⦿ ECHOLINK AND THE SCAN INTERNATIONAL

One of the outstanding developments in the field of Amateur Radio is the founding of echolink software some two decades ago by Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD.

Based on its website, EchoLink® software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate with one another over the Internet using streaming audio technology. The program allows worldwide connections between stations or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities.

Each installation of EchoLink can operate as a conference host in Sysop mode, with up to 99 other stations connected in a roundtable fashion if the internet connection has sufficient bandwidth to support it. In this configuration, the software runs under a specific amateur radio callsign, and there is no need to run extra software on a separate computer under a different IP address. 

Some EchoLink users have also set up dedicated conference servers explicitly designed to support large, continuous conferences, often dedicated to a particular theme or interest. These conference servers are listed separately in the Station List and have names beginning and ending with an asterisk (such as *CONF*).

Currently, SCAN International maintains at least four active Echolink Conference Servers worldwide. These are the following:

• *VA7INC* - managed and maintained in Canada,
• *SCANNESB* - managed and maintained in New York,
• *SCAN-AUS* - managed and maintained in Australia,
• *SCAN-PH* - managed and maintained in the Philippines 

In addition to these Conference Servers, many SCAN members maintain Echolink connectivity through iOS and Android Apps, single-user mode, simplex links, and repeaters.

The application of different modes of development in Amateur Radio communication is part of the thrusts of SCAN International in reaching people's lives as described in its primary radio club call sign, DX1EVM--Enthusiasts of Various Modes.