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LU9DCE > PACKET 28.12.16 15:44l 169 Lines 7723 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: PACKET RADIO - PART 3
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INTRODUCTION TO PACKET RADIO - PART 3
by Larry Kenney, WB9LOZ
TNC COMMANDS - PART 1 OF 3
In part 2 I talked about how to get on the air and make your
first QSO. Now let's take a look at some of the commands that
are available in your TNC or packet software to help improve your
station operation.
The TNC (Terminal Node Controller) has more than 100 different
commands available for you to use. You're able to customize your
packet operating with these commands and turn on and off various
features as you wish. Not all TNCs are exactly alike, but all have
pretty much the same set of commands. I'll be using the command set
in the TNC2 and clones in my examples. You might want to check the
command list in your TNC operating manual to see if your TNC uses
the commands as I indicate here.
For those of you who are using the packet software and modem
instead of a TNC, you'll find a list of the commands in your help
documentation. You will find that some of the commands cannot be
modified while the software is running. Some have to be changed
with the program's configuration file. Check the help document for
instructions on how to change these commands in your particular
software.
We covered a few of the commands previously: CONTROL C for entering
command mode, MYCALL, MONITOR, ECHO, CONNECT, and DISCONNECT. (Refer
to part 2 if you need information on these commands.) Now let's
discuss a few that will affect the way your station functions on
the air.
CONV (converse mode): Your TNC will automatically switch to this mode
when you connect with someone, but you can also switch to this mode
by entering CONV <CR> at the Cmd: prompt. When you're in converse
mode and are NOT connected to another station, anything you type will
be transmitted via the path you set with the UNPROTO command. (See
the next paragraph for UNPROTO.) Packets sent via UNPROTO are sent
only once and are not acknowledged, so there is no guarantee that
they'll get through. This mode is used frequently for sending CQ's.
UNPROTO: Designates the path used when you send BEACONS or when
you're in converse mode and NOT connected to another station. The
default is CQ, but you can enter a series of digipeaters if you wish,
or a specific group or club name. Some examples:
CQ v WB6SDS-2,W6SG-1,AJ7L SFARC v W6PW-1,W6PW-4
If you include digipeaters in your UNPROTO path, you will have to
change the information for each frequency you use. (BEACONS will
be discussed in a later part of this series.)
FRACK: Determines how long your TNC will wait for an acknowledgement
before resending a packet. It shouldn't be set too low, or you'll
simply clutter up the frequency, yet it shouldn't be too high,
or you'll spend too much time waiting. I use FRACK set to 7, and
have found that to be a good overall value.
DWAIT: Used to avoid collisions, DWAIT is the number of time units
the TNC will wait after last hearing data on the channel before it
transmits. I have DWAIT set to 16, and have found that to work well.
PACLEN: Indicates the number of characters in the packets you
transmit, ranging from 0 to 255. (A value of 0 equals 256.) The more
characters you send per packet, the longer it takes to transmit the
information and the greater your chances are of noise, interference
or another station wiping it out. I've found a PACLEN of 80, which is
the length of one line, to be a good value. When working a station
nearby, PACLEN can be increased. When working a distant station,
it should be decreased.
RETRY: Your TNC will retransmit a packet if it doesn't receive an
acknowledgement from the station you're working. RETRY indicates the
number of times the TNC will try to get the packet through before
giving up and disconnecting. This can be set from 0 to 15, but I've
found 8 to 10 to work well. Less than that causes an unnecessary
disconnect if the channel happens to be busy, but more than that
clutters up the channel. Do NOT set RETRY to 0. That means infinite
retries, and serves no useful purpose. It simply clutters up the
frequency needlessly.
The following commands affect "monitoring", which is what you see
on your screen from stations you're NOT connected to.
MONITOR: This must be ON for you to monitor anything. When ON,
you see packets from other stations on the frequency you're tuned
to. What packets you see is determined by other commands from the
list below. If MONITOR is OFF, you only see the packets that are
sent to you while you're connected to another station.
Note: On some TNCs, such as the AEA PK-232, monitoring functions
are selected by a number after the MONITOR command, such as:
MONITOR 3 or M 3 Refer to your TNC operating manual for details.
MALL: If MALL is ON, you receive packets from stations that are
connected to other stations, as well as packets sent in unproto
(unconnected) mode. This should be ON for "reading the mail". If
MALL is OFF, you receive only packets sent in unproto mode by
other stations.
MCOM: If ON, you see connect <C or SABM>, disconnect <D>, acknowledge
<UA> and busy <DM> frames in addition to information packets. If OFF,
only information packets are seen.
MCON: If ON, you see packets from other stations while you're
connected to someone else. This can get very confusing, but is
useful when your path is bad and you want to see if your packets
are being digipeated okay. If OFF, the monitoring of other stations
is stopped when you're connected to another station.
MRPT: If ON, you see a display of all the stations used as
digipeaters along with the station originating the packet and
the destination station. If OFF, you see only the originating and
destination stations. For example, if you have MRPT ON, you might
see a transmission such as this:
K9AT>WB6QVU,W6PW-5*: I'll be leaving for the meeting at about 7:30.
If MRPT was OFF, the same transmission would look like this:
K9AT>WB6QVU: I'll be leaving for the meeting at about 7:30.
In the first case, you can see that the W6PW-5 digipeater was being
used. The asterisk indicates which station you were hearing the
packet from. In the second case you have no idea if digipeaters
are being used or what station you were receiving.
HEADERLN: If you have this turned ON, the header of each packet is
printed on a separate line from the text. If OFF, both the header
and packet text are printed on the same line.
MSTAMP: The date and the time the monitored packets are received is
indicated if the MSTAMP command is ON. If it's OFF, the date/time
stamp is not shown. NOTE: The date and time must be entered into
your TNC memory using the DAYTIME command before the MSTAMP command
will function.
I run my station with all of these commands, except MCON, turned
ON so that I can really see what's happening on the frequency I'm
monitoring. Try various combinations of these commands and then
decide on the combination you like best for your station.
MORE COMMANDS - The commands discussed here are a few of the basic
TNC commands. I'll discuss many of the other commands available to
you in parts 13 and 14 of this series.
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