IRLP

[Randy Mays]

I checked the calendar and realized it's time for my annual holiday  
message.

Things are going well here in Idaho.  We've gone several weeks now  
without a recorded case of moose trampling, but hypothermia remains a  
constant threat.

The one thing that helps get those of us left alive here through the  
winters is contact with the outside world via ham radio.  Due to ice  
storms, most HF antennas wind up as piles of twisted metal buried in  
the snow.  Repeater coverage is limited.  Once you've talked to the  
people in Pocatello, there's just Rexburg and they don't have that  
much to say either.

The one bright shining plus sign in all this has been the IRLP node.   
With it, we are able to speak to ham radio operators around the  
world.  Many of these ham radio operators live in places where it is  
warm, places that are a long way from Pocatello.

Contact with the Washington, DC area via IRLP is spotty at best.  I  
remember several years ago there were rumors AMRAD might have an IRLP  
node.  Whatever happened with that?

Regards, and Happy Holidays,

Randy

W6RAM