[aprssig] Echolink Offline meaning

[Gregg Wonderly]

Robert Bruninga wrote:
> Thanks Stephen,
> 
> So to summarize?
> 
> "Offline" means that the server that is providing this list of
> Echolink STATUS generates this status when it has timed out from
> hearing that station.  And/or presumably if the station itself
> reports same.

Echolink has two types of network use.  For "offline status", it makes a TCP 
connection to the echolink central servers to initially get the list of 
stations. Periodically, it will do this again, to update what it knows about 
stations status.  The software has to login to get this list, and it is this 
logging in, that manages a timeout at the servers.  If the software doesn't 
reconnect soon enough, it is marked offline.  There is also a "logoff" message 
that the software sends to the server when the application is closed normally, 
so that the status changes immediately when the application closes.

Gregg Wonderly
W5GGW