Comment by CIPHERSTONE

True, but you are not going to be able to use 2m/70cm/1.25 to talk to people over vast distances.

While EchoLink doesn't have the same visceral feel that a radio has in your hands, it can be interesting. By connecting those repeaters to EchoLink I can directly broadcast on them. Which is pretty fun.

The other day when it was snowing like hell in Chicago I had a nice chat with a mobile ham using a 2m repeater on the big island of Hawaii.