******************************************************************** NEWPAK.TXT Title : Information for New Packeteers Keywords: PACKET INTRO NEW PACKETEERS Description: Helpful information for new packeteers just putting their packet radio equipment on the air by a MD packet BBS sysop, Pete KA3RFE. Ported from Usenet to CompuServe by W3VS. Ported from CompuServe to ARRL BBS by Ricardo Molinar. ********************************************************************* From: pschleck@ALF.UNOMAHA.EDU (Paul W. Schleck KD3FU) Newsgroups: rec.ham-radio.packet Subject: Attn. New Packeteers, Part 1/7 Message-ID: <9101270441.AA20503@alf.unomaha.edu> Date: 27 Jan 91 04:41:35 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 80 Repy-to: ka3rfe%ka3rfe.md.usa@k9iu.ucs.indiana.edu ********************************************************************* The following is the first in a series of a very good beginners guide to packet put out by a MD packet BBS sysop, Pete KA3RFE. He has given me permission to pass it along to this forum. He considers it required reading for all who got new TNC's this X-mas and as a refresher course for those of us who sometimes forget the basics. You know who they are, the ones with "PK-232" in their callsign field? Pete determined that "PK" was an old prefix for the Dutch West Indies. We wrote the ARRL to see if we could get DXCC credit for working them. So far no response :-). Remember, the following is KA3RFE's, not my own. Replies and criticisms should be sent to AMPR KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA. 73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLE 4673 B# 3444 ALL KA3RFE MDCBBS 910106 ATT: New Packeteers Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ N2GTE KA3RFE This is for those of you got new tncs for Christmas and are just starting out in the Wonderful World of Packet. There are some things you should know that your tnc manual may not have mentioned. Some terms which get people confused: 1) Home BBS: A "home BBS" does not refer to the mailbox program which your tnc may have in it's guts. It refers to a full-service BBS which handles personal mail, bulletins, and file transfers. Your "home BBS" would be a full-service BBS which you might check into often to read bulletins and to pick up any personal mail which might be held for you. If you have arragned for a full-service BBS to forward your personal mail to your mailbox, your home BBS still remains that full-service BBS. This term is important as several BBS programs will ask you to enter a "home BBS" the first time you connect to it. 2) Node: You can figure a "node" to be something of a packet switchboard which has the ability to operate on several frequencies. A node differs from a digipeater in the sense that it handles all of the packet housekeeping chores within its program. Most nodes have more than one operating frequency and they can shuttle packets back and forth via any number of intermediate nodes. The benefit of using a node over a digipeater is that the node will find the quickest way to make the connection whereas a digipeater will only try to connect you to the station you tell it to connect to, regardless of whether the digipeater can hear it or not. You cannot send mail to a node. It is not a mailbox or a BBS. 3) Network BBS: A network BBS is a full-service BBS which is operating under a special node-compatible software program. Network BBSs will show up in node broadcasts and can be connected to over the node network by entering a connect request to the network BBS alias. Generally, a network BBS will have an alias in which either BBS or BB is part of the alias. For example: ANNBBS is the alias for KA3RFE BBS in Annapolis; BWIBBS is the alias for WB3V BBS in Severn. BBJ9X is the alias for AJ9X's tcp/ip BBS in Westminister. The network BBS alias is ONLY FOR CONNECTING. You should not use the network BBS alias as an entry for "home BBS" when your are asked to enter your home BBS. Use the callsign of the BBS and not its alias as your home BBS when asked to enter it. The same goes for sending mail to a netowrk BBS. If you enter a message to KA3RFE @ ANNBBS, the message will never get there since ANNBBS is only an alias for use in connecting to it over the node network. IF you enter a message to KA3RFE @ KA3RFE, the message will be forwarded without m uch hassle. I strongly suggest that you throurghly read your tnc manual and also suggest that you get a copy of "Your Gateway to Packet Radio" from somewhere. Its the best book yet written on the ins and outs of packet radio. 73, Pete, sysop KA3RFE (ANNBBS) Annapolis, Md. MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLE 4813 B# 1760 ALL KA3RFE MDCBBS 910110 Att New Packeteers pt.2 Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ KA3DXX WA7NTF KA3RFE This bulletin is being re-sent at the request of several people: "GARBAGE CHARACTERS" You may see some very strange-looking characters flitting across your moniter's screen from time-to-time. Those funny-looking things are symbols for binary data being transmitted. There are several sources which use binary data instead of text. Net/Rom nodes use binary data in their nodes broadcasts. The purpose of the node broadcasts are to inform other nodes within range what nodes they can connect to. The data is binary for reasons of accuracy. Another source of garbage characters is binary file transfers from a BBS to a user. These transfers are generally executable programs which the BBS might have stored for downloading by users. These differ from text files in that the binary code contains control characters and computer programming commands which cant be sent as text files. A third source of garbage characters is tcp/ip packets being sent between two stations using that protocol to exchange files or mail. Tcp/ip is a protocol which has several different layers to it and can be used to interface with some of the major computer networks such as those used by colleges and government computers. So, if you see funny-looking symbols on your monitor, dont panic, its just binary traffic going by. 73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE BBS MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLE 4766 B# 3742 ALL KA3RFE MDCBBS 910108 ATT: New Packeteers pt l 3 Forwarding path: W3IWI KA4USE N4QQ N2GTE KA3RFE SENDING MAIL/BULLETINS Most BBS programs use the same commands to send mail and bulletins. One of the most common mistakes in sending messages of any type is the confusion between what is mail, and what is a bulletin. The issue gets further confusing when trying to determine how to send a bulletin meant for all BBSs is a given bulletin distribution scheme. Generally, there are three commands for sending mail and bulletins: A) S.....Most BBS programs treat the S command as a command to send a PRIVATE message. For instance: entering S KA3RFE will send a private message to KA3RFE...but only on the BBS you enter the message on. If KA3RFE does not use the BBS you are entering the message on, the BBS program will try to forward the message to KA3RFE...but ONLY if that BBS has KA3RFE listed in its forwarding file. If you try to send a bulletin using S alone, the BBS will still treat that message as a private message. So, entering a bulletin using "S ALL @ MDCBBS $" will result in a private message to NOBODY at MDCBBS except for SYSOPS, because a private message to "ALL" could only be read by sysops or a ham who's callsign is "all". Since "all" is not a legal callsign, nobody else can read the message Did you notice the "$" in the example above? To send a bulletin out to oBther BBSs, the address has to include the $. This tells the BBS that the bulletin should be forwarded out to other BBSs. So, you must include that $ if you want the bulletin to be sent to other BBSs. B) SP......The SP command means "Send Private". This tells the BBS that the message you are sending is "eyes only" for the addresssee. The sysop will be able to read that message but no one else will be able to read it. This is the same command as the plain S command. To avoid confusion, you should always send your private messages to another ham using the SP. C) SB.....This command means "Send a Bulletin". There are two types of bulletins you might send. One type would be only for users of the same BBS you are entering the bulletin on. If you were connected to KA3RFE BBS and you sent a bulletin reading "SB ALL", the BBS will treat it like a local bulletin and it will only stay on KA#RFE. If you sent a bulletin titled "SB ALL @ MDCBBS" the bulletin will still be considered a local bulletin on KA3RFE. Why????? To send a bulletin which you want forwarded to "ALL @ MDCBBS" you have to tell the BBS you want it forwarded.....THATS WHAT THE "$" IS FOR. So, if you want your bulletin sent to every BBS which accpets the MDCBBS distribution scheme, you have to a add that $. The correct way is "SB ALL @ MDCBBS $". So, to sum up....use S and SP for PRIVATE messages. ("Mail"), and SB for BULLETINS. Dont forget the "$" in the address if you want your bulletin to get forwarded. Try it out! Send me a private message to KA3RFE @ KA3RFE.md.usa. If it gets here, I'll send you a reply. 73, Pete KA3RFE sysop KA3RFE BBS MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLE 4894 B# 1594 ALL KA3RFE USA 910113 Att: New Pa aacketeers pt 4 Forwarding path: W3IWI W3ZH N4QQ N2GTE WB3V KA3RFE In Part 3 I stated that a dollar-sign symbol must be appended to any bulletin which you want to have forwarded out from the BBS you entered it on. I've gotten information that entering the dollar sign is not required on CBBS and RLI bbs systems for the forwarding-out to take place. At this point, to the best of my knowledge, the dollar sign is required on MBL, MSYS, and REBBS systems. There are other systems which may not require the dollar sign. Your best course of action is to ask your sysop if you need to append the dollar sign to your bulletins for them to be forwarded-out. Those of you who are sysops: I want to make this series helpful, so correct me if I dont have it correct! I dont know how BQE's system handles bulletins, nor FISBBS, and maybe I'm wrong with MSYS and AA4RE...(I ran both MSYS and AA4RE, but I've forgetton and dont have the docs any more...getting senile...) The dollar-sign IS required for the WA7MBL bbs and with another BBS system being beta-tested in Anne Arundel County MD called "GTEPMS". Part 5 will deal somewhat with tnc settings....look for it soon! 73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE.md.usa MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLE 4968 B# 3405 ALL KA3RFE MDCBBS 910114 Att: New Packeteers pt 5 Forwarding path: W3IWI WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE SETTINGS: Nothing generates more frustration than trying to set up a tnc to operate effectivreely when you dont understand the language. This is a short run- through of the more important parameters which enable your tnc to work properly with minimum hassle. FRACK: FRACK is short for FRame ACKnowledge. It is the timer which tells the tnc how long to wait for an acknowledge frame from the other station before re-sending a frame. Typically, tncs come with a default value of 4, which is adequate. However, if you are operating on a very busy channel, you may want to increase FRACK to 6, or even 8. A short FRACK value can lead to retrying-out, so dont set it below 4 or so. RETRY RETRY tells the tnc how many times to keep sending a packet that does not get ACK'ed by the other station. This usually defaults to 10 from the factory. After the 10th retry, the tnc "times out" and the connection is broken. A value of 10 is just fine. Some people say a shorter value is better but 10 will do. If you set your tnc retry value to 0, the tnc will NEVER time-out! This is NOT a good idea! DWAIT DWAIT enters a pause in-between transmitted packets to let digipeaters to transmit first. This is usuallly set by local agreement. Ask around to find out what your DWAIT should be. TXDELAY This determines how soon the packet will be transmitted after the tnc keys the radio. The purpose of TXDEAY is to insure that the first few parts of the packet dont get chopped off by a slow-keying transmitter. You will have to set this based on what sort of transmitter you are using. Good values range from around 30 to 50. Longer TXDELAY values just take up air time. You can figure that TXDELAY works the same way that you do on voice....you wait a second or so after keying the mic before you start talking....well, thats TXDELAY! There are more settings which control your tnc, but the above are the ones that make the difference. There are also two settings for your RADIO which are important: DEVIATION: W3IWI reccomends a deviation of no more than 3 percent for optimum packet operation. A too-wide deviation will reult in lots of retries and timing-outs. VOLUME: Your volume-control is the most important setting on your radio insofar as receiving packets is concerned. If you have the volume too loud, the tnc will not be able to decode the packets, and, of course, if the volume it soo low, the tnc wont hear the packets. The best method of setting your volume control is to open your squelch and increase your volume control until you see the DCD light on the tnc come on. That's your setting. 73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLouE 5029 B# 4630 ALL KA3RFE MDCBBS 910116 Att: New Packeteers Pt 6 Forwarding path: W3IWI KA4USE N4QQ WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE SETTINGS CONTINUED There are two more setting which you must consider when setting up your tnc. These settings have much to do with how well your RETRY rate is. PACLEN: PACLEN is short for PACket LENgth. It tells the tnc how many letters, numbers, and spaces should make up the length of the packet your tnc sends out. Most people use a PACLEN of 128 characters, which is ok under most circumstances, I suppose, but that depends highly upon how good the path is between stations, how crowded the channel is, and a couple other factors. On my BBS and node ports here, I use a PACLEN of 80 on my UHF port (when its operating....) as I dont have all that great of a path to the more distance stations, while my 2 meter port has a PACLEN of 180 and my 220 port runs a PACLEN of 120. The differences are due to channel loading, distance, and radio/antenna performance factors. BY THE WAY: PACLEN is NOT a substitute for inserting carriage returns in your transmitted signals. All PACLEN does is tell the tnc to transmit a packet after X number of characters have been inputted. If you make up a long message on a word processor and dont insert any carriage returns in the text, the message will scroll right off the screen of anyone trying to read the message! I am inserting carriage returns as I type this message. If I didn't, you wouldnt be able to read the bulletin! I put my carriage returns at the end of each line I type. When this bulletin gets forwarded out, the PACLEN setting will send X characters out, carriage return and all, and the finished product when you read it, will be exactly as I typed it. MAXFRAME: This is the last setting you need to worry about right now. MAXFRAME works with PACLEN to determine how much information your tnc will send out at any one time and will consult with RETRY to give you the bottom-line total thruput. (Thruput? ....all thruput means is how fast the job it getting done... when packets are just zipping along and being acked real fast, that's high thruput...) MAXFRAME means how many packets you want to have out un- acknowledged before more packets are sent. On a nice quiet channel where you are in within spittin distance of the station you are communicating with, MAXFRAME can be as high as 4 or 5. However, hardly anyone is on a nice quiet channel, so your MAXFRAME setting has to be set to reflect conditions. If the channel is real crowded and noisy, or if you time-out a lot with a high MAXFRAME, you might want to consider setting a MAXFRAME of only 1 or 2. On my UHF port, the channel is both busy and I have a poor- to-fair path to most of the stations I connect to. So, I set a MAXFRAME of 1. On my 2 meter and 220 ports, I set MAXFRAME to 2. I probably could get away with a setting of 4 on 2 meters and 220, but the channels are busy. A NOTE ON THE "$" IN SENDING BULLETINS I've heard from many sysops and two BBS software authors on the use of the dollar sign in sending bulletins which are to be forwarded out from the BBS you're entering it on. The info is being passed on here, somewhat modified to reflect the possibility that you may not know which sort of system you are using..... The WA7MBL BBS requires that you send bulletins to be forwarded out in this manner: SB ALL @(USA, etc) $ Other BBS systems dont require it, but if you are not sure which type of BBS you are using, you can enter the $ with no harm done. In fact, it may be a good idea to use the $h anyhow. It wont hurt, and wont make any difference if the BBS does not need it. (Thanks to all you sysops who sent me the info I needed to clear that up, and a special "thank you" to the two BBS software authors who were kind enough to respond.) 73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE BBS MSG # TR SIZE TO FROM @BBS DATE TITLE 5026 B# 2411 ALL KA3RFE MDCBBS 910116 Att: New Packeteers, pt 7 Forwarding path: W3IWI KA3T WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE THE DIFFERENCE$h BETWEEN MAIL AND FILES When you log onto a full-service BBS, there are two separate things you can get into: Mail and Files. Some people get confused about what the two of them are. I know I did when I first got on packet. I thought a file was a file, whether it was a file or whether it was that long list of messages you get when you enter an "L" command. Well, as I found out, they aint the same animal. When a BBS refers to a "file", it's talking about a separate entry which is being stored apart from "mail". I guess I better define "mail" before I get into "files"....its easier. "Mail" means messages from one ham to another, or bulletins which the BBS has open. If ham A sends ham B a message, that's "mail". If a ham sends a message to be read by many people, that's called a "bulletin" but the BBS still calls it "mail". A "file" is not mail, nor is it a bulletin; although some bulletins might be converted to files by the sysop. A file is a permanent part of a BBS. The file might contain text, or it might be a binary file. (WHAT? I THOUGHT EVERYTHING IN PACKET WAS BINARY!) Not to worry...everything packet-ized is binary, but there is a difference in how the information is kept in the BBS. Binary files are those which are actually executable programs which can be downloaded from the BBS. These files require that you have a compatible binary file downloading program in order to get them from the BBS. Text files are those which are plain text and you can download them without needing any sort of special file downloading program. In most BBSs you can get into a text file area in which the documentation is kept with all the commands used by the BBS. So, MAIL is stuff from ham A to ham B, bulletins are from ham A to a selected audience, but still MAIL. FILES are the more permanent information on a BBS and come in two flavors: text and binary. Text files are sent in simple plain old English, while binary files look like the BBS has got the runs. 73, Pete KA3RF  .