Nome IRLP/SPARC Node

IRLP Transmits: 147.81 - 25 watts
IRLP Receives: 145.11 PL Tone: 100 hz on both tx & rx
Site Coordinates: 64-31.1' x 165-22.4'
Antenna: Aprox 2 db gain, 30 ft AGL
Date of File: 10-26-07

This is a very simple site. It is a trasceiver interfaced to the internet. Being a transceiver, it does not transmit and receive at the same time and thus is NOT usable as a local repeater. --AL7X

IRLP Comes to Nome! - by Nate Perkins KL3NP

IRLP is the Internet Radio Linking Project. It is ham radio communications all over the world using the Internet to provide the link. One can talk to a Ham in Kotzebue, or a Ham in South Africa, right from your handheld radio in the comfort of your home, car, or bicycle! Or, if you prefer, you can call a Reflector, and you can talk to the Ham in Kotzebue AND the Ham in South Africa, at the same time.

IRLP came to Nome over 2 years ago. Recently, a change was made here to allow IRLP users a much friendlier to use system. The equipment all belongs to SPARC, and Nate Perkins, KL3NP, is the custodian/administrator for this system. At left is the Icy View Fire Station. One of those antennas is the IRLP's.

The IRLP "node" is nothing more than a computer with a working hard drive, average RAM, a sound card, and a NIC. The computer has installed a proprietary IRLP card, and this is where the magic is made. Further equipment needed is a node radio ( 2 meters in this case), an antenna, and power supply. The computer NIC is plugged into a cable modem, hence the internet link. It basically works like this:

Transmitted audio from your radio is received by the node radio. The received audio is taken in and processed by the IRLP card as data....or packets, as they call it. This stream of data, or packets is digitally regenerated to the NIC, where it leaves the computer out on the Internet. Wherever you might be calling (user selectable), this data stream is earmarked for that specific site (relate it to sending an email to a friend...it only goes there). Once this data stream of packets is routed to its specific site, it comes in via the Internet connection there, where the IRLP card re-converts the data to audio, sends it out the sound card, where it is tapped and run to that nodes radio. The node radio transmitter is keyed, and your audio is played over the node radio. The whole process is repeated when the person you are calling returns his call to you.

You will not know you are not in the same town, perhaps the same building, talking. The audio is clear, the connection is solid, and there is very minimal delay, mostly unnoticeable.

Currently, the IRLP node in Nome is a simplex node, meaning it does not hear and transmits at the same time. So that more people can use it, pehaps those with camps further out of town; the old Maggiore VHF repeater currently sitting south of Skookum pass, has been linked. This is a standalone repeater, not part of the normal, linked SPARC repeater network.

Please feel free to use the IRLP node in Nome, it is there for all Hams to enjoy! If you are new to the IRLP, I might suggest you tune in and listen for a bit, so you can get an idea of what it is all about. At any time, you many simply make a call for a QSO, or you may answer another Ham you might hear. Or, if there is no activity, you may simply dial up someone you wish to talk to, and do just that. A whole lot of information concerning and relating to IRLP can be seen on the Internet at http://www.irlp.net . With some looking, you will find the Nome node, number 3537, listed there. You will also notice there are nearly 2,000 nodes world-wide, most any of which you can talk to. The Nome node, #3537, is accessed on VHF:
147.81 (irlp transmit); offset -2.7 mhz meaning irlp receive 145.11 mhz. A PL tone of 100 hz is required.

I can answer any questions you might have about IRLP, its use in Nome, and its great fun! Please call me at any time.

73, Nate Perkins, KL3NP

Note by AL7X: The above article was edited 10/25/2007 to reflect current frequencies, tones etc and few changes since the article was written in 2002.

AL7X