FPV-HAM TechNet Conference :: Echolink Software

The FPV-HAM TechNet Conference is hosted by an Echolink Conference Bridge, one of the easiest ways to connect to the conference is to use the software provided by Echolink.

Remember you need to be a licensed HAM operator to be able to use this software.

You can visit the Echolink website to download the Echolink software:

http://www.echolink.org/register_data.jsp

In order to download the software you have to submit your valid call sign and your email address. After you submitted the form, you will be presented with the download page. At the time of writing this page, the latest version available is 2.0.908.

The Echolink software is designed for Windows based operating systems, however we believe it will work well on Apple computers as well using the Windows emulator - as long as the software has access to the sound card and the network card on.

Once the software has been downloaded and installed, the use is very easy. Run the software and under the Tools -> Setup fill in the fields for call sign, Password (make one up), Name, Location and make sure to type in a valid email address. Click OK.

At this point you require to validate your call sign with a copy of your License or Certificate. Please go to the Validation page: http://www.echolink.org/validation and type in your call sign again. At this point your call sign will show up in the table below, check the button in front of it and fill out the rest of the form - including uploading the image or PDF of your License.

Now you will have to sit and wait, usually in less than 24 hours you will receive an email that your call sign has been validated. Now you are ready to connect to the conference.

When you have the software up and running you need to follow the setup steps to verify if your Internet connection allows the necessary ports through. If you get an error here, you will need to do a port forwarding on your Internet router to forward ports UDP 5198-5199 to your computers internal IP address.

After that is completed, you can use the *ECHOTEST* Audio server to verify if all your systems are working properly. This just like the Skye test connection will record everything you are saying and will play it back to you. If you can hear your own voice, then you are good to go.

To connect to the FPV-HAM TechNet Conference you will need to make sure the time is right as the server is running only between certain hours - and please calculate in the time difference. Visit the Schedule page to check if the conference is on or not. If not, you will not find it.

So your time is right, everything works perfectly and you are ready to connect - so click on the Conferences on the left side and on the right scroll down till you find the *FPV-CONF* conference as per the picture below:

if you doubleclick on the conference on the right side, it will connect you to it.

The transmit button on the top left corner is an ON/OFF button, please make sure after you finish talking you turn it off. Better yet, through the Tools -> Preferences -> Connections -> PTT Control make sure the swithces look like this:

In this case you will have to hold the Space Bar down on your computer while you are speaking and when you release it you stop transmitting.