Internet Radio Linking Project Nate Duehr – WY0X American Radio Relay League - Rocky Mountain Region Convention June 1 st, 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 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 31 st, 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.net Lists all nodes, contact information for each, Reflectors and who’s connected – live. System maps… maps.irlp.net. Mailing list - link from to sign

How do I build a node? Read up on the system and use it. 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? us at