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PACKET11.LOZ
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1990-09-26
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INTRODUCTION TO PACKET - Part 11 - by Larry Kenney, WB9LOZ
THE NODE NETWORK - continued
The NODES command has another feature that gives you a simple way to find
out if another node is accessible and, if it is, the best route to use to
reach it. It's easy to make a quick check of the route quality to any other
node. All you need to do is enter N followed by either the alias or
callsign of the node that you want to reach, such as:
N FRESNO or N W6ZFN-2
You'll receive a report showing up to three routes to the node you asked
about, how good these routes are and how up to date the information is. If
there is no information available, you will receive either "Not found" or
the complete node list, depending on the type of node or switch you're
using.
Let's take a look at a typical report you would receive after entering
N FRESNO. If you were connected to a NET/ROM or TheNet node the report
would look like this:
SFW:W6PW-1} Routes to: FRESNO:W6ZFN-2
105 6 0 WB9LOZ-2
78 6 0 WW6L-1
61 5 0 WA8DRZ-7
If you were connected to a G8BPQ packet switch you would see one less
column in the report and it would look like this:
SF:WB9LOZ-2} Routes to: FRESNO:W6ZFN-2
> 126 6 W6PW-10
61 3 WW6L-1
60 4 W6PW-1
Each line is a route to the node you asked about. The symbol > indicates a
route that's in use. The first number is the quality of the route. 255 is
the best possible quality and means a direct connect via hard wire to a
coexisting node at the same site; zero is the worst, and means that the
route is locked out. 192 is about the best over the air quality you'll
find, and it usually means that the node is only one hop away. If you see
a quality of less than 80, you'll probably have a difficult time getting
any information through via that route. The second number is the
obsolescence count. This number is a 6 when the information for this route
is less than an hour old. For each hour that an update on the route is not
received, this number is decreased by one. A 5 means the information is an
hour old, a 4 means that it's two hours old, and so on. The next number,
shown only on NET/ROM and TheNet nodes, indicates the type of port. A 0 is
an HDLC port; a 1 is an RS-232 port. You don't need to pay any attention
to this figure. The callsign is that of the neighboring node that's next
in line on the route. Digipeaters are shown if any are used to reach this
neighboring node.
This quick check on a node that you want to reach can save you a lot of
time. You'll know immediately whether or not the node is available, and if
it is, how good the available routes are to it. You then won't have to
spend time trying to connect to a node that isn't available or is of poor
quality.
If you find that there's a decent route to the node or switch you want to
reach, it's normally best to let the network make the connection for you.
Simply enter a connect to the alias or callsign you want rather than
connecting to each individual node along the route yourself.
If a route exists but the quality is not very good, you might want to
connect to the neighboring node shown for the best route, then do another
quality check, repeating this procedure until you find a route with decent
quality. You can actually get through to some distant nodes using this
method if you have the time and patience to work on it.
ROUTES: The ROUTES command (abbreviated as R) will give you a list of the
direct routes available from the node you're using to other nodes. These
are the nodes seen directly by the node you're using. The quality of each
route is shown along with the obsolescence count, as explained above. Any
route marked with an exclamation point (!) means that the route values have
been entered manually by the owner of the node and usually means that the
route is not reliable for regular use.
USERS: The USERS command (which can be abbreviated as U) will show you the
calls of all the stations using the node you're connected to. There are
five descriptions used by the node to describe how users are connected:
UPLINK: The station indicated is connected directly to the node.
DOWNLINK: The node has made a connection from the first station to the
second station. Example: DOWNLINK (K9AT-15 N6UWK) would mean
that the node connected to N6UWK at the request of K9AT.
CIRCUIT: Indicates that the station has connected from another node.
It shows the alias and call of the other node prior to the user's
call. Example: Circuit (SFW:W6PW-1 WA6DDM) would mean that WA6DDM
is using this node, but he connected to it from the SFW:W6PW-1 node.
CQ: See "CQ" below.
HOST: The user is connected directly from the node terminal. This is
seen when the owner of the node is a user, or the BBS associated with
the node is using it to forward messages.
CQ COMMAND: The CQ command (which cannot be abbreviated) is used for
calling CQ, and it also can be used for replying to the CQ of another
station. The CQ command is available only in the latest version of NET/ROM
and TheNet.
Using the CQ Command: The CQ command is used to transmit a short text
message from a node, and is also used to enable stations that receive the
transmission to connect to the station that originated it. The command is
entered as: CQ [textmessage]
The "textmessage" is optional and can be any string up to 77 characters
long (blanks and punctuation are allowed). In response to a CQ command,
the node transmits the specified textmessage in "unproto" mode, using the
callsign of the originating user with a translated SSID as the source and
"CQ" as the destination. For example, if user station W6XYZ connects to a
node and issues the command: "CQ Anybody around tonight?", the node would
then transmit "W6XYZ-15>CQ: Anybody around tonight?"
After making the transmission in response to the CQ command, the node
"arms" a mechanism to permit other stations to reply to the CQ. A station
wishing to reply may do so simply by connecting to the originating call-
sign shown in the CQ transmission (W6XYZ-15 in the example above). A CQ
command remains "armed" to accept replies for 15 minutes, or until the
originating user issues another command or disconnects from the node.
Any station connected to a node may determine if there are any other
stations awaiting a reply to a CQ by issuing a USERS command. An "armed"
CQ channel appears in the USERS display as:
(Circuit, Host, or Uplink) <~~> CQ(usercall).
The station may reply to such a pending CQ by issuing a CONNECT to the user
callsign specified in the CQ(...) portion of the USERS display--it is not
necessary for the station to disconnect from the node and reconnect.
Here's what a typical transmission would look like: (* = entered by user)
* cmd: C KA6YZS-1
cmd: *** Connected to KA6YZS-1
* USERS
501SJC:KA6YZS-1} NET/ROM 1.3 (669)
Uplink(WB9LOZ)
Uplink(K1HTV-1) <~~> CQ(K1HTV-14)
Circuit(LAS:K7WS-1 W1XYZ) <~~> CQ(W1XYZ-15)
Uplink(N4HY)
* CONNECT W1XYZ-15
501SJC:KA6YZS-1} Connected to W1XYZ
* Hello! This is George in San Jose
Hi George! Thanks for answering my CQ. etc.
Users of the CQ command are cautioned to be patient in waiting for a
response. Your CQ will remain "armed" for 15 minutes, and will be visible
to any user who issues a USERS command at the node during that time. Wait
at least five minutes before issuing another CQ to give other stations a
chance to reply to your first one!
BBS: The BBS command is available on nodes using the G8BPQ software where
an associated packet bulletin board system is operational. Entering BBS
will connect you to the associated BBS.
BYE: The BYE command is available on G8BPQ nodes and is used for
disconnecting from the node. It does the same thing as disconnecting.
IDENT: The IDENT command, found on NET/ROM nodes, will give you the
identification of the node you're using.
INFO: The INFO command, found on TheNet and G8BPQ nodes, will give you
information about the node, usually the alias, callsign and location.
PARMS: The PARMS (Parameters) command, found on NET/ROM nodes, is for the
owner's use in determining how his station is working.
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