IRLP and EchoLink offer very stable worldwide communications between licenced Amateur Radio operators utilising specialised hardware and software to link repeaters, simplex nodes and computers via the internet.
The IRLP system also offers reflectors. A reflector allows multiple nodes to connect to it simultaneously and retransmits what it receives from any one node to all other nodes connected. Reflector numbers start with a 9 and the last digit being a channel on that reflector. For example, node 9002 would connect to reflector 9000 on channel 2. Each reflector has 10 channels numbered 0 to 9 with each channel isolated from each other.
EchoLink offers a similar system to the IRLP reflectors called *CONFERENCE SERVERS*
The main difference between IRLP and EchoLink is that IRLP can only be accessed by radios, where as EchoLink allows access via computer software or smart phone apps.
There are thousands of nodes and users around the world, all available to you with a few presses of your DTMF capable radio.
| WARC IRLP Node 6260 |
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To connect to another IRLP node simply key up, announce your callsign and intention then dial the desired node number via DTMF. To disconnect from a node dial ’73’. A list of current nodes, reflectors and their status is available via the IRLP Status Website Node 6260 Status: |
| WARC EchoLink VK2RWG-R (Node 179190) |
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Connecting to another EchoLink node or station is much the same as IRLP. You key up your radio, announce your callsign and intention, then dial the node number via DTMF prefixed with a ‘*’ (star). For example, dialling *95092 would connect you to the *AUSSIE* Conference Server. To disconnect from a node dial ’73’ You can see the status of connected EchoLink nodes via the EchoLink Website VK2RWG Status:
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The WARC EchoIRLP node also supports some additional features. See below for the DTMF strings and what they can do for you
| DTMF String | Function |
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| 9999 | Connects to the IRLP Echo Reflector |
| *9999 | Connects to the EchoLink *ECHOTEST* server |
| #0 | Announces the current node status |
| #1 | Announces the current time |
| #2 |
Current weather in Wagga including temp, rainfall, wind, barometric pressure and humidity |
| #3 |
Current weather in Griffith including temp, rainfall, wind, barometric pressure and humidity |
| #4 |
Current weather in Temora including temp, rainfall, wind, barometric pressure and humidity |