TGIF Network was started in October, 2018 By Robert K4WZV and Mitch EA7KDO.
They started the TGIF Network with just one talkgroup which became 31665, and
about 5 Amateur Radio Operators joined the Network, at this time the system was
running on a Raspberry pi.
Later on, Ty (KG5RKI) came on board to help improve the hblink code it was
currently running on and move it to a cloud server, then later rewrote the
backend to make what was called Callmgr. Michael (K5MRE) and Andy (G7LRR) also
joined the team and created many of the features we enjoy on the website and
plenty more behind the scene.
Over the course of the next year, the network quickly grew from just a few
hundred users to just under 5,500.
The network now is home to around 776 active talkgroups available for all to use.
The main/original talkgroup is original 31665, and is sometimes referred to as
the 'Mothership' by many. The Network is still growing rapidly. Last year,
Pi-Star and Shark RF Openspot added the TGIF Network to their list of networks.
But this tale has not ended.. around the end of 2019, Ty (KG5RKI) could see
limitations to how far Legacy would be able to scale with the growing number of
clients.
So Ty took it upon himself to once again use his coding skills and knowledge of
digital networking and in his spare time rewrite and design a network from the
roots up which was codenamed 'Prime' and was open do beta testers during
development. With Andy (G7LRR) as his partner in crime against the code, and
Rob (K4WZV) having his back, the team is making fast progress at creating a great
solution for ham radio operators around the world.