Echolink

Discussion in 'Survival Communications' started by ghrit, Jun 4, 2016.


  1. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Any(monkey)body use it? Does it work well enough to bother with?
     
  2. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    I have it... had a fellow ham contact me through it from Panama... seems to work ok....
     
  3. AD1

    AD1 Monkey+++

    Yep. Using it on my Droid and iPad. If you have an internet connection you can talk to the world.

    It is just like IRLP but via the internet linked device.

    Here are some screen shots
    Main screen
    image.

    first I picked Oceania from the list
    Then ZL1LINK-L

    I then click connect and call just like on any ham radio, CQ callsign repeat as necessary.
    image.
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2016
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  4. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    That is pretty cool! and, allows one more consistent and reliable comms to really far away places.

    I am suppose to test for first 2 licenses (Tech/General) on 11 June so looking forward to playing around also...problem is I just realized the book I have been using to study for General exam questions ended 30 June 2015 so...so started using QRZ website practice exam last night but don't like them because doesn't tell you 'why' you got question wrong. We'll see... I might get new book and test in July... HEH! I was wondering, since I have to get a book for Extra...doesn't Extra questions cover all 3 licenses? So, maybe I can get by with just purchasing the Extra book? What think you?
     
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  5. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    I use a cell phone free study app
     
  6. AD1

    AD1 Monkey+++

    Rick try www.hamstudy.org or if you can afford $30 www.hamtestonline.com

    I used that for Tech/Gen at the same time then Extra 6 months later

    No the Extra questions do NOT cover the other two question pools.

    Here is a link on my site about study resources
    Website Links to help you pass the test Details - Technician - Prepared Ham
     
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  7. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @AD1 Thanks! Checking it out now!
     
  8. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Go quick, the pool questions change in July. Will cover the exact same material, but memorizing test questions from the practice exams will do you little good.
     
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  9. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    I assume you mean the Extra? I won't be ready for the Extra until July anyway... there is no place close by for me to test except the one I am going to on the 11th and they only do testing once a month and taking 3 tests (in just 6 more days) I think is setting myself up to fail. But, we'll see... I have a very strong electronics and communications background but there is a heck'va lot of data to wade through and it is amazing what you forget when you don't use it constantly. Also, I mostly worked in Ghz range, broadband stuff, satellites...
     
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  10. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    You lose nothing by taking more than one test. The same fee applies, weather you take one test or all three. If you pass one or two but fail the third, you still get the highest level you passed.
    As to the test question pool, the exact quest will be on the test, but when the date passes, the question pool also changes, and a diffrent exact question will be on the test.
     
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  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Correct, that is for the Extra. If you have a decent handle on solid state devices and Boolean algebra from your electronics background, you might get thru the Extra exam with just a few minute study. Look at the Smith chart, too. There is not a lot of emphasis on those, but the solid state devices nearly sunk me.
     
  12. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @kellory
    "The same fee applies, weather you take one test or all three...If you pass one or two but fail the third, you still get the highest level you passed."
    Then I might as well give it a go! I can't think of a reason not to now... I know I can at least get the first 2 out of the way. As soon as I do I want to start stringing an antenna and probably purchase something so I can start to listen... Be prepared for questions of suggestions and recommendations. :):)

    @ghrit
    Yes, I have a good handle on solid state, electronics and even electricity... Am I to assume that the Extra is more technically based - meaning - they won't ask about what freqs are available for this and that or how many examiners does it take to test you? Actually, I am pretty impressed because it is quite a lot of material to get through and pretty darn technical at times.
     
  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    There will be three Volunteer Examiners to proctor any exam taken, a requirement of the ARRL program as allowed by the FCC. That MAY turn up on the test at any of the three exams. The Extra pool, if I remember right, is something like 400 possible questions, of which a sorta random 50 will turn up on your sheet. (If you take all three exams, the same VEs can do it.) Frequency questions will be pretty trivial if any, and you can have your handy calculator with you, as long as it is NOT programmable, meaning there's a formula to remember. (You gotta know that one for the Tech level anyway.)

    I say sorta random because the exam sheets at all three levels have questions taken from the question pool, as you know. What ain't obvious is that they do not take all the questions from the same areas of knowledge required. Theoretically, you can miss an entire block of knowledge, and if you do well on the rest, you pass.

    One thing to remember, radio heads deal with conventional current, not electron flow, and there will be a need to keep that in mind here and there.

    While I've got radio going on in my cranial cavity, two things worth doing.
    -Join the ARRL.
    -Get your Federal Registration Number. That way, you only need to use it instead of your SSN on all the radio licensing paperwork. Removes one layer of exposure. The FCC will have the cross reference, but nobody else in the paperwork processing chain.
     
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  14. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    @ghrit Believe me, they got me by now. I was out of the country so long that I no longer existed, honestly. Freaks the insurance companies out! LOL!:) But now...no matter how I try to limit it, my name, address, etc. is spreading faster than weeds... I have come to the conclusion since I returned that - they got you. Better to realize that and deal with it than to deny it....meaning - bury your firearms deep and your money deeper.
     
    Minuteman likes this.
  15. hitchcock4

    hitchcock4 Monkey++

    Some of the local hams use a particular repeater to ragchew on the way to work. One guy, who travels for work, gets on Echolink 4 out of 5 days a week. Seems to work pretty well for him.

    On the repeater we use, it the Echolink config announces his callsign and then "connected" as soon as he gets on. "WK4ABC connected" (not his real call sign). And if he gets disconnected, it tells us that as well. Which is convenient, because if he is accidentally disconnected due to Internet issues, then at least we know that he will not be responding immediately, until he can get back on.

    I have it on the Droid, but haven't used it much myself.
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2016
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  16. AD1

    AD1 Monkey+++

    Rick what Ghrit was saying about the SS# is it goes on the applicarion paperwork. I did not mine out there so apply on the FCC site for the FRN# that will save from it being on paperwork floating around.

    You will need it for the FRN # but it wont be snatchable by anyone in the testing session.

    FCC Registration System
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2016
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