How It Works
AllStarLink connects nodes over the internet. A node is an FM repeater or a small home station, usually a Raspberry Pi with a radio interface. Each has a node number. Nodes can link to each other and to hubs, which gather many nodes together for nets.
Because the radio side is plain FM, any FM handheld or mobile works. There is nothing digital to learn and no ID to register for a user.
Audio quality is usually excellent, because the internet part is full-bandwidth and the radio part is ordinary FM.
Using It
The simplest way is through a repeater that’s already on AllStarLink: you talk on the repeater and whoever is linked hears you. Many linked repeaters let users connect and disconnect other nodes with touch-tone (DTMF) commands; the repeater owner publishes them.
Running your own node means a small computer, a radio or radio module, and an interface board, plus registering the node with AllStarLink. Your license covers the node’s transmitter, so you’re responsible for it like any station.
- AllStarLink ↗ — node lists, software and how-to.