Echolink noobs guide

A place to discuss internet linking of radio equipment, such as eQSO, FRN, iRLP, Echolink, and other such systems.
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S109
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Echolink noobs guide

Post by S109 »

Hi,

So I've recently passed my foundation and I've got a TM-V71 which has echolink built in. Now I've passed the exam and all legal I'm eager to try all this new stuff out :mrgreen:

But pretty confused on what echolink is :oops: I've read loads up on it but still not any clued up on it. Am I right in saying that your communicating via your pc so antenna is not needed ? What's the difference using my kenwood transceiver to just the pc ?

Will probably have some more q's :oops:

Thanks.
M6SWA/2E0SNJ
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M0RFU
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Re: Echolink noobs guide

Post by M0RFU »

This will probably help

http://www.echolink.org/v71a.htm
My web site jonbyrne.com
superdave
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Re: Echolink noobs guide

Post by superdave »

There are different ways you can use Echolink:

first of all you need the echolink client, either on your pc or your smartphone (android or iphone only at the moment I think)

Then you can connect to an echolink node, this is done through the internet and no radio is involved. The node you connect to is obviously also connected to the internet.

Some amateur voice repeaters now have the echolink software installed so they are nodes, and if you connect to that node then you will hear everything that the repeater hears through your PC/phone, you can also talk out through the repeater from your PC/phone. You can do this from ANYWHERE in the world providing you have a connection to the internet, as echolink only relies on the internet to carry your voice to the node. I can connect to repeaters in the USA or Australia for example and talk through them from my phone and listen to other people talking back into the repeater.

Another cool thing you can do with repeaters that support DTMF receive and have it enabled, is you can link echolink repeaters together. For example if GB3AA is my local echolink enabled repeater and GB3BB is a distant echolink enabled repeater, I simply key up my local repeater and DTMF the node number (all echolink nodes have a unique number) of the remote repeater into it and it 'connects' them together over the internet, so any voice that goes into GB3AA will also come out of GB3BB, and any voice that then goes into GB3BB will come out of GB3AA (the repeater will still repeat locally too, this is not affected).

Unfortunately the local 2m repeater to me does not support echolink dialout as DTMF is used to control the repeater and is therefore stripped at the radio, however it does support dialin from other repeaters and I have heard a ham in Australia connect a local repeater to that and put a call through!

I will make a little video in a sec to clear it up :)
superdave
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Re: Echolink noobs guide

Post by superdave »

OK here's me connecting to GB3WD echolink and sounding like a little girl before disconnecting.

https://soundcloud.com/janipewter/echolink
superdave
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Re: Echolink noobs guide

Post by superdave »

And here's a recording from the GB3PL output of someone trying to dial out to another IRLP node. You can hear in the repeaters ident that it reads out its own IRLP node number (5392). The recording misses off the "GB3" part of the repeaters callsign at the very beginning so you just hear "PL"

https://soundcloud.com/janipewter/irlp

IRLP is basically an alternative to Echolink.
S109
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Re: Echolink noobs guide

Post by S109 »

Thanks superdave 8)
M6SWA/2E0SNJ
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