The Tampa Amateur Radio Club has an Echolink node hosted by W3VR available for
all Bay Area Amateurs and area visitors to use. The node has W3VR-R as its
callsign and is node number 134039 on the Echolink system network. The
system is now online and has been fully operational on the TARC UHF machine for
over 3 years.
In case you don't know it, the N4TP UHF machine is on
443.025MHz positive offset and has a required PL tone of 146.2Hz. Although its
coverage is not as wide as the 105's, it has steadily improved and is available
for most of the greater Tampa area as far north as Lutz, south to MacDill, west
to Oldsmar and east to about Armwood High. Its best coverage is northeast
to northwest, so give it a try.
The link is located at my home on
an independent rig, antenna and transceiver and computer all dedicated for this
use 24x7x365. The rig is an ICOM IC45A with 10 watts out to a 3 element
beam at 21 feet. Software runs on a Dell Optiplex Pentium 166
with 64MB RAM under Wondows2000 Professional. Interface is a home made
single transistor device. The node also features two way audio processing
via a Radio Design Labs RU-AGC2 fast AGC amplifier which processes the audio
originating from the internet to maximize levels for mobile copy. Notice
how nicely the ID ducks under the user audio? This system is programmed to
automatically manage the levels! [ I'm such an audio geek :) ]
Outgoing audio is processed by an Alesis NanoComp Compressor Limiter. The system
can be remotely managed using a web based interface or via remote desktop from
anywhere that has internet connectivity. It also reports its status over
APRS/Telnet.
The Node has my personal callsign on it, W3VR. When you use it, your
are a "guest" in my shack. Behave accordingly! All system QSO's are audio
logged and the files are cycled each month.
The link is online every day
from 6am to at least 1:30am the following day. It automatically turns off
overnight, but if you want to use it overnight, please let me know and I will
see about keeping it on 24 hours.
Think of the Echolink node as a user on
the repeater. I have a transceiver connected to a computer on my home network.
This computer is connected to the Internet via my DSL service. The transceiver
audio output is connected to the line input on the computer's sound card.
The
microphone input is connected to the line output of the computer sound card
through an interface.
The Transceiver listens and transmits just as you
do on the repeater. When someone in another area connects to the node, the
internet creates a long extension cord for the microphone and speaker from my
rig to the location of the connecting station's computer and/or radio. In
effect, the station controls my transceiver remotely over the internet and
becomes a "local user" on our repeater.
The node is easy to use from your
mobile or HT. It is configured to respond to commands from your touch tone or
"DTMF" (dual tone multiple frequency) pad. Here is the DTMF code list for the
link:
Connect to another node: [node number] (Just enter the node
number)
Connect to another node by Call: C [node callsign*] (search as per below)
Disconnect: # (Disconnects first connected station)
Disconnect All: ## (Disconnects ALL stations)
Listen Only: 0511 (listen only, you cant transmit, good for things like the Hurricane conference)
Listen Only Off: 0510 (turns above off - this is default mode)
Play Station Info: *411 (Plays a "quick how-to" message for "on-line" help)
Query by Call: 07 (See instructions below)
Query by Node: 06 (See Instructions below)
Random Node: 00 (picks a node, which can be any class of user, link or repeater, at random from over 3000 available)
Random User: 03 (Picks a user, which is a person on a computer without a radio, at random from over 3000 available)
Random Favorite Node: 001 (Picks a node at random from the "favorites" folder)
Random Favorite User: 031 (Pics a user at random from the "favorites" folder)
Reconnect last node: 09 (Connects to last successful connected station)
W3VR Node Status: * (plays the current condition of the Echolink system and connection status)
Current Local Weather: *99 (when available) updated hourly Five Day
Weather Forecast: *44 (When Available) updated every three hours. I
usually turn this on when there are active hurricanes in the Gulf of
Caribbean
Entering and searching for Callsigns:
To enter a
callsign (for the Connect by Call or Query by Call commands), press two digits
for each letter and number in the callsign. The first digit is the key on which
the letter appears (using 1 for Q and Z), and the second digit is 1, 2, or 3, to
indicate which letter is being entered.
To enter a digit, press the digit followed by 0. When finished, end with the pound key (#).
For example, the letter "K" is entered as "52", the letter "Q" is entered as
"11", and the digit "7" is entered as "70".
The system will say the
callsign when you unkey the microphone. Callsigns need not be entered in
full. If a partial callsign is entered, EchoLink will find the first match among
the stations currently logged on. If no match is found among the stations
currently logged on, EchoLink will say "NOT FOUND". Remember... Stations
need to be LOGGED ON to be searched! If they are not active on the
network, the system cant find them and will say "Not Found". This doesn't mean
they don't exist or are not on EchoLink, this just means that they are not
currently LOGGED IN to the system!
Its a good idea to hit --*-- before
you try to connect to another node. This lets you know the condition that
EchoLink is in and if it is enabled or disabled. The EchoLink system still hears
when its disabled but wont let you connect If EchoLink doesn't recognize
all your touch tones, it will read them back to you, for example, "6-3-3 Not
Found". Just try again. A touch tone duration of about half a second per digit
works best.
-----------------------------
Some nodes that I
have found to be fun to contact:
VU2NRO-R (Node number 133507): This
is the repeater for the India National Radio Club (their version of
ARRL).
Its on 24x7, and some interesting hams are on this node. Good
place for an unusual qso.
E20GTV-L (Node Number 131288) This is a Ham in
Bangkok Thailand. Good English and also speaks French. Is into computers and DX.
On most every day.
GB3IN-R (Node Number 98258) This is a link in
Nottingham England frequented by many local hams. Is on every
day.
VK3AWA-L (Node Number 139588) Paradise Beach Australia.
Area much
like Tampa, good guys to talk to mostly in mobiles. One guy I talked to was on a
boat fishing for shark.
N7QXO-R (node Number 22930) In Vancouver
Washington.
Interesting people on this machine, lots of outdoors
types.
KD4EFM-L (Node 3363) On wide coverage machine in
Bartow
(444.950, 127.3 PL) useful for talking to folks from Plant City to Orlando, and
south to beyond Sebring. I can hear the output of their repeater here, so I use
it to check my signal and do audio delay adjustments.
K4SIX-R (Node
Number 23169) Attached to a 6 meter repeater in Orange Park, FL. Good for
checking if the 6 meter band is open, as they get lots of users from up north
when it is. The repeater's QTH is on the WJXX TV tower at over 1000 feet.
Autodialer Memory Store Locations:
Dialing *511 will connect you to Pittsburgh's WA3PBD repeater system run by my friend Frank Rossi N3FLR
Dialing *711 will connect you to Las Vegas/Henderson Nevada's K7RSW run by another friend, Scott - K7RSW.
If anyone contacts certain systems often, please send me an email and I will
see about setting your contact up in an autodialer location if you want
it. Its most convenient while mobile.
Feel free to use the system.
Its there for all to use. More information on Echolink, as well as a
download of the latest software for your computer can be found on the Echolink website. A handy interactive
link map that shows most, but not all, Echolink stations is being developed by
Echolinkmap. Someday it will
show links dynamically, but right now it is a static display. Also gives you
codes and a rough coverage map of each station. Its a great resource when
traveling away from home.
If you have any questions about the Echolink
system as it is configured locally on the repeater, please email me at
w3vr@hamclub.org. I will do my best to head you on the right path.
-lu-
W3VR