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I enjoyed our QSO today and per your request here is the name/ID of the
Echolink-repeater's operator, Paul Schipp - KØWRU.
I always enjoy making "RF" contacts using the echolink although I have been
reading some conflicting viewpoints about Echolink with regard to if it is
REALLY "HAM".
Allow me to add my comments. As a new ham, I recognize that QSOs via the
"wired" aspect of echolink (bypassing RF) isn't "technically" HAM However,
In my view Echolink IS and WILL CONTINUE to be a valuable tool.
Let me share some of my own Echolink experiences. First it allows me to
"practice" operating procedures, although most of these contacts are really
"chatroom". Occasionally I make a "REAL" QSO when a ham connects to the
echo link using RF; in fact, today I made my first REAL overseas QSO today
(BRAZIL) using my HTX2Ø2 to connect to using K0WRU's 147.925 machine.
Recently, I "chatted" with a HAM in Kuwait that uses the Echolink to QSO his
buddies on the US West Coast because rooftop antennas were ordered taken
down after the Gulf War.
I "chatted" with a HAM living in an apartment in TelAviv that uses Echolink
to avoid RFI to neighbors.
Another "HAM" on a ranch in NZ uses echolink allowing him to use a HT to
connect to his "shack" and links a local repeater.
Finally, my non-HAM 6th grader son was able to practice a few French phrases
using Echolink to contact France (I was probably more excited about this
than he was).
I guess the number of applications and uses are only limited to the
imagination and ingenuity of the HAM operators experimenting with this
particular mode of communication. And after all, isn't this what HAM is all
about? The hobby has certainly come a long way since the days of winding
wires around oatmeal boxes!
Anyway, as far as Im concerned, I'm happy that fine people like KØRWU
operate repeaters (I'll call them HYBRID systems) that link to the internet.
I guess there are always some that are stubbornly loyal to their old
technology i.e., rear wheel drive, phonograph records, 35mm photography,
IBM selectric typewriters, ... you get the idea. New ideas always meet
resistance and echolink is one of those.
But how else is new blood ever going to be exposed or attracted to Amateur
Radio unless they can be wooed away from the internet. I'm happy that I
finally pursued this childhood interest even though it took over 3Ø years.
BTW, since the only "rig" I own is the 2 meter HT, echolink certainly
expands my range.
73's Stephen KCØNIE
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