
Maybe conversation just paused when your connection was announced.

If you're disconnecting because you connected and didn't immediately hear any activity, you're doing it wrong. Similarly, why would you connect and then immediately disconnect? If you're having technical difficulties with your audio, use the echolink test server until you have it fixed. You shouldn't expect to connect to a repeater via echolink and refuse to talk either. You wouldn't walk into a restaurant, stand in the middle of the dining room, and stare at people, and then refuse to sit at a table. If you are not going to talk on this two way medium, why are you bothering to participate at all? To say the least, if I see you connecting to my repeater and disconnecting and not saying anything when directly spoken to, you're going to end up on my blacklist and not allowed to connect at all. Yes, connecting without saying anything is rude. And I can't call out while you are connected either, even if there are multiple slots. So you are going to now sit there and just listen, taking up a slot that a real live person could have used. So all these "listen only" users are constantly connecting and disconnecting, getting announced each time, and not saying a word.Īdditionally, many repeaters have a limited number (sometimes only one) of available connection slots. And now you're going to drop the connection without saying anything? That also is announced. Now you won't talk to us? Why did you bother connecting. EchoLink is a two-way system by design, and there is no mechanism to validate listen-only stations.Īs a repeater owner, people who connect and say nothing are beyond irritating. No "SWL" (listen-only) capability is supported. Perhaps the policy would be clearer if it were written this way: I hear stations connect to nodes regularly without saying anything. I don't think that they mean that you aren't allowed to connect and not talk. "We don't support a way for a non licensed station to listen only." Anyone can buy a radio and listen without being licensed to talk on it and there is no way technologically that you can prevent them from listening. Contrast that with "traditional" short wave listeners. You logistically can not listen to this system without also being allowed to talk on it. You can't use the echo link system without being a validated licensed amateur. EchoLink is a two-way system by design, and there is no mechanism to validate listen-only stations. No "SWL" (listen-only) access is permitted.
WHAT IS ECHOLINK FULL
The full access policy states (my emphasis):
