Systems for linking amateur radio stations and repeaters via the Internet. Amateur radio fans have developed special software that helps connect home radio transceivers to the Internet. Users can connect their ham radio transceivers to their PC sound card and use the computer software to search for available repeater stations across the world . Some methods are with [ D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) a digital voice and data protocol specification developed as the result of research by the Japan Amateur Radio League to investigate digital technologies for amateur radio. This category also includes standard VOIP communications, IRLP, Echolink and eQSO.