Our club is looking to add internet linking to our 440 repeater and debating between IRLP and EchoLink. IRLP has about 3,000 stations worldwide while EchoLink lists over 2,000 repeaters and 200 conference servers. Audio quality tends to be better on IRLP since they have more control over repeaters and frown on systems that don't strip courtesy tones. What are your real-world experiences with both systems?

We've run both for 5 years. IRLP's use of CTCSS/COS signalling instead of VOX is one of its greatest innovations. EchoLink can get chatty during nets when multiple nodes ping-pong. IRLP is rock solid for emergency communications.

Links are controlled manually by users entering access codes. IRLP uses simple 4-digit node numbers via DTMF, EchoLink can connect multiple stations simultaneously. Both have their place - depends on your club's needs.

Consider EchoIRLP if you want both! It's essentially allowing one interface to run two separate linking systems using the same hardware. Best of both worlds, though setup is more complex.