Comments on: An EchoLink Perspective http://kb6nu.com/an-echolink-perspective/ My personal adventures in amateur radio Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:30:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: sue KD5LKG http://kb6nu.com/an-echolink-perspective/#comment-7071 sue KD5LKG Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:41:26 +0000 http://kb6nu.com/?p=794#comment-7071 I agree that Echolink is a good way for her to get her contacts. I have just begun to use it myself - I work a usually long and boring graveyard shift on weekends, and I have set up a laptop for Echolink so I can at least have a QSO or 2 to keep me occupied once my other work is done. I also feel that for new hams with limited frequencies to use with Tech licenses, Echolink may prove to be a method of keeping them interested in the hobby long enough to catch the upgrade bug and eventually get into HF with "regular" rigs. Meeting people from all over the world tends to be habit forming, and for young people, it makes a good "brag" to be able to do something that none of their friends can do. I was lucky, and had a ham locally who kept me interested, and who got me involved with a nearby ham club whose members also kept me going until I could finally upgrade and get some decent equipment, and get to talk with more folks than those on the local repeater -I live in the middle of nowhere, so hams on 2 meters were scarce! I agree that Echolink is a good way for her to get her contacts. I have just begun to use it myself - I work a usually long and boring graveyard shift on weekends, and I have set up a laptop for Echolink so I can at least have a QSO or 2 to keep me occupied once my other work is done.

I also feel that for new hams with limited frequencies to use with Tech licenses, Echolink may prove to be a method of keeping them interested in the hobby long enough to catch the upgrade bug and eventually get into HF with “regular” rigs. Meeting people from all over the world tends to be habit forming, and for young people, it makes a good “brag” to be able to do something that none of their friends can do. I was lucky, and had a ham locally who kept me interested, and who got me involved with a nearby ham club whose members also kept me going until I could finally upgrade and get some decent equipment, and get to talk with more folks than those on the local repeater -I live in the middle of nowhere, so hams on 2 meters were scarce!

]]> By: Paul http://kb6nu.com/an-echolink-perspective/#comment-7034 Paul Thu, 20 Apr 2006 12:49:35 +0000 http://kb6nu.com/?p=794#comment-7034 Dan, I agree! We use Echolink here to keep in touch with old VHF friends from our former QTH 200 miles from here. We use the same VHF/UHF repeater as we did in the past, using the same VHF HT. The difference: VoIP makes the 200 mile trek possible. I have a VHF Echolink node on this end; the repeater group has the same thing on their end. Almost everyone is using radios and RF, but we are using the Echolink link to join our radio links. Sometimes, if my HT cannot make it back to the house to reach the 30 foot vertical, I use my mobile 2m/440 cross band radio to provide an assist. When my neighbor Doug is in that situation, he does the same. Yesterday we were both mobile and kept in touch with out HTs via 2 cross band radios, also connected to our Echolink node so we could talk with our distant friends simultaneously. Our radio/computer interface, by the way, is homebrew. To us, it's the ultimate marriage of radio and computer technology in true ham radio experimental fashion! Dan,

I agree!

We use Echolink here to keep in touch with old VHF friends from our former QTH 200 miles from here. We use the same VHF/UHF repeater as we did in the past, using the same VHF HT. The difference: VoIP makes the 200 mile trek possible. I have a VHF Echolink node on this end; the repeater group has the same thing on their end. Almost everyone is using radios and RF, but we are using the Echolink link to join our radio links. Sometimes, if my HT cannot make it back to the house to reach the 30 foot vertical, I use my mobile 2m/440 cross band radio to provide an assist. When my neighbor Doug is in that situation, he does the same. Yesterday we were both mobile and kept in touch with out HTs via 2 cross band radios, also connected to our Echolink node so we could talk with our distant friends simultaneously. Our radio/computer interface, by the way, is homebrew. To us, it’s the ultimate marriage of radio and computer technology in true ham radio experimental fashion!

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