Hi,
I also just downloaded Echo Link and have made about 4 contacts today with
some difficulty.
Here is some information that I copied from the help section, hope there is
some information that may be of some value to you.
Good Luck,

73's
Roy Nystrom
VE6ATN

Basic Operation:
This section describes how to use the basic functions of EchoLink.  As you
read this section, you may find it useful to refer to the section
EchoLink Screen,
which shows the layout of the EchoLink screen and the names of each of its
parts.
Go to Help to find this.
Callsign Validation
If you have never used EchoLink or iLINK before, the callsign you entered
will need to be validated by the system before you will be able to access it.
 This process may take several minutes or several hours, since each call is
individually validated.  During this time, the Station List area of the screen
will be blank, or may display a message indicating that your callsign is
being validated.  Once validation is complete, you will see the list of
stations
appear in the Station List area, and you can proceed to use EchoLink.
Connecting to a Station
-To connect to another station, find the station's callsign in the Station
List.  You can browse through the list by clicking on the scroll bars.(Or
you can use your arrow keys.   Once you've
located the station you're looking for, double-click on the station's
callsign to connect to it.  After a few seconds, you should see the
station's callsign
and name appear near the bottom of the screen, and you should hear the
"connected" signal.  You are now in direct contact with the other station
and you
can begin conversing.
If, after about 30 seconds, you see the message "Disconnected - Timeout"
instead of "Connected", it means that the attempt to connect to the other
station
failed.  This can happen for several reasons.  The other station may have
already established a contact with someone else, or may have just logged off
the system.   Another possibility is that a network "firewall" problem is
preventing your PC from receiving data from the remote station.  If you
suspect
this might be the case, see
Speaking Back and Forth
Once you're connected, you can converse with the remote station as in an
ordinary QSO.  The space bar works as a locking "push-to-talk" switch.  Tap
the
spacebar once to begin "transmitting", tap it again to stop (don't hold it
down).  A red TX indicator appears on the screen whenever EchoLink is
"transmitting",
that is, sending audio over the Internet to the connected station.
If you prefer, you can click the "lightning bolt" icon near the upper left
corner of the screen, instead of using the spacebar.
You can switch to Transmit only when the other station is not already
transmitting.  When the other station is transmitting, the letters RX
appear in the status bar at the bottom right, and the sound-level meter
moves from left to right to show incoming sound.  If you see that the other
station is speaking, but you do not hear audio from your PC speakers, you
may need to increase the volume on your sound device.  Click the
loudspeaker icon near the bottom
right-hand corner of your Windows screen to adjust.  Also, be sure the
volume knob on your speakers is turned up.
While transmitting, speak into the microphone and watch the sound-level
meter at the bottom-center of the EchoLink screen.  The meter moves farther
to the
right as the sound gets louder.  For best results, adjust your Windows
Recording Volume settings so that the meter moves vigorously, but does not
reach full-scale.
If you see the red TX indicator while transmitting, but see no indication
on the sound-level meter while speaking into the microphone, see
Sound Card Issues