"charlesb" wrote in message
...

"Ryan, KC8PMX" wrote in message
...
Mike,

I do believe it does serve some purpose...... I have a friend that goes
to
Arizona every winter due to him and his wife's health issues and he does
not
have much there to use for equipment. He and I chat via Echolink on a
regular basis on the link point connected where he is at. I also have
developed some friendships with the people that frequent that access
point
(simplex access point, not a repeater one) as well. He is a 30+ year
Extra
class licensee so he CAN operate just about anywhere but only has
2m/70cm
access when he goes there.

In this case it is a very productive use of the system. In this
particular
circumstance we would never be able to communicate if it wasn't for the
system. Other than a little experimentation with it at first, I have
not
used it for much more than to communicate with him though.

You could say the same things if your friend had been using a cell-phone
or
regular telephone, Ryan.

Yeah, that is true, but anyone can do that.


You most especially could say the same things if they had been using ICQ
or
any other form of Internet chat.

You misread the point, the person at the other end in MY specific
circumstance is not on a computer, but a simplex connection. Pretty hard
for me to talk/type to him if he's not connected to the net from a computer,
but from a radio.


The fact that people use Echolink to successfully communicate does not
magically make the Internet connection "ham radio". An important
distinction to keep in mind is that our hobby is not called "Amateur
Communication", where any form of communication will serve but rather
"Amateur Radio", where the focus is solely upon radio communications.


Where the hell did I make that claim that it was ham radio. All I merely
claimed that the only use I saw for it was in the described situation I
presented. Other than that, I don't use it much at all.


The ARRL inadvertently created some confusion about this with thier
"communicator" promotions, a few years back.

And that has a direct tie to Echolink in which regard???


The fact that your friends have decided to slow down and reduce the audio
quality of thier Internet chat by hanging a radio on one end or the other
does not make that Internet communication "Ham Radio"... It just means
that
they are willing to put up with reduced performance in thier chat
activities, in order to have a "ham radio simulator" at one end or the
other.


Again, when the hell did I make the claim that it is "real ham radio?"


In the end, Echolink serves as an excuse not to use radio to communicate
"as
a ham", as in the case with your friends. It also very often serves as an
excuse not to learn more about the hobby and upgrade, as in the case of
the
hundreds, perhaps thousands of hams who instantly dropped plans to
upgrade,
or even to buy a radio upon discovering Echolink. Echolink devotees are
just
brimming over with excuses, but none of those excuses change the fact that
Echolink is an Internet chat, not ham radio.


Again, I never said I was a devotee of the damned thing, you seriously must
have gone off the deep end if you believe and associate all that you have
stated and connecting it with me. Again, I use it about once a month in the
winter months to keep track of my friend, and thats about it.



--
Ryan, KC8PMX
FF1-FF2-MFR-(pending NREMT-B!)
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