The ever changing face of Amateur Radio .…. WHAT ….. that's not Amateur Radio!!!

From CW to AM to SSB to Digital to the Internet.  Over the many years Amateur Radio has been around and prior to 'Ham Radio' there was always someone out there who knew that 'it' could be done better. Well this is still the case. We now see radio communications reaching new heights with signals being piped around the world to pop out in distant countries on their local repeaters, links and sometimes, private computers. We have seen ICQ and other personal computer to computer communications. There have been SSTV transmissions and Digital signals transmitted by radio. Now we can have all of these in the IRLP and EchoLink style communications through the Voice over the Internet protocol.

The EchoLink and ITRLP Computer Software is freely available off the Internet. These two systems are different and both have their benefits. If you are unable or unsure on what to do, just ask someone who is using one of these facilities. You may even get someone to assist and load the software onto your computer. Its not all that new nowadays, even the telecom suppliers use voice over the Internet for trunk calls.  'This is not Amateur Radio' I hear you say. Well, look into your log and see when you had your last DX contact. 

Today, things are moving so fast, many of us just don’t seem have the time to allocate to our hobby. We are traveling to and from work for many hours each week. The IRLP and EchoLink system allows us the option of traveling in our cars and communicating with these DX stations. These stations may also be mobile or portable. There is radio involvement in many cases. 

There is a need for those of us who do decide to travel and communicate to have a safe system.
 

 A fixed directional mic, an on/off PTT switch and a speaker in a position so you can hear the conversation will assist. You may look like your talking to yourself but it's better than holding the mic while driving. 

It's just amazing, driving to work down Great South Road, Manurewa, talking to Mike who is 20 miles north of London while listening on the side for his turn is John in Florida, driving home from work. Calling on the ZL1VK-R EchoLink node (station), Nigel ZL1UXD tells me that there are currently over 70 stations each day from all around the world calling. Many of these are answered but still many do go unanswered. This is especially during the day while some of us are at work. 

Give it a go, you may be surprised just how much fun it can be.