40 4 40 #21 Echolink

This is the latest in a series of blogs chronicling my journey toward turning 40 in March. To get myself "ready" I am trying 40 new things! You can read all the entries under the label 40 4 40.

I've decided that I love talking on the radio. The Ham Radio that is. And it's weird that this love came from my dad but yet I'm not able to talk to him unless I'm with him (or a whole lot closer to him). Yes, he and I talk often on the telephone but it's not the same thing!

There is a program that fixes this though, called Echolink! Using the internet, I can call in to the repeater in Big Bear. Or just listen to what's happening there, I guess. I started playing with it this past weekend thinking it'd be fun to surprise dad today, on his birthday, with a call on the radio!

My first lesson was that Echolink only operates on PCs. BUT there's a Mac program that basically lets you use the function of Echolink. I really don't get the technical stuff but that's okay! So, I downloaded Echoham and got myself validated as an actual Ham licensee. And it didn't work. :(

I tried several times, several ways and gave up. It's a pretty basic program so I figured my computer just didn't like it or something. Today, I told Dad of my intentions to surprise him, and he helped me figure out the issue. It didn't like being wireless. I connected the cable direct to the computer, and I was connected!!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good connection and Dad only heard a few of my words. But I could hear him just fine!! We didn't want to clutter the repeater - it's snowing there and roads are closing and such - so we went back to the telephone to say our goodbyes. Dad needed to deal with cold and snow anyway. His kind of birthday. Not mine!!

I think this is the last of my new things to involve ham radio. I foresee connecting when I want to listen for some reason - perhaps during an emergency and I want to know Dad's okay without tying up his phone - but I think I'll just wait until I get there in June to talk to Dad on the radio again! Oh, wait, March, when he's here for my birthday!!