What is echolink ham radio
With younger new hams coming in all the time, most of us raised around home computers and “free” software, we can expect more and more new options and technologies to use with or compliment ham radio. There is a ‘livestream’ link on the DMR MARC page, so you can listen (with a suitable browser) to one or more of the talkgroups. One of the reasons that DMR networks will NEVER add Echolink or IRLP nodes to them is because the audio from the analog networks is all over the map, and they can’t control it downstream to make it work effectively. The CODECS in digital radios only have so much dynamic range, and if you overdrive them, they become indecipherable. The ham DMR network is set up in local, statewide, regional, national, and language-specific areas (think an English world-wide talkgroup, that includes Australia, New Zealand, the US, England, etc., etc.)Īnd yes, audio quality IS important for digital modes.
![what is echolink ham radio what is echolink ham radio](https://s2.studylib.net/store/data/005420635_1-022e5edb130abc2e4582df72ccc7e71a.png)
First responders, such as police, fire, etc.
#What is echolink ham radio software#
Hytera and others make compatible radios, and there is a ton of surplus Motorola and other commercial gear on the surplus market (beware of programming issues, though, as the Motorola software requires a $350 3-year license - find a ‘ham friendly dealer to program your radio for you).ĭMR is used by a ton of commercial entities, such as company facilities and security, churches, etc., etc. Programming cable is $5, and the programming software is free. I got a nice $180 UHF DMR handheld, the CS700, from CSI, here: There are many manufacturers of DMR-compatible equipment, as opposed to the Icom (or Yaesu, if you want to talk about CF4M “Fusion” technology) monopoly, which applies downward price pressure in a competitive market. For a nice Google Maps mashup of DMR repeaters, see and click on the Networked Repeaters link at the top of the page. If it was analog (FM) at the same signal strength, I would have trouble pulling out the QSO.ĭMR (aka MotoTRBO) takes the crown IMO, for any number of reasons. I’ve had QSOs where the S-meter didn’t even register, and it sounded fine. However, one aspect of Ham radio is technical advancement, and clearly D-Star is technically advanced over EchoLink.īy the way, I don’t know what people are talking about when they say D-Star sound quality is bad. If ham radio is just means to an end, EchoLink is the winner, but cell phone has both beat by a mile (better practical coverage, higher data rate, much higher population coverage, etc).
![what is echolink ham radio what is echolink ham radio](https://www.ab0pc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_20171108_133815.jpg)
Current D-Star radios can access Echolink systems, but not vice versa.įrom system builder standpoint, EchoLink has better coverage, but D-Star clearly has more potential (voice+data, end-to-end digital connection, ability to selectively call up another ham with just call sign, etc). D-STAR and AllStar Link seem to have a devoted following, and that’s good, but access is either limited or expensive or both.Ĭomparing EchoLink and D-Star is apples and oranges comparison, but…įor the end user, I think the winner is very clear: D-Star. It seems to me that at this point, EchoLink is clearly the winner, with perhaps IRLP second. So, I’m not really sure what to make of all this–I told you that this was only a partly-baked post. D-STAR was also dinged for poor audio quality. This is ham radio, not high-definition stereo, after all. I’ve always been amused with some hams’ obsession with audio quality.There are no statistics on the AllStar Link website as to how many users there actually are. I wonder how many people he actually talks with via those nodes. One ham looked down his nose at EchoLink, commenting, “Echolink has horrible audio and too many lids, kids and space kadettes.” He noted that he runs several AllStar Link nodes.
![what is echolink ham radio what is echolink ham radio](https://www.ab0pc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_20171101_131753.jpg)
Someone in the discussion on LinkedIn noted, “As of today there are 511 repeaters that are on line, and 264 that exist but are not on the network for some reason.” He called that a “large user base.” That doesn’t sound like a large user base to me.Does that make EchoLink more successful than IRLP? When he got home, he did some legwork and discovered that there were more than 5,500 users and repeaters linked to EchoLink and not quite 1,800 repeaters linked to IRLP. Just as I was collecting my thoughts, I had a chat with Ralph, AA8RK, on a local repeater (W8UM-R on EchoLink, btw). If the measure of success is the number of users, then EchoLink would seem to win hands down.With that in mind, I’m just going to throw out a couple of ideas:
![what is echolink ham radio what is echolink ham radio](https://image.slideserve.com/369867/echolink-n.jpg)
:)Īn discussion taking place in the LinkedIn Amateur Radio Enthusiast group is attempting to answer the question, “EchoLink or D-STAR?” These are, of course, two quite different technologies, but it got me to thinking about how people choose technologies like this, why there are a number of differing systems out there for amateur radio communication over the Internet, and what constitutes “success.”