A wireless telemetry repeater network system including: multiple network nodes (20, 21, 22, 26) adapted for receiving and transmitting data bidirectionally; multiple sensors each associated with one or more of said nodes and adapted for providing output comprising signal data packets; originating nodes adapted for determining successful reception by a destination node via the successful reception of the destination node's subsequent relay packet, creating an implicit acknowledgement (Ack) of successful data packet reception; the system being adapted to provide adaptive link management through an originating node gathering statistical information on the link success rate or quality; said originating node being adapted to take one or more of the following actions in response to said statistical information to improve link robustness, conserve power or increase data transmission rate: altering transmit power; altering baud rate; altering modulation; altering error correction scheme; altering transmission frequency; altering transmission medium; and altering power allocation or modulation or error correction as a function of transmission frequency or subcarrier frequency in the case of multi-carrier formats; said implicit Ack relay transmission also provides inter-node channel measurements at the originating transmitter node without using additional channel resources or system overhead, whereby channel measurements refers to signal gain between transmitter and receiver and noise power at receiver, both as a function of frequency and time; and wherein said relay transmission signal contains a known portion that can be used as a reference to estimate relative or absolute amplitude or gain as a function of frequency; and wherein said known reference is used in the standard signal detection and demodulation parameter recovery processes employed in each node throughout the network. multiple network nodes (20, 21, 22, 26) adapted for receiving and transmitting data bidirectionally; multiple sensors each associated with one or more of said nodes and adapted for providing output comprising signal data packets; originating nodes adapted for determining successful reception by a destination node via the successful reception of the destination node's subsequent relay packet, creating an implicit acknowledgement (Ack) of successful data packet reception; the system being adapted to provide adaptive link management through an originating node gathering statistical information on the link success rate or quality; said originating node being adapted to take one or more of the following actions in response to said statistical information to improve link robustness, conserve power or increase data transmission rate: altering transmit power; altering baud rate; altering modulation; altering error correction scheme; altering transmission frequency; altering transmission medium; and altering power allocation or modulation or error correction as a function of transmission frequency or subcarrier frequency in the case of multi-carrier formats; said implicit Ack relay transmission also provides inter-node channel measurements at the originating transmitter node without using additional channel resources or system overhead, whereby channel measurements refers to signal gain between transmitter and receiver and noise power at receiver, both as a function of frequency and time; and wherein said relay transmission signal contains a known portion that can be used as a reference to estimate relative or absolute amplitude or gain as a function of frequency; and wherein said known reference is used in the standard signal detection and demodulation parameter recovery processes employed in each node throughout the network.