EchoLink Primer

This is a simple Echolink primer course.  It's not so much a course, as a starting point for you to understand what Echolink is and how it can be used.  Hopefully, you'll also come to understand the limitations of Echolink as well.

Echolink is a system in which both computer users, as well as radio operators can connect with others anywhere in the world through the use of the internet.  The simplest form of Echolink is in which a single user sits at the computer and makes a connection to another echolink user who is sitting at their computer as well.  This is very much the same as how other Voice-Over-IP calls, like Skype, Yahoo Voice and others work.  Other methods of using Echolink can grow to anything as complex as you can imagine.  I will attempt to explain several ways in which Echolink can be used.

I've got a lot of different projects going on in my shack, but I have one of them I would consider completed, mostly.  It's also has been one of my most active modes.  It's not so true now because of my work with D-Star, but it's my EchoLink node.  I'd like to make a single change to the antenna, but other than that it has been fully operational at this location since January of 2006.

To give you a taste of what Amateur Radio is all about and what I'm involved with, here is some of what I do.  I also have created a link from some of the items so feel free to click the link and learn more.

My Projects:

• Antenna building
• SSTV or Slow-Scan TV
• Various digital modes
• Packet Radio that uses the AX25 protocol
• D-Star Radios and Repeaters
• EchoLink (Partially a digital mode)
  I have two nodes I operate KB3KHP-L and KB3KHP-R
• I work with APRS, The Automatic Packet (or Position) Reporting System
  Two of my nodes are KB3KHP-1 and KB3KHP-9

My radio equipment:

• Kenwood TM-D700A
• Icom IC-706MKIIg
• Yaesu FT-857 (Currently loaned out)
• RadioShack HTX-420 (just swapped for something else, details later)
• 2 RadioShack HTX-242 radios (used for EchoLink)
• Icom IC-91AD
• 4 Icom ID-1 Radios
• Icom IC-RP1D/VS D-Star UHF 1.2GHz Repeater System
  This system is working as KJ4DWC, but not up for general use in its permanant location.
  
• RadioShack PRO-96 Scanner
• RadioShack HTA-20 Amplifier
• MFJ-993B Automatic Antenna Tuner
• MFJ-269 Antenna Analyzer
• Diamond X510N VHF/UHF Antenna
• Diamond SX-40C VHF/UHF Watt/SWR Meter
• Kantronics KPC-1 TNC (Terminal Node Controller)
• AEA (Now TimeWave) PK-232 TNC
• Astron RS-20A Power Supply as well as several large 12volt batteries
• Tate UHF repeater on 443.950MHz near Ballground, GA with a Zetron Controller.
  It used to be a Kenwood TKR-850 Repeater and before that a Bridgcom ComLink CS-540U, using a controller equipment from Computer Automated Technology, The CAT-1000B, ED-1000W, WX-200, DR-1000B, RME-1000.  The Bridgcom ComLink had problems that have yet to be discovered, so the associated controllers have been set aside to determine the cause of its problems without them being part of the mix. Thanks to Gary for the correct information, since this is his equipment.  He's my repeater guru, that got me off the ground.
• Byonics TinyTrak 4 Kit for the beta test program that so far appears to be working as designed.

Now, is that a mouthful or what?  This is only a small part of Amateur Radio although it takes up a large portion of my time as you can imagine.  Not to mention updating this website to detail and document all my experimenting, I also am heavily involved in GMRS.

GMRS is a separate licensed service of the FCC for UHF communications.  I assist in the climbing of towers and maintenance of repeaters for the North Georgia GMRS System.  To see the details of GMRS and the Amazing Network of Repeaters we've put together in north Georgia check out the website.

Come on in and take a tour of all the projects that I'm working on as well.

Here are some excerpts from the APRS Forum at the Dayton Hamvention 2007. This is by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR. He speaks about some very useful information if you've just got setup on APRS. Some of what he says will be very useful and makes lots of sense. It's definitely worth a listen. However, depending on your knowledge of APRS will depend on how useful his presentation will be.

I had already read about much of this on his website already so it was a basic refresher, but if you need to follow up on what he talks about here, just visit his official APRS website.

One of the reasons why I'm into Amateur Radio is shown in this video, which is produced by the American Radio Relay League.

What is D-Star?

D-Star is a fairly new digital mode.  The term "D-STAR" stands for Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio.  It is an open standard digital communication protocol that was developed by the JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League).  All the highly detailed technical specifications can be viewed at http://www.jarl.com/d-star/shogen.pdf for those that are adventurous.

It is an advanced method of communicating using digital radios, repeaters and the Internet.  They can operate point-to-point or through a linked repeater network.  The linked repeater network can be connected via 10 GHz linking radios or via the Internet.

D-Star High Speed Data Modes (Part 1)

This article is going to be part one of a several D-Star High Speed Data Mode articles.  If you are new to D-Star, I'd recommend that you read my other article first; What is D-Star?  I'm a D-Star newbie when it comes to the data modes, but most people are since D-Star is a fairly new mode.  However, I am a big fan of networking in general, whether it be building a voice network to pass traffic or a computer network on the Internet or an intranet.  I've been quite involved in setting up networks in the recent past.  Of course, that has recently included Amateur Radio data networks as well.

I've recently acquired five Icom ID-1 radios, so I've got plenty of radios to experiment with in various configurations.  I've also got a ID-RP1D/VS Repeater system that has recently arrived as well.  Which of course adds lots more possibilities to experiment with.  It also means that I'll need to spend some more money and purchase the neccesary antennas and get the D-Star gateway software since I want to get the system onto the D-Star network.

I'll start off by unpacking the ID-1 and taking pictures all along the way, so that you can see what's included as well as how well packed the radios come.  I'll then proceed straight to connecting two ID-1's in a peer to peer network to show how easy it is to share information between two computers or networks.  I'll also include a link to another shorter step by step guide to do it yourself, without all my, possibly, needless commentary.  That will help those people who refuse to RTFM (Read The Fine Manual)!  Let's get started!