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Will IRN replace conventional hamradio?

During the weekend, I went hiking with my wife to the Passadiços do Paiva located in the north of Portugal. Of course I wanted to take my new Radio-Tone RT4 with me. I thought the signal would be weak and impossible to connect, but I was surprised that I got 4G for most of the time. Some spots had 3G coverage only. Halfway, I got a GPRS signal only but I was still able to stay connected to the IRN.

As I explained in previous posts, to use the IRN, or Zello, a GPRS connection will do just fine. Many hams, that are still reluctant to try the IRN, always have the same old-school speech: “In case of a crisis, where cell networks are down, the IRN radios will be useless”. Well my friends, it is true. The network radios will be useless. No one is saying that IRN is here to replace conventional hamradio. It is an add-on. And now tell me. During the course of your entire life, how many times did you experience a network shortage due to a natural disaster? I know, as hams, we always have the spirit to be the last resource in providing emergency communications. Well, keep the spirit, but let yourself enjoy the IRN for the 99,9999% of the time that cell towers are at service. Take a backup VHF handheld with if you think it’s going to save your ass. Live more the present because technology is giving us hams a whole new playground that we never had access to before.

by CT1EIZ

 

 

 

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Add Motorola-like sounds to your Zello radio

Using Zello is exciting! With a network radio like the TM-7 or the T298s is even more exciting. But if you add real world trunking end-of-transmission sounds, it will give you a sense of true radio operation.

End of any transmission (mine and 3rd party):

Start of my transmission:

Beginning of 3rd party transmission:

Download here the full sound library for your radio. Watch the final result using a Sure F22.

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Using Echolink with Inrico TM-7

Echolink operation is possible with the Inrico TM-7. But until the developers of Echolink add the possibility to map the PTT button of the radio to key transmission, you need to tap the touchscreen once to start transmitting, and tap again to stop. From a usability perspective, it works fine. We are just not used with the technique. Anyway, we are hams! We always like improvising!

You can always send an e-mail to Echolink and request such functionality!

Note: To install Echolink on your TM-7, you will need to install an app called “Set Orientation”. You need to have it set to “Reverse landscape”. You will understand why! 🙂

Enjoy the video below.