Internet Radio Linking Project

Nate Duehr – WY0X

American Radio Relay League -

Rocky Mountain Region Convention

June 1st, 2003

Opening

• Good Morning! What we’ll cover…

• What is IRLP?

• Demonstration of IRLP

• How do I play too?

Description of IRLP

• IRLP is a linking system, which links one radio to another using the Internet as the transport medium for the link.

• IRLP is used to link Amateur RADIOS! Thereby linking Amateur Radio Operators, together!

Goal of IRLP

To create a simple-to-use, reliable, radio linking system that links Amateur Radio stations together, Worldwide.

(And it’s amazing what happens when you can talk to Amateurs half-way around the world on a daily basis!)

What is IRLP?

• History: Five years ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

• (oops wrong intro...)

• Dave Cameron VE7LTD decided to try using the Internet for linking ham radio stations… a couple of years later…

VE7LTD and VK2YXVE7LTD and VK2YX

IRLP Definitions – Two Important Ones

• IRLP Node – A PC, IRLP interface board and Amateur Radio on a specific frequency in a particular location.

• IRLP Reflector – A computer on a high-speed Internet connection (typically better than 1 Mb/s, usually 100Mb/s in a large data-center or corporate location) used to link multiple IRLP Nodes together at the same time.

IRLP Facts

• Today 955 IRLP “nodes” link Amateur radio stations together, Worldwide.

• IRLP covers almost every continent with stations in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Antartica.

• Ham Radio Operators use IRLP daily to communicate with other Amateurs all over the world.

History of IRLP

• November 1998, Dave Cameron was experimenting with Windows-based Iphone linking technology trying to create a reliable linking system.

• Increasingly frustrated with stability issues, Dave decided to build a Linux-based system using off-the-shelf software.

History of IRLP

• Dave selected the public-domain licensed SpeakFreely for Unix as the platform to build upon.

• Using shell-scripts and SpeakFreely and a small hardware board for sensing receiver activity, DTMF tones, and keying the radio, Dave creates IRLP.

• IRLP takes off in a big way…

More History of IRLP

• There are now 955 total IRLP nodes, on almost every continent (including two in Antartica!) as of May 31st, 2003.

• Throughout the entire history of IRLP, the system has been designed for easy operation, stability and automatic updates to the software. (More about this later.)

• Numerous spin-off projects have been fostered by the open-source nature of the software.

How do I use IRLP?

• IRLP was designed to be easy-to-operate with simple DTMF (TouchTone) commands from a hand-held radio.

• Dial a 4-digit node number, you’re connected!*

• Dial a disconnect code, you’re disconnected.

• It’s that easy!

How do I use Reflectors?

• Reflectors are giant “conference bridges in the sky” that act just like other nodes, except that you never know who might be listening/connected.

• Dial the Reflector’s node number (9XXX) and talk normally.

• Dial the disconnect code to hang-up.

• Like in any large linked repeater system, PAUSE after keying up for all the links to go live, and wait between transmissions for others.

DEMO!

• We’ll talk to some folks on Reflector 9209, and demonstrate the ease of placing a node-to-node call or two.

• And then we’ll get down to the details…

Neat Stuff

• Current system status… status.irlp.netLists all nodes, contact information for each, Reflectors and who’s connected – live.

• System maps… maps.irlp.net.

• Mailing list irlp@irlp.net - link from www.irlp.net to sign up

How do I build a node?

• Read up on the system and use it. www.irlp.net is the best source of information.

• Buy an IRLP interface kit from Dave.

• Find an old PC kicking around the ham shack.

• Find a good solid radio.

• Follow the step-by-step instructions provided with the kit!

What do you get?

• IRLP CD-ROM* to load your PC with RedHat Linux. (Currently using RedHat 7.3 with RedHat 8.0/9.0 support coming soon.)

• IRLP Interface Board -- hooks to radio and PC’s parallel port.

IRLP Hardware - All

IRLP Hardware – HW Interface

What do you provide?

• IBM PC running RedHat Linux*

• Pentium 90 or greater

• 32 MB RAM

• Dedicated Internet Connection (typically broadband)

IRLP is FUN!

• IRLP is fun both for anyone to use, or to build your own node.

• Any questions?

• Further questions after you leave? E-mail us at questions@irlp.net