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After using EchoLink for some time I noticed a lot of
users, both new and old, who might benefit from some of
these Hints and Tips. Here is most everything you need
to know about using EchoLink for basic peer to peer
or conference (round table) chatting:
WHO CREATED ECHOLINK
EchoLink was created by Jonathan Taylor, chief engineer
of the Synergenics Corporation, also known as K1RFD to
his Ham friends. Jonathan gave EchoLink as a gift to
the Ham Radio community. He also created
EchoStation, a repeater-control program for Windows,
for which he charges a small reasonable fee.
GOOD OPERATING PRACTICES
Before continuing with this article, I suggest you read
Arguments for Proving Identity.
New to EchoLink? Although most Hams are eager and
willing to help those new to EchoLink, it might save
some time and frustration if you first connect to the
EchoLink TEST (echo) Server (see the "Station" sub menu
"Connect to Test Server"), tweaking your audio levels
etc and listening to your echo so you will hear what
others will hear BEFORE you attempt communication.
However, there are many Hams who monitor the new
arrivals (those with high node numbers) and
immediately offer assistance, but it's best not to
depend on it.
Although you can reasonably assume that anyone shown as
"active" wants to chat, you should think of EchoLink as
if it were a typical ham band. How often have you heard
a station calling CQ but failed to get a QSO going? If
you are scanning the active user list for a QSO and you
succeed in getting a CONNECT, please do NOT wait for
the other Ham to start the QSO after you make the
connection. It is considered proper form to talk first
with an invitation to engage in a QSO. Would you knock
on a door and then after it opens just stand there
silently?
If you are running EchoLink, but temporarily leave your
terminal un monitored (like when taking a landline
call), I suggest you put EchoLink in "Busy" mode by
clicking the white hand in the tool bar. There also
seems to be a great deal of impatience when users get a
Connect but get no reply within 10 seconds or so. Might
I also suggest one full minute before you blast off? I
know there are many occasions when I am AFK for a very
short time, not warranting going into Busy mode, as I am
typically just refilling my coffee cup or dealing with
Mother Nature.
If your intention is to connect to another Ham or Link
or Repeater station with the desire to only read the
mail, that's fine and even encouraged. Many new Hams
starting out with EchoLink do not have microphones
connected or operating properly. No matter what your
reason for connecting, it is still considered courteous
to at least announce your presence and intention, if
not by voice, then by a text message. This way, no one
will be left guessing as to the purpose of your visit.
Regarding station ID requirements, peer to peer (or
direct connects) on EchoLink do not require signing
with calls. Connects to Station Links and Repeaters do.
However, as a matter of habit and courtesy, most hams
on EchoLink always sign; if not everytime, then every
so often.
If you are a busy guy like me, you probably want to do
other things on your PC while chatting on EchoLink.
Here is an operational tip that will allow you to
confirm EchoLink's transmit or receive status in a
flash. This can be useful when you "think" you toggled
back to receive yet are still in Transmit mode.
Reposition the EchoLink window so that its Status Bar
is just above the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of your
Desktop. Now, take your Browser, E-Mail clients etc and
reposition them so their Status Bar rest just above the
Status bar of EchoLinks. Now EchoLink's status bar will
always be visible on your Desktop, above your Taskbar,
indicating transmit activity by the RED [TX] Transmit flag
on the right side of EchoLinks Status Bar or Green
[RX] when in receive mode.
In addition, you can avoid having to return focus to
EchoLink (i.e. putting EchoLink back on TOP of your
Desktop) in order to regain control of the transmit
toggle. How? Easy, you can configure EchoLink to use
the "Enter" key on the numeric keypad (my choice) to
provide a "WIDE AREA" PTT functionality. Meaning it
matters not whatever program has Focus (is on top) as
focus will no longer an issue. Go there vi the Tools
menu, then the Preferences sub menu, then click the
Connection Tab at the top, followed by clicking the PTT
button). When making this change, remember it is
important to put a check the "Area Wide" box in the
setup menu. You can also configure a few other keys for
wide area PPT but I find the keypad's Enter key to be
the most convenient for how I operate.
ICON REPRESENTATION
A "human face" means EchoLink is running in either
standard (peer to peer) or conference mode. A pair of
"chain links" represents a Link station, that is,
someone (usually at home) with a transceiver on a
simplex frequency, that is connected to their home
computer running EchoLink. A "set of gears" represents
a Repeater that is connected to a PC running EchoLink.
A "PC with two faces" is a Reflector; that is, a PC
connected to the Internet on a High bandwidth
connection that is primarily intended to connect up
Links and Repeaters as well as many single users. A big
advantage to using a Conference is not dumping your
friends who connected to you when you close your
connection. A popular software package for running a
Reflector or Conference is "TheBridge"; see the URL for
this software at the bottom of this article.
NODE NUMBERS
Your Node number is assigned to you when you become an
authorized EchoLink user. These numbers are assigned
in ascending order and as of this writing, are topping
over 230,000. Obviously then, users with the highest
nodes are the newbies. However, just as the FCC will
issue vanity call for a Fee, the EchoLink author will
sell you a LOW node number to feed your vanity as well.
Some users take great pride in advertising how long
they have been using EchoLink. Unfortunately, with low
node numbers for sale, having a low node number has
lost its importance; unless keying in 4 numbers is more
efficient than 6. There are two ways you can connect to
another EchoLink user. If you are on a PC running
EchoLink, you may use the other stations call letters
OR node number. If you are Mobil and trying to connect
to an EchoLink user vi an EchoLink Repeater or Link
station, you click the Node numbers of the other
EchoLink user into your DTMF pad, and if they have
EchoLink running, you will be connected; that is, if
they are either in Conference mode or not Busy.
THE SPACEBAR
You already know that by default, the spacebar acts as
a Rx/Tx Toggle and not to hold it continuously unless
you reset it for "push to talk - release to listen"
under Tools Connections/PTT. But are you aware that the
spacebar's operational function depends on not losing
"Focus" (a Microsoft term meaning the window that is
"active" or ontop all others showing on your desktop).
You shift Focus anytime you place the cursor and click
in any other dialog box or window! Restoring focus to
Echolink only requires you left click the mouse inside
the tan window where the horizontal audio level
indicator resides.
Menu: Tools/Preferences/Connections/PPT Control
YOUR PROFILE
Adding a profile is a great way to both introduce
yourself as well as keep a QSO moving along. Why
EchoLink effectively "hides" the profile "Edit" button
is a mystery. But, go to Tools - Preferences -
Connections Tab and walla! there it sits at the bottom
right of that menu tab. NOTICE: If you want to see how
your profile looks to others, just connect to YOURSELF
(yes, you can do that!).
Menu: Tools/Preferences/Connections/Edit
TIMEOUTS
Are you tired of the default two minute xmit or recv
timeouts? Not a problem. Although important in repeater
and link operations to avoid locking up a system if you
get distracted, its totally not necessary for peer to
peer communications. Go to Tools - Setup - Timing and
place a ZERO in the appropriate boxes (zero means NO
timeouts or disable). A few people use the timeout bell
to warn themselves when they have talked too long.
Menu: Tools/Setup/Timing
CONNECTION ATTEMPT TIMEOUT
It is my experience that if you fail to get a
connection to your intended contact within 6 or 7
seconds, you wont. Or, if you eventually do, the
latency or delays on the net wont allow for 5+9
communication anyway. So I suggest setting the delay
to time out of the attempt at 7 seconds rather than the
default of 30. Go to:
Menu: Tools/Setup/Timing/connection timing
BUSY MODE (the Hand)
Busy mode allows you to be seen on the Echolink
user listing but prevents any user from automatically
connecting to you.
CONFERENCING
By default conferencing is off. The effect is that
once you connect to another user, no one else can get
through to you (unless your contact has conferencing
enabled on their EchoLink and someone connects through
their side). Call this a privacy mode if you will.
However, a great tradition in Ham radio is the Round
Table or Rag Chew. Unfortunately if you are on a dialup
to your ISP, you wont have the bandwidth for solid
round tables or conferencing. But if you have a DSL or
digital cable connection, conferencing can add a lot
more fun to the entire EchoLink experience!
Menu: Tools/Preferences/Connections/ check "Allow Conferencing"
Side Note:
If you are station (A) and connect to station (B)
(who is operating in conference mode) and a 3rd station
(C) connects through station (B) and joins your QSO,
then station (B) elects to leave (or disconnect) you will
lose both stations (B & C). This can sometimes be
frustrating and the only solution when running round
table rag chews is for the so called "control station"
to remain connected until all parties disconnect.
Another option is to use one of the many REFLECTORS
(called CONFERENCES) available on EchoLink.
TEXT CHAT
A frequently overlooked feature, the text chat window,
can be used anytime after a connection is established;
its real usefulness is akin to a Break-In when you wish
to comment before having the Mike passed back to you.
An audible alarm (ON by default) will inform you when a
text message has arrived. You many even assign your own
home brew wave file for this purpose. By general
agreement, typing three plus symbols [+++] is a request
for an "immediate" break in.
CALLSIGN LOG
EchoLink (by default) records every contact you make
(in a standard text file) as well as any connection
attempts that you are not around to answer. If you are
as active on EchoLink as I am, with a corresponding bad
memory, these logs and their Search function make
recalling contacts a snap.
TEST SERVER
Many users find EchoLink runs perfect right out of the
box. However, if you ever decide to make changes to
your audio levels etc and want to hear how you sound to
others, don’t forget the Test (or echo) Server under
the "Station" Menu. This test server will echo back
anything you transmit allowing you to check and tweak
your volume and microphone levels.
THE ALARM
When a user is in your Alarms and they join or leave
EchoLink, you will get a notifying pop up window and a
system sound. Tip: From either the Index or Folder
view, right click to pop up a menu for easily adding a
user to either your Alarm or Favorites.
PORT BLOCKS and PROXY SERVER Cures
Firewall issues are discussed farther down this
article; however, another problem some users are
experiencing is ISP's who block incoming connections to
your modem. This is especially troublesome with WiFi or
wireless connections in Hotels, Coffee Shops and
Airport Lobbies. The EchoLink "symptom" is you can
connect to Joe on Echolink, but Joe can never connect
directly to you. If your not the paranoid type and
don't mind unknown 3rd parties seeing all your packet
traffic, there is a work around for this problem. Its
the use of an EchoLink Proxy server or signal go
between. It works like this; you can connect to a peer
out on the Net but they cannot make direct connect to
you. So, instead, you connect to a 3rd party Proxy
Server who in turn receives connections for you and
relays them to your connection. In many ways a Proxy
operates like a typical Ham Radio Repeater.
You can find a list of available EchoLink Proxy servers
here. The two biggest negatives are Proxy
availability when you need one, and security. My
personal view of using Proxy servers, for security
reasons, is that of a very last resort option resource.
For a great audio/video presentation of EchoLink, visit
George, Tom and Jim's AmateurLogic TV
ADDITIONAL HAM VOIP RESOURCES
Link and Repeater Locator Software: EchoMap
Reflector (Conference) Software: TheBridge
How to Ham on the Net
Another popular VoIP type Ham client with Europeans: eQSO.
SlowScan TV over the Net with: InterAce.
The Internet Radio Linking Project: iRLP.
G3ZHI's Bookmarks1 and
Bookmarks2
A $$$ Ham Radio VOIP Service using a virtual Desktop HF
Tranceiver GUI is CQ100 .
A big plus for the less technically oriented Hams is
not having to bother with forwarding ports. CQ100
offers a free 90 day evaluation period before you must
pay the $32 annual subscription fee. Although the
service is fairly stable and the GUI interface is
interesting and works, Im not sure if these assets can
keep a subscriber base after the trial period. Based
on the total subscriptions since CQ100 came on the
scene, and those currently remaining, it seems few Hams
are inclined to continue paying for the virtual aspects
of a service when other basic VOIP operations are
available elseware for free, i.e. EchoLink and E-Qso.
Another new VOIP Ham service (similar to CQ100) is HamSphere . It too uses a
virtual Desktop HF Transceiver. However in this case
the goal of the author of HamSphere is to give his
creation the illusion of working real Ham Bands by
simulating QRN, QRM and pileups. A plus, like with
CQ100, is not having to concern ones self with
forwarding ports. HamSphere (both the client and
server) are still buggy, and the Server is frequently
off line. However to be fair, the author only claims
the service is currently (11/06/09) in pre-release
mode. Another downside to HamSphere is its dependency
on Java. I have received several reports that HamSphere
runs interference with other Java based clients like
Stock Trackers. Presently there are no fee's involved
in using HamSphere so I recommend you try it.
On 11/13/09 The author made available for download
HamSphere Release Canadate 1.
Microphone Tip:
The least expensive Microphones (typically $5 to $10)
are also the type of mikes that work best with most all
PC sound cards. They are of the Condenser types,
sometimes called Electric. Please do not confuse these
with piezoelectric or crystal types which (among other
problems) severely overdrive most Sound Cards. Dynamic
Mikes are another no no as most Sound Cards work with
+5 volts DC bias on the pin jack, and all dynamic (coil
type) mikes have low internal resistive paths to
ground.
PopNote
You can download a copy of my own freeware PEER To PEER
(totally private - no need for 3rd party servers)
Instant popup Message client-server, called PopNote, by
clicking here: PopNote
Download. If you wish to ragchew with me about
anything in this article, send me a request vi PopNote.
I monitor PopNote 24/7. I am able to voice chat here on
EchoLink, or on CQPhone, Yahoo, EQSO. PicoPhone or
HamSphere.
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