Subj : Re: EchoLink
To : Dennis Scott1:275/89.0
From : Brent Hendricks
Date : Thu May 22 2025 08:40 am
Good morning!
Depending on how much money you want to spend and how complex you want your system to be, there are several ways to get a Simplex stationm setup.
I run one here in Pensacola, FL (KF6HDJ-L <NODE 264334>) - Here is my system.
Radio: Yaesu FT 2980 (At 85)watts.
Antenna: Diamond X30A (Up 22 feet).
Computer Interface: RIGBlaster NOMIC.
USB Soundcard interface.
Software: Echolink Client in SysOp Mode on Windows 11.
Some considerations to improve mysetup.
Having a radio that can do 85W out of the box is nice, but outside of implementing and testing I would buy an external amplifier. Let it do the work and not the radio!
Get a radio with a dedicated DATA port, you can use this for a hardware carrier sense circuit so you do not have to rely on the Echolink clients VOX to send your signal over the internet.
Look in to a used Kenwood with built-in Echolink support, (As far as I know Kenwood is the only manufacture that has built in Echolink support).
If you want to get into a friendly BBS / Ham Radio competition. I check in to the East Coast Reflector's Trivia Net weekly. I would like to get a friendly competition going on my BBS. Check out the BBS in my signiture for more details.
