WF0H
01-28-2002, 10:40 PM
OK - is ILink 'true radio'? Not entirely...
It sounds a lot like true radio, and is much like working through linked repeaters.
I do see one way you might use it in an emergency. You can command the ILink gateway to connect to another specific gateway if you know the codes and the gateway number. This might be real useful late at night if you have lots of dead repeaters in your area.
The Internet is becoming more of an omni-present utility. Once the net becomes as ubiquitous and reliable as AC power lines, ILink , IRLP, and similar applications might become a bigger part of emergency traffic handling.
But what ILink is, is FUN! My teenaged Technician ham loves it. I just got a gateway on the air yesterday, and this morning I had a nice chat with a YL in upstate NY during my commute to work.
Yes, I am sure that we Extras (the new ones, the "real" ones, and the "real, real" ones like me that had to draw schematics on the test in the FCC office) will have to do our best to transition ILink devotees to "real" radio. I have noticed that my son is a lot more likely to get on the local repeater now that he has gotten over his mike fright. Talking over the Internet is no big deal for him. Talking to mobiles in London on the Internet is a VERY big deal for the kids!!!
I see ILink as a great tool for demo'ing ham radio. If you can't get to a gateway with an HT, you can just plug a laptop into a phone jack and dial up an ISP.
Another chap from Iowa that I talked with last night also has an IRLP node going. He reported that there was a very large net of young hams going on IRLP. Once the conference code is perfected for ILink, I hope we can see something like that here, too.
Contact: wf0h@arrl.net
It sounds a lot like true radio, and is much like working through linked repeaters.
I do see one way you might use it in an emergency. You can command the ILink gateway to connect to another specific gateway if you know the codes and the gateway number. This might be real useful late at night if you have lots of dead repeaters in your area.
The Internet is becoming more of an omni-present utility. Once the net becomes as ubiquitous and reliable as AC power lines, ILink , IRLP, and similar applications might become a bigger part of emergency traffic handling.
But what ILink is, is FUN! My teenaged Technician ham loves it. I just got a gateway on the air yesterday, and this morning I had a nice chat with a YL in upstate NY during my commute to work.
Yes, I am sure that we Extras (the new ones, the "real" ones, and the "real, real" ones like me that had to draw schematics on the test in the FCC office) will have to do our best to transition ILink devotees to "real" radio. I have noticed that my son is a lot more likely to get on the local repeater now that he has gotten over his mike fright. Talking over the Internet is no big deal for him. Talking to mobiles in London on the Internet is a VERY big deal for the kids!!!
I see ILink as a great tool for demo'ing ham radio. If you can't get to a gateway with an HT, you can just plug a laptop into a phone jack and dial up an ISP.
Another chap from Iowa that I talked with last night also has an IRLP node going. He reported that there was a very large net of young hams going on IRLP. Once the conference code is perfected for ILink, I hope we can see something like that here, too.
Contact: wf0h@arrl.net