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EchoLink Configuration

In addition to connecting to the AllStarLink network, ASL3 also has the capability to register as a node on the EchoLink network. Review the information on their pages to find out how to get started with creating a node on their network.

From an Asterisk/app_rpt node, EchoLink connections look just like AllStarLink connections.

All EchoLink node numbers are padded to 6 digits and then prefixed with a 3. For example, EchoLink node 1234 would be 3001234 (3 + 001234), EchoLink node 12345 would be 3012345 (3 + 012345), and EchoLink node 123456 would be 3123456 (3 + 123456). As you can see, we have reserved AllStarLink node numbers with a leading 3 for the EchoLink number space.

To connect to EchoLink node 9999 you would dial *3 followed by 3009999.

For users originating from an EchoLink node using EchoLink supplied software, nothing changes for them, they just dial the 4-6 digit EchoLink node number assigned to your AllStarLink system and they get connected!

There are some steps required in order to configure your AllStarLink node to connect to the EchoLink network. Please ensure you have followed all the steps below.

By default, the EchoLink channel driver, chan_echolink is not loaded in Asterisk. You will need to edit /etc/asterisk/modules.conf and change the noload to load for chan_echolink.so:

noload  = chan_echolink.so          ; Echolink Channel Driver disabled

becomes:

load  = chan_echolink.so            ; Echolink Channel Driver enabled

Once you have enabled the module, you will need to restart Asterisk with sudo systemctl restart asterisk. You may want to do this after you finish editing the rest of the configuration files, to avoid un-necessary errors while your configuration is incomplete.

Router and Firewall Configuration

If you are behind a NAT router, please make sure the inbound ports for EchoLink are correctly forwarded to your AllStarLink node. The required ports are:

5198/UDP                            ; rtp audio port
5199/UDP                            ; rtcp (control) data port

Additionally, if you are running a firewall on your node, be sure to allow those same ports. If you are using the ASL3 Appliance, you will need to add these ports to the Cockpit Firewall.

Current documentation on what ports need to be forwarded, and troubleshooting information can be found at https://echolink.org/firewall_solutions.htm and https://echolink.org/firewall-friendly.htm.

Configure echolink.conf

To activate the EchoLink channel driver, all that's required is a properly formatted configuration file. A base configuration file has been included with ASL3, and is located at /etc/asterisk/echolink.conf.

The important settings to configure are as follows:

[el0]
call = INVALID                      ; Change this!
pwd = INVALID                       ; Change this!
name = YOUR NAME                    ; Change this!
qth = INVALID                       ; Change this!
email = INVALID                     ; Change this!
node = 000000                       ; Change this!
; Data for EchoLink Status Page
lat = 0.0                           ; Latitude in decimal degrees
lon = 0.0                           ; Longitude in decimal degrees
freq = 0.0                          ; not mandatory Frequency in MHz
tone = 0.0                          ; not mandatory CTCSS Tone (0 for none)
power = 0                           ; 0=0W, 1=1W, 2=4W, 3=9W, 4=16W, 5=25W, 6=36W, 7=49W, 8=64W, 9=81W (Power in Watts)
height = 0                          ; 0=10 1=20 2=40 3=80 4=160 5=320 6=640 7=1280 8=2560 9=5120 (AMSL in Feet)
gain = 0                            ; Gain in db (0-9)
dir = 0                             ; 0=omni 1=45deg 2=90deg 3=135deg 4=180deg 5=225deg 6=270deg 7=315deg 8=360deg (Direction)

astnode = 1999                      ; Change this!

Use the relevant settings from EchoLink, and your station configuration to configure the options above. The astnode= setting is your AllStarLink node number that is configured on this server (that is where EchoLink connections will be bridged to).

There are other settings in echolink.conf that you can adjust as necessary. See the echolink.conf page for more information.

Completing Setup

Once you have configured your echolink.conf, don't forget to restart Asterisk with sudo systemctl restart asterisk.service to effect the changes. Within a few minutes, the node should show up on https://echolink.org/logins.jsp.

Additional rpt.conf Configuration Options

There are additional configuration options in rpt.conf that customize how your EchoLink node interacts with your AllStarLink node. These options are:

See those options for more information on what they adjust.

Connectivity Issues

When debugging EchoLink connectivity issues with your AllStarLink node, remember the following:

  • Never run another EchoLink application (cell phone/tablet/Windows/Mac/etc.) using the same network as your AllStarLink node. This will lead to problems with one or the other not being able to connect to/register/use the EchoLink servers or other EchoLink nodes.

  • If using the EchoLink application on your mobile device (cell phone/tablet/etc.), make sure that the EchoLink application is not set to run/is not running in the background. Having the application running in the background can cause problems with your AllStarLink node not being able to connect to/register/use the EchoLink servers or other EchoLink nodes.

Same Network

Same network refers to the the public IP address that both your AllStarLink node AND the device running the EchoLink application are using, even if they are on different subnets internally. The public IP is what the EchoLink server/network sees and uses when communicating with your node/device.

Caveats

The chan_echolink driver currently:

  • Does not process chat text
  • Only recognizes a few remote text commands
  • Does not have a busy, deaf or mute feature
  • Does not have a banned or private station list. Access controls are rudimentary and on a per station basis
  • Does not have an admin list, only local 127.0.0.1 access
  • Does not have a customizable welcome text message
  • Does not support login or connect timeouts
  • Does not have a max TX time limit
  • Does not support activity reporting
  • Does not have event notifications
  • Does not have any stats
  • Does not have any callsign prefix restrictions
  • Does not have any loop detection
  • Allows "doubles" (newer version of the software are preventing this. Work in progress)

Debugging

The chan_echolink channel driver supports debugging output. With debugging turned on, chan_echolink will output various messages to the terminal related to connecting to nodes, etc.

See the Debug Level page for information on how to turn on debugging for the chan_echolink driver.

Remote Commands

The following remote text commands can be sent to the chan_echolink driver running on your AllStarLink node using netcat:

Command Function
o.conip <IPaddress> Request a connect
o.dconip <IPaddress> Request a disconnect
o.rec Turn on/off recording

No Documentation

These commands are supported in the code, but their actual usage is unknown. If you have specific examples showing how these commands are used, please file an issue to help document it.