home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Ham Radio 2000
/
Ham Radio 2000.iso
/
ham2000
/
packet
/
intropkt
/
packet17.loz
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-04-20
|
7KB
|
120 lines
INTRODUCTION TO PACKET RADIO - Part 17 - by Larry Kenney, WB9LOZ
PUTTING TCP/IP ON THE AIR - (Continued from Part 16)
The following information is specific to the NET program. If you're
setting up NOS, you might find things to be a little different from what
I'll be explaining here, but the basics are the same. There are several
different versions of the NOS program available. You'll have to refer to
the documentation received with your software for specific details.
HARD DISK SET UP
Before installing the program on your computer, special directories
need to be established on your hard drive for use by the TCP/IP program.
Under the root directory (C:\ on most systems) you need to make directories
titled FINGER, PUBLIC and SPOOL, as shown in the diagram. Under the SPOOL
directory you need to add four sub-directories called FOLDER, MAIL, MQUEUE
and RQUEUE.
\ (root directory)
|
|--FINGER
|--PUBLIC
|--SPOOL
|
|--FOLDER
|--MAIL
|--MQUEUE
|--RQUEUE
--The FINGER directory is used to identify users of your TCP/IP station.
The file FINGER.DOC explains the operation of the FINGER application and
the files needed in this directory. The files are NOT needed to put your
station on the air with TCP/IP.
--The PUBLIC directory, and any sub-directories you want to add to it, is
the area accessible to users of your station, similar to the files area of
your packet BBS. You can develop this area after you get on the air and
become familiar with TCP/IP operation.
--The SPOOL directory is used for your automatic station log.
--The FOLDER sub-directory is where files are stored when you save any
messages as files.
--The MAIL sub-directory is where incoming messages are stored.
--The MQUEUE sub-directory is for outgoing messages.
--The RQUEUE sub-directory is for messages that have been received for
processing by a user-defined mail routing program. (I have no idea what
this is about. Nothing has ever ended up in RQUEUE on my station.)
FILES USED
Next, you need to make up a couple of files used by the program. The
documentation that comes with the program gives you examples of what you
need to enter in these files.
The first file is AUTOEXEC.NET for the NET program or AUTOEXEC.NOS for
the NOS program. The file is a series of commands and information needed
by the program. (This file should not be confused with your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.) When the program first starts up it reads this file and executes
the commands contained in it, setting up the initial configuration for your
system. It sets the hostname, AX.25 parameters, interfaces and other vari-
ables necessary for your particular station. Make sure that you have the
correct entry for the COM port you're going to use for your TNC. Most
enter "ax0" for COM1.
The next file you need to write is FTPUSERS. It establishes the access
levels for users of your station. Be very careful when writing the infor-
mation for this file or outsiders will be able to get into your private
personal files. It's not advisable to give permission above level 3, as
outlined in the documentation.
For the NET program, the files, AUTOEXEC.NET, FTPUSERS, HOSTS.NET, and
NET.EXE and BM.RC that come with the software package, are placed in the
ROUTE directory.
PUTTING IT ALL ON THE AIR
When you have all of the files saved to the proper directories you
should be ready to go on the air. Set up your radio for simplex operation
on the TCP/IP frequency in your area. Ask around locally for the frequency
used.
Using your normal computer terminal program, check your TNC to computer
baud rate and make sure that it matches the baud rate you entered in
AUTOEXEC.NET (or AUTOEXEC.NOS). Set DWait to 0, Persistence ON, and
SLOTtime to 160 ms., then turn KISS ON. As explained earlier, the operation
of KISS mode varies from normal command usage, and even varies from TNC to
TNC, so read your TNC manual for details on the KISS command. With the AEA
PK-232 you will also have to turn HOST ON. Be careful that your terminal
program doesn't take you out of KISS mode when you exit it. Some do!
When the radio and TNC are ready, enter NET at the DOS prompt, cross
your fingers and see what happens. You should get the prompt "NET>". My
station came up on the first try! I hope yours does also.
To monitor the frequency, you will need to enter "trace cmdmode" <CR>
followed by "trace ax0 111" <CR> (ax0 is assuming COM1). These two commands
can be added to AUTOEXEC.NET if you want automatic monitoring. That way you
don't have to type it in each time you come on line.
The first thing you'll probably want to do is to see if everything is
working okay. The easiest check is to make an AX.25 connection with another
station that you know is on frequency. Enter "connect ax0 <callsign>" <CR>,
where <callsign> is the station you want to connect to. For example, to
connect to WB9LOZ you would enter: c ax0 wb9loz. If everything is working
as it should, you will soon receive "conn pending" followed by "connected".
After spending all of your time and effort setting up your TCP/IP program,
you have now completed a normal packet AX.25 keyboard to keyboard contact!
To disconnect, use the F10 key to escape back to the NET> prompt, and then
enter "disconnect" or "d". (Most of the commands can be abbreviated.)
If your station is working, congratulations! You now have the world of
TCP/IP awaiting you. Using the documentation provided with the software,
or better yet, BEGIN.DOC, you can now start checking out the various
commands. The TELNET and FTP commands are the two most frequently used for
contacting other TCP/IP stations, but I also find that using FINGER is fun.
Make sure you check the STATUS and TCP STATUS before going off line to make
sure all sessions have been completed. You'll be surprised quite frequently
to find other stations sending you messages, uploading or downloading files,
and you didn't even know they were connected.
There were a couple of things that I didn't understand when I first got
on the air with TCP/IP, so I'll pass those on to you now. To enter messages
or to read messages, you have to escape NET and then enter the BM Mailer
from the DOS prompt. To escape, you enter an exclamation point (!) at the
NET> prompt, then enter BM at the DOS prompt. When you're finished with the
messages, you enter "q" to get back to the DOS prompt and then enter "exit"
to resume operation of NET. To get out of NET completely, you enter "exit"
at the NET> prompt. (Whew! Got all of that?)
Enjoy your TCP/IP experiences!
73, Larry, WB9LOZ
- - - -