD for borrowing part of the slogan for IRLP).

N8OHU
Sysop of
XRF669 (D-Star DExtra Reflector)
Echolink/AllStar Link node 749507/28912
AllStar Link Nodes 28713 (Bridged to XRF669), 28910, 28913
IRLP Node 8639
plus other stuff