The Station List area of the screen shows each station that is currently logged on to the system, and each station's current status.
Stations are frequently joining or leaving the system, or changing their status from "On" (available for a QSO) to "Busy" (already in a QSO). However, the Station List updates itself periodically, so it always shows fresh information.
Two different views of the Station List are available: Index View and Explorer View. You can switch from one view to the other at any time by selecting one of the tabs at the bottom of the Station List, or pressing Alt-PageDown.
Although both views display the same list of logged-on stations, Index View shows the stations as a single list, whereas Explorer View organizes the stations into various folders and sub-folders, similar to Microsoft Windows Explorer. Many operators will prefer Explorer View, particularly when many stations are logged on at once. Each view is described in detail below.
In Index View, all logged-on stations are displayed as a scrollable list.
The heading above the list shows the number of stations currently logged on, and the percentage of stations whose status is "busy".
Columns in the list show the station's type and callsign, status, local time, location, and node number. These columns are described in detail below.
Station: Displays the callsign and an icon indicating the station type. Station types are repeaters, links, users, and conference servers. Note that repeater links have a -R suffix after the callsign, and simplex links have a -L suffix. Each station type is also shown in a different color; stations that are on your Alarms list are displayed in red. Use the keyboard or mouse to scroll or select a station in the list. To connect to a station, double-click it, or select it and press Enter.
Status: Indicates whether the station is available for a QSO. "On" indicates that the station is free, or ready. "Busy" indicates that the station is already in a QSO or is otherwise not accepting connections.
Time: Shows the local time, as reported by each station. This is helpful for understanding time differences among stations around the world. Since this is the time to which the station's PC clock is set, you may notice some errors due to some PC clocks being incorrectly set. (A common error is to confuse AM with PM).
Location: Shows the station's location or description, as entered by the operator. If this information was entered by the operator in uppercase, it is displayed here in mixed case to save space. Operators sometimes use this field to show comments about their current status. A number in parentheses usually indicates the number of other stations that are currently connected.
Node: Shows the node number of the station. Node numbers are uniquely assigned. Knowing a station's node number is useful if you wish to connect to it using DTMF commands over a simplex link or repeater.
The list can be sorted several different ways. By default, the list is sorted by the Station column (station type and callsign). All repeater links are shown first, followed by simplex links, then users, then conference servers. Within each station type, stations are listed alphabetically by callsign.
To sort on a different column, click the column heading at the top. If you click the same heading a second time, the list will be sorted in reverse order.
The Index View can also be navigated using the keyboard. For details, see Keyboard Shortcuts.
Stations that have just logged on since the last update are highlighted in yellow. Stations whose status has changed (from free to busy, or vice versa) since the last update are shown with their status column highlighted in yellow. Stations that have been added to your Alarms list are shown in red.
EchoLink provides several options for filtering items that are shown in the Index View. These options are available on the Listing tab of the Preferences screen. For details, see Listing Tab.
In Explorer View, all logged-on stations are displayed within each of several groups of folders and sub-folders. This presentation is familiar to users of Microsoft Windows Explorer, although the information displayed is stations, rather than files.
Many of the folders contain sub-folders. To see the list of sub-folders, click the small plus sign to the left of the folder list on the left-hand side. If you double-click on a folder, its contents are displayed on the right-hand side. A folder can contain stations, sub-folders, or a combination of both. The number in parentheses after a folder name indicates the total number of stations it contains, including those in any sub-folders.
Within each folder, stations are listed alphabetically. An icon indicates whether the station is a repeater link, simplex link, conference server, or user. Busy stations are shown in blue. Moving the mouse over a station's name displays additional information about the station.
To locate and connect to a station, open the appropriate folder until the station is displayed in the list on the right-hand side, then double-click the station's callsign.
The Explorer View can also be navigated using the keyboard. For details, see Keyboard Shortcuts.
Explorer View also includes special folders for Alarms, Favorites, and New stations, containing information not available in Index View. Each type of folder is described below.
Locations
This folder contains logged-on stations organized by continent and country. Because of the large number of stations in the United States, U.S. stations are further broken down by call area.
Note: Location information is based solely on ITU callsign prefix, not on other categorizations such as DXCC entities. For this reason, stations in offshore territories appear in same the folder as stations in their recognized nation, even if they may be located in a different part of the world.
Node Types
This folder contains sub-folders for each of the four node types. Each station in the Locations folder is also listed here.
New
This folder contains stations that have logged on to EchoLink since the last time the list was "refreshed". Normally, the list refreshes itself every 5 minutes. You can also refresh the list by pressing F5, or clicking the Refresh icon in the toolbar. Each time the list is refreshed, the contents of the New folder are cleared and updated. Stations in the New folder also appear in the Locations and Node Types folders.
Alarms
This folder contains stations that have been added to your Alarms list. These stations may or not be currently logged on. If a station is logged off, its callsign appears in gray text, rather than black or blue, and its icon is dimmed. An alarm will sound when EchoLink detects that any of the stations in this list log on, log off, or change status. (This notification is not immediate, since it depends on periodic updates to the Station List.)
Favorites
This folder contains stations that you have placed into it for future reference. This makes it easy to locate certain "favorite" stations, even when many stations are logged on. You can create your own sub-folders in Favorites to organize stations into groups. You can also have each new QSO added to Favorites automatically; see Preferences.
Recent QSOs
This folder contains stations you've recently connected with. The 20 most recent stations are listed, in alphabetical order, without any duplicates.
Adding Stations to Alarms or Favorites
You can add a station to Alarms or Favorites in several ways:
Deleting Stations from Alarms or Favorites
To delete a station from Alarms or Favorites, select the station(s) and press the Delete key, or right-click and choose Delete.
Saved Favorites
Your Favorites are stored in a text file called "favorite.txt" in the same directory as EchoLink.exe. You may be able to edit this file directly if you wish.
Note: Outside of the U.S., "Favorites" appears as "Favourites".