FRN is an analog-free online program that can connect users of the same program (basically) but also in a collaborative way with other types of Internet programs in order to exchange opinions and experiences on topics of discussion that arouse their interest. In the Greek FRN server, the objects of interest are exclusively the amateur radio with the participation of colleagues with a valid amateur radio license.

The network offers greater range to users who also use a transceiver.

With the FRN Client program, you can create a gateway station that connects a local mobile/handheld radio amateur channel to the network. The program must be running in “gateway mode” for this. If you are unable to create your own gateway and there is no gateway in your area, then you can use this program in “PC only mode” to talk to FRN users on the network. This software is free but there are some rules for using this software. These rules are created to keep the system as fun to use.

An Internet gateway, in simplest terms, is a computer that connects to the FRN network.

Gateways typically have an RF transceiver interface as well as an Internet connection.

Transceivers can range in size from a repeater transceiver to a low-power transceiver integrated into a gateway. An Internet gateway allows you to connect to other Internet gateways in the HELLAS-FRN network.

Internet gateways come in the form of an inexpensive Raspberry Pi computer or a computer running a Linux or windows operating system.

The operating frequencies (in MHz) are on VHF: 145.23750 or 145.28750 or 145.3375 and on UHF: 433.950 or 433.9625 or 433.975 or 433.9875 or 434.0125 or 434.025 or 434.0375 or 434.050.

There are corresponding frequencies in other bands for such operation according to the bandplan.

Simplex FM Internet Voice Gateway.

With the help of the internet and a transceiver connected to it.

The Hellas-FRN team, consisting of a limited number of fellow volunteers, with a daily effort to develop and support the whole effort and led by the server administrator and owner of the present website, SV0XAL.

https://www.freeradionetwork.eu/

The Hellenic server named hellas-frn.ddns.net is located in a data room with a line speed of 10Gbps. Measured speed 1Gbps, due to server hardware limitation. There is also a backup server named hellasfrn.ddns.net to support the main one, in case of disconnection for any reason. The transition as well as the restoration from one server to another is done automatically except in the case of the GRN program where you need to manually change the name of the server in each case.

The modulation type [mode] is analog FM Narrow.

https://hellas-frn.weebly.com and the new under development https://hellas-frn.net

Besides the others and from the page https://www.hellas-frn.net/frn-client

Besides the others and from the page https://www.hellas-frn.net/grn-client

a. From the page https://hellas-frn .weebly.com and directly at https://hellas-frn.net/registration

Instructions in video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGHUQaUi8jsand in 2 : https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vjW-X9o8Wg

b. There are two actions in a row that are done in order for someone to enter Hellas-FRN.

The first is the acquisition of a code that someone requests when they put their information in the program for the first time.

The critical elements are the token and the email.

Further down in the data form that has the code window, you don't put anything yet but click on request code.

This will be sent to the email you wrote above in the form.

Check this email frequently and when the code arrives, copy it into the data form window and press OK.

Only then can you access the global FRN network.

The second action now concerns access to the Hellas-FRN server which maintains locked rooms only for radio amateurs and should be approved after sending your license, but also for the specific email you used. This should be the same as what you put in the form with your details.

With administrator permission, with minimal common equipment and provided there is a geographic coverage gap.

The way communication is transmitted from the internet to pre-approved radio frequencies and vice versa.

A separate account with a different email is required because with the same account on two devices, one will be rejected. Currently using gmail does not return a program code. With other types of accounts (outlook, yahoo, etc) there is no problem.

If someone is inactive in the FRN application for more than 30 days, the system manager (not Hellas-FRN) suspends the credentials (validity of passwords) for account security reasons. The user applies for a new code to the same system manager and usually receives the same code in the same email. The normal system manager code works everywhere. The code of the alternative system manager only in it.

Via mobile app or PC it sounds globally, via RF it depends on the local range of the gateway.

Do you have a mobile phone, computer, transceiver? Then you probably have all the hardware you need to get started!

In addition to mobile phone access, all our members have amateur radio licenses and can use radio equipment, including hotspots and gateways, to connect to our multi-function system using analog and/or digital connections. Extends via droidstar from android & ios phones and from computer with dudestar in all digital Modes, but using ONLY Ham2 UHF and Ham4 VHF communication rooms. Even from raspberry with added sound card and microphone. Note that there is a ready iso for installation and use. For full details of the connections currently available, see our connections page: HERE

The transceiver in vhf uhf or other permitted frequencies, power supply, antenna, interface, computer with the FRN program, internet.

Simple analog wireless that tunes to the frequency of a gateway that exists in the area and is in range.

No, it's a simplex communication. And this is why when two stations are in the same area the gateway does not interfere and each radio relies on its own transmit power to hear each other.

NO it is an internet voice gateway.

Yes it is simplex

The pitch is 12.5KHz and the modulation is FM Narrow!!!

Absolutely nothing! Registration in Hellas-FRN is completely free! We do not expect anything for the services we provide.

The best way to donate is to use the system and enjoy a QSO with friends!

Of course in the trade in terms of P/D, and for the need to combine with an interface there are also suggestions on the U-HAM page.

Unanswered questions or possible technical problems with this FRN system or the programs offered

here they can be reported using the forum or directly via email.

The intended support email address is:hellas.frn@gmail.com

Yes, on the page: https://hellas-frn.net/registration and download a code from the European system manager: https://www.freeradionetwork.eu/. When using GRN android mobile app choose ORIGINAL SERVER.

New application to the system manager in the mail that was made for the first time and usually the code is always the same, sent to the same e-mail and by the same system manager.

Yes and for more information on the page https://www.hellas-frn.net/bridges

More information on the page: https://www.hellas-frn.net/frn-crosslinks

By installing the application on a computer or mobile from the corresponding location of the code request applications.

There are detailed instructions in the FB group, as well as video and illustrated instructions.

From the page https://hellas-frn.weebly.com or directly https://hellas-frn.net/registration

There is no such possibility because the network is only for radio amateurs with a proven valid license.

By logging in and staying on the HELLAS-FRN channel to compare data if you are already a Hellas-FRN Member.

The Hellas-FRN network is bridged directly with ZELLO ONLY on Ham1 and in HD quality and on the Hellas-FRN channel. Members of the network after entering the channel can initially only talk to the administrator, who will mark them in the program as "trusted" so that they can enter the active members list from the waiting list that was before. Once approved, they then talk to the entire network. The radio amateur callsign must be visible first for their recognition by other radio amateurs.

HELLAS-FRN

Across the network the same 20222.

This is Edwin, PA7FRN. From the last 3 letters of his badge came the name of the program created with his personal and long-term effort. The Free Radio Network expression refers to a generic expression that had to match his callsign for the honorific reasons.The expression Free is justified by the fact that there is no restriction to download and run the program once the passwords are obtained. It is a general communication tool with a very good management program. It depends on the server one needs to connect to, what security controls they put in place and how they manage user access to their server. Here arise the most important differences between Hellas-FRN and some other international servers that allow any use with any means of communication, even prohibited for use on the internet.

Antonios SV0XAL, hellas.frn@gmail.com

The request to receive the password is made to the "system manager" and the response time is his responsibility. The Greek server responds within 72 hours regarding the registration of new members, but does not issue passwords. The network can be used without registration from RF, DMR BM TG20222, YSF ID 17810, D-STAR, XLX165, Echolink, NXDN TG 20222, P25 TG 20222.

On the computer in the GRN application of the FRN in the second row on the magnifying glass symbol we click, if the servers appear then it works. It is not always certain that it gives codes in this phase as well.

By trial only. When everything is fine, receiving the code in the email is almost immediate. The email usually goes to spam and not to inbox.... beware!!!

The communications rooms are completely independent. The server has a total of 32.

There is a free room, GENERAL, for connecting and testing general access to Hellas-FRN, ONLY with the use of a computer and not with the combination of some P/D. The room is constantly checked. If abuse with P/D is detected, that account will be permanently banned from the server. There is also an acoustic rehearsal room, TEST [parrot]. Press start to repeat voice and stop to stop this function.

--DO NOT GO FOR QUICK PTT. Wait about 2 seconds after PTT and between transmissions when talking between modes.

--Fast typing may result in your mode not being picked up by other modes.

--Allow even more time during conversations when switching modes.

--Announce which mode you are entering. For example: "SV2SNH on DMR, listening", or "SV2SNH is listening to SV0XAL on D-Star"

--Don't be afraid to say hello to unfamiliar voices/callsigns. This is the quintessence of amateur radio. It is communication with other colleagues that we don't even know, with the aim of expanding technical knowledge, friendship, sociability and always with goodwill.

For Brandmeister you must register in Brandmeister and then create a code for Hotspot, then this code is entered in the application in the corresponding position in the droidstar and dudestar programs

The code from the "ORIGINAL" system mqnager is the one that works. The code from the "ALTERNATE" system manager does not work on the original one, to which the Greek server "HELLAS-FRN" is connected. We always ask for a code from the ORIGINAL.

DMR Brandmeister Greece 2021, TG 20222,

FreeDMR Greece TG:20222,

D-STAR XLX165,

TGIF ID: 20222,

NXDN TG:20222,

P25 ID:20222,

YSF ID: 17810,

M17-FRN,

ALLSTAR NODE:56557.

You can log into HELLAS-FRN using any of these features and more! All links are only accessible to licensed radio amateurs because the networks are only connected to amateur installations such as DMR and D-star. Others are open to all licensed radio amateurs.

In the Ham1 room there are no bridges, only echolink and Zello channel HELLAS-FRN.

There are bridges on almost all digital channels and echolink. ZELLO does not exist here!

The ORIGINAL system manager is a creation of Edwin, PA7FRN, the alternative one comes from Germany and the purpose of the second one is to cover the gap whenever it is created in the cases when the Original one is down. The codes that work everywhere are issued only by the ORIGINAL. The German codes for non-members of the ORIGINAL are only valid for it.

Please, the first time you connect to the server, you are required to make the relevant microphone and headphone settings in the FRN program.

Log in to the Test chat room.

In this way and using the audio replay you can make your settings so that when you connect to a normal communication room, the setup process and observations by the others can be avoided.

Another reason is to avoid distracting others from the topic of discussion.

Of course, for final micro-adjustments when you enter a normal communication room no one will refuse to help you, but with your pre-work this will be short and effective. Note that the Test room has no access restrictions.

You can post it on Forum or by e-mail:hellas.frn@gmail.com

To create a node, the admin must first be informed about joining the server, but at the same time the location of the candidate node and its usefulness in the specific location must be discussed, always taking taking into account the economy of frequencies, materials and human resources for 24-hour surveillance. Then information is given on the necessary and appropriate equipment and wiring. Admin SV0XAL-e-mail:hellas.frn@gmail. com.

In any case, permission must be given by the SV0XAL administrator, based on the feasibility of the connection.

Contact details for further actions and after approval:

​XLX Peer Interlink Settings

Please contact: SV2SNH for XLX peering

email me:xlxsv2snh@gmail.com.Greetings Sakis.

Note: Currently only Module A is used for International interlinks.

Other Modules can be done on request.

Edit xlxd.interlink, add the following line:

# xlxd.interlink

XLX165 xlx165.ddns.net A

Voice replay test room is the "Test" room.

NO the HELLAS-FRN network is ONLY FOR HAMSTERS WITH AN ACTIVE LICENSE. Internationally FRN as an online program can be used for any purpose in connection with other servers EXCEPT Hellas-FRN. The connection to Hellas-FRN follows a standardized access protocol and adherence to amateur radio ethics with continuous monitoring.

Server is:hellas-frn.ddns.net and port :10024.

Server on mobile is listed: hellas-frn.ddns.net:10024 .

The time limit between conversations is 180 seconds (3 minutes).

All transmissions must be below this threshold or they will be momentarily rejected.

The 3-minute rule with the use of μ-interfaces is applied to the transmission and reception of the web portals, to protect machines from excessive use of RF or malicious acts with "anonymous" access by RF resulting in practically beneficial employment of the frequency.

Only in some cases it is allowed (interlink), but after informing the administrator and if it is deemed appropriate.

The room is Ham2 TG20222, accessible from all BM servers internationally.

The room is Ham4 TG20222.

The short room is Ham3 and the frequency is 29.250 Mhz with 71.9 undertone and FM modulation.

As with other reflectors, you can connect using DTMF to access an XLX reflector directly. Just use the Axxxyy platform. Example, to connect to XLX165 unit B, you can send A16502 in DTMF tones. The 02 at the end corresponds to the B of the alphabet.

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The FRN program through which the collaborated gateways are connected and which are also the target of the “well-wishers” have the following properties with which the harassment is negated at any time and this update is made for the awareness of those mentioned below.

Each gateway owner is connected to the FRN program in simplex mode and with tone sql, locked to prevent accidental access by any parasitic RF source. Anyone interested in radio amateur access can talk by RF, as long as they put in the appropriate sub-tone that is announced by each gateway.

The gateway owner monitor is not obliged to respond to anyone who ignores the access setting. And this is because without the sub-tone, any broadcast from third parties is automatically excluded from the gateway’s employment and consequently also outside the FRN network. This consequently excludes the obligation to monitor the gateway since such a broadcast does not concern the network. One could claim that the frequencies are free and that he can choose the specific frequency of the gateway to talk with his company and without an sub-tone, regardless of whether there is an internet network. However, such an act is contrary to the mutual respect between the ham radio coleages and compliance with the current band plan. FRN follows the band plan faithfully and does not use any of the many other frequencies where ham radio operators chats with their mates. On the contrary, it is harassed by adjacent frequencies, where the narrow modulation imposed by the band plan is not used, as well as by unnecessary excessive use of output power colleagues transceivers, who insist on exhausting the limits of the legal use and not the useful for coexistence in it the limited frequency space.

In cases where someone now deliberately broadcasts with the correct sub-tone, but without behaving as expected according to the amateur radio code of conduct and indeed with the intention of harassing a communication already in progress, there is a way to block it.

This is done by the intervention of the owner of the specific gateway and through the FRN program to mute it or even stop it, so that it does not receive incoming RF emissions or does not communicate at all accordingly. He is the authorized administrator of the given gateway. When the harassment stops, it restores it to full operation.

Furthermore there is additional-parallel surveillance in the same communication room by the owners of the remaining gateways, who in addition to being administrators of the gateways in a similar way to them, they have administrator rights on all other gateways as well. This makes the network flexible in terms of surveillance because it does not rely only on the owner of one gateway, but on the overlap of all the owner gateways that are in the same communication room.

Simply put and at any time if there is a problem of malicious or accidental parasitic broadcast, any authorized gateway owner, as well as any other user of the FRN program can mute his or any gateway of another colleague as an instant reaction.

This mute stops the receive, but the rest of the activity on the FRN continues without the involvement of the offending gateway alone.

Finally, the following should be mentioned: In the event that someone calls normally from RF and does not get an answer, this does not mean that the system is not monitored (after the above description), but it is very likely that the specific gateway is muted or closed. Also, monitoring is limited only to whether the gateway works as intended and does not imply that the operator monitoring it will also answer any calls. It is not a correspondent in service. But if the gateway is interfered with, then it intervenes. The supervision criterion is therefore limited whether there is corrective action in the case of misuse of the gateway.

For information, each gateway owner is not obliged to have the gateway open if it is not monitored, so he can take it out of the network, e.g., at night. So someone calling in a certain area and not getting an answer should make sure that the gateway is in operation, before concluding that it is not monitored.

Each gateway can be permanently connected to the network and appear in one of three operating states.

1. No broadcast and receive

2. No receive, but only broadcast of what it receives from the internet

3. Broadcast and receive

All of the above is for the information of the fortunately very few who are unaware of these overlapping FRN gateway support conditions and attempt, either with DTMF tones or repeated PTTs to interfere or disrupt forcibly the conversations of colleagues at that moment.

Finally, and to make it more illustrative, at the time of intentional or accidental interference, the owner of the gateway or anyone else authorized to do so, simply right-clicks on the availability of the gateway and it mutes it, while the rest of the conversations are heard. Just like that. When the problem is gone, it brings it back again simply with another click on the computer. 

—Those who are connected to Hellas-FRN at that time will not understand anything and will continue to use the network normally. That is, for those who keep the program open on a 24-hour basis, there will be no problem.

—Those who usually close the program at night will notice a delay in their next connection attempt.

—They will not be able to select from the list of available servers by pressing the magnifying glass. They should type the name hellas-frn.ddns.net

—Those who are in this process will not be able to get a code.

—If they take a long time to log in, they will not be able to enter at all, since in this case it is necessary to renew the connection data with the system manager.

—For those online, if the regular hellas-frn server also goes down, the automatic transfer to the backup hellasfrn.ddns.net will not work.

Caution: Do not make any changes to your existing FRN accounts on 1 PC, nor transfer an account to another PC, because such actions require the cooperation of the system manager who is out. That is, an account that was running normally on 1 PC and you moved it to another, it won’t run there and when you return to the previous PC, it probably won’t run there either.

Usually the period of time when the system manager is down is relatively short and happens either for upgrade reasons, or for reasons of solving technical problems arising from network load or by “well-meaning” smart people who have pleasant managing to make communication systems to go out of business.

When you are listening or transmit from a digital network and you see a different callsign on the screen than that of the operator, this means that the station that is transmitting or your station is coming from the analog side of the system. Due to the fact that the analog side does not transmit encoded information, you will not see the callsign of the transmitting station. Under this way you can realize that the station is coming from the HELLAS-FRN network's side. This is considered normal.

January 27th, 2024

After 9 years of cooperation with the Original System Manager, the Hellas-FRN.net network exhausted whatever limits of goodwill and patience it had and taking seriously the efforts of colleagues who employ machines and waste personal time relying on the Greek server, decided to leave the connect to it and connect to the Alternative System Manager, for the following serious reasons concerning the Original System Manager:

​

       1. Frequent instabilities and interruptions in its operation, as a result of which the Hellenic server remains exposed to the colleagues who have trusted it for so many years and despite the tireless and costly efforts to improve the quality of the latter's communications.

       2. No information from him or any early warning of any problem with his operation, so that there is a premeditation for actions of the servers connected to him.

       3. No update if any attempt is made to resolve in case it goes offline or time perspective of re-opening keeping everyone in the dark and in doubt.

      4. Instability or inability to give codes when requested for clients. Refusal to provide passwords to a specific type of email without an explanation as to why.

      5. No new update-improvement to the operating program provided on the computer, not even when Hellas-FRN.net sent him the translation of the program into Greek, so that in the next version it is integrated from the beginning of the installation for easy selection.

     6. Incorrect data synchronization of his website with the real connection lists of servers and clients around the world. Show connection status of previous months or even six months as current.

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In addition to the above and the specific decision as Hellas-FRN.net, all of us who accepted his services, want to thank him for everything he has offered us so far. As it appears that continued support is now becoming difficult for him and for reasons we do not know, we count his positive contribution so far and will continue to push his original idea - inspiration further, inviting and challenging old and new radio amateurs to engage primarily with the hobby and then with the specific way of communication, enriched recently with the bridges of digital configurations and programs.

It is made clear that it is aimed at colleagues with basic knowledge and relevant experience in using a computer connected to a transceiver, as well as the necessary concepts and understandings concerning digital communication networks. So in conclusion, for someone with zero knowledge about the subject, its training, involvement, regulation and operation, either of a client or of a gateway, despite his desire, it is mandatory to make an effort to learn himself at the beginning as an absolutely necessary condition and then to attempt the application. The notion that someone, in TWO WORDS, will explain everything to him or someone else will set everything up for him, is beyond reality, since avoiding knowledge of the subject and direct operation (especially of a gateway) requires his personal involvement with the necessary elementary knowledge. What is written on this site is the necessary information about the subject and is not a "philosophical" rambling post per subject. If it is difficult for someone to read them, he should also recognize that nothing happens automatically by itself or that someone else is not going to do the work that he has to do.