What is the difference between EchoLink and IRLP?
EchoLink and IRLP are two separate systems that acheive a common purpose: Interconnecting Amateur stations by voice over the Internet. The IRLP system consists of RF gateways (called nodes) and reflectors. Each node is either a simplex link or a link to a repeater (like an EchoLink Sysop node); there is no direct access from a PC. Each node supports only one connection at a time, but numerous reflectors are available (like EchoLink conference servers) to support roundtables and nets. IRLP node owners purchase and install a custom interface board that comes with a special edition of the Linux software package on which the IRLP software runs. Each node has a 4-digit number, and one node can be linked to another using DTMF codes, similar to EchoLink. IRLP nodes can be customized by writing Linux shell scripts. If you (or your club) are interested in setting up an RF gateway for both EchoLink and IRLP, a good choice might be EchoIRLP. EchoIRLP is a software package that can be added on to
