World of Ham Radio 1997/WOHR97_AmSoft_(1997-02-01).iso/rtty/rtty_06/amsoft.iii

Text File | 1997-02-01 | 26KB | 526 lines

                TTY READER version 1.2ß - The RTTY/ASCII Viewer
      PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE - Copyright (c) 05 March 1990, FineWare, Inc.

          This is a preliminary 'manual' to the beta release of TTY Reader
     v1.2.  The system requirements for operation of this program are an
     MS-DOS Computer with at least 128k of memory, Color Graphics Adapter
     (CGA), and at least one available serial port.  Since this program is
     currently under development, this text serves as a tutorial on what
     the program is intended to do, how to set it up, and finally how to
     run it.  The distribution file TTYRDR12.ZIP should contain the follow-
     ing:

               TTY.EXE        - The TTY Reader v1.2ß Program
               TTY.DOC        - This Text

     It is suggested that the user print out this text (TTY.DOC) for future
     reference.

          PURPOSE.  The TTY Reader is intended to display radio teletype
     text from standard Terminal Unit (TU) interfaces such as the Advanced
     Electronic Applications' CP-1 Computer Patch Interface and NOT from
     All Mode Controller type devices (also known as TNCs).  Such TU de-
     vices are designed to only convert the RTTY transmission tones to RS-
     232 voltage levels, and do not contain the necessary hardware/
     firmware to automatically adjust to transmission rate, mode, and the
     like.  Limited by that, the TTY Reader was designed to handle a wide
     selection of data rates (40.5 to 300 Baud) in Baudot (RTTY) or ASCII
     modes.  Given that not all TTY transmissions are alike, included in
     the Reader was the ability to graphically transliterate the various 5
     unit teleprinter code alphabets as dictated by Chapter 35 of the ITT
     Reference Data for Radio Engineers and Chapter 19 of the ARRL Hand-
     book.  It was also desirable to add sundry other features in order to
     enhance the Reader's ability to perform properly.

          SETUP.  First, it is suggested that most terminate but stay resi-
     dent programs (TSRs) are removed from the environment and that the
     following commands are included in the user's CONFIG.SYS file:

               DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
               FILES=20
               BUFFERS=15

     It is necessary (but not essential) that the computer's real time
     clock be accurately set.  If no battery back up clock is used in the
     computer, the DOS TIME and DATE commands should be used prior to run-
     ning the Reader.  The importance of this will be detailed later.  It
     is essential, though, that the user know to which COMM port the TU is
     connected to.  This is only required the first time the program is
     run.  If the previous version (v1.1) of TTY Reader was used, it is ad-
     ditionally necessary to delete the old TTY.DAT file.

          RUNNING.  Upon first starting the TTY Reader, the user is
     prompted to input the COMM port number to which the TU is connected.
     The user should respond with either a '1' for COM1: or a '2' for
     COM2:.  Because of the common use of modems, mice, and other serial
     devices, future versions of this program will allow up to the maximum
     number of ports allowed by DOS, but is presently limited to the selec-

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     tion of these two ports.  The second piece of information required by
     the Reader is the number of hours required to convert to Greenwich
     Mean Time (GMT).  The main terminal screen of the TTY Reader contains
     a real-time GMT clock both for the user's information, and for use in
     some of the program's other functions.  The user should respond with
     the number of hours required to be added to his local time to achieve
     GMT.  For example, the user should respond to this prompt with a '4'
     for summer time on the East Coast (The clock is restored to the user's
     local time upon exiting the program).  These two pieces of information
     will then be stored in a file created by the Reader, in the default
     directory, named TTY.DAT.  Upon future runs of the program, this file
     will be automatically read at start-up.

     TTY Reader then begins with the opening screen, which simulates a TTY
     test tape.  If it is desired, this screen may be skipped with an '/S'
     switch as follows:

               TTY /S

     The program then continues to it's terminal screen.  The bottom of the
     screen contains the time of day in GMT, a reminder of how to get to
     the help screens, and the Reader's default settings.  A summary and
     description of these settings are as follows:

          BAUD RATE AND DATA TYPE:  Upon adjustment these settings are dis-
     played in the lower right hand corner of the screen.  The standard
     rates are supported by the function keys, non-standard rates may also
     be set by the cursor keys:

                   F1 - Change to 45.45 baud Baudot code
                   F2 - Change to 50 baud Baudot code
               Alt-F1 - Change to 56.92 baud Baudot code
                   F3 - Change to 75 baud Baudot code
                   F4 - Change to 100 baud Baudot code
               Alt-F3 - Change to 110 baud ASCII code
               Alt-F4 - Change to 300 baud ASCII code
                 CrUp - Increase baud rate
                 CrDn - Decrease baud rate
                 CrLf - Change from Baudot to ASCII and vice versa
                 CrRt - Change from Baudot to ASCII and vice versa

     The CrUp and CrDn keys will step through the following baud rates:
     40.5, 43, 45.45, 48, 50, 56.92, 60, 64, 72, 74.2, 75, 96, 100, 110,
     134.5, 150, 200, and 300.

     Special Note:  TTY Reader already configures the NumLock and CapsLock
     states of the computer's keyboard, regardless of their initial state
     when starting the program.  They need not be changed during program
     operation by the user.  Their original states are restored upon exit-
     ing the program.





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          BAUDOT TRANSLATION:  Upon adjustment these settings are displayed
     to the right of the data type.  The difference between the transliter-
     ation in these cases is usually in the figures (FIGS) case of the RTTY
     character set:

               F5 - US Military Standard (displayed as ' ').  This is the
     most common of the translations.  It is normally used by both Amateurs
     and US news and information services (such as the VOA).

               F6 - US Telex Standard (displayed as 't').  This is used by
     most of the international news services (such as TASS) and aero sta-
     tions.  It basically corrects for the apostrophe ('), the bell and WRU
     (Who aRe yoU?) symbols, and the dollar sign ($) characters.

               F7 - International Telegraph Alphabet #2 (ITA2, displayed as
     'i').  This is similar to the Telex Standard and is used by some of
     the Spanish services such as TELAM of Argentina.  The difference lies
     in the replacement of the dollar sign with the pound sign (#) and the
     additions of the plus sign (+), n-tilde (ñ), the semi-colon (;) and
     the equals sign (=).

               F8 - US Weather Standard (displayed as 'w').  This is hardly
     ever used, yet is included as a possible baudot transliteration mode.
     It includes graphical representations of wind directions and baromet-
     ric symbols which may be seen on the second help screen.

               Alt-F5 - Russian Cyrillic Character Set (displayed as 'c').
     This was added as an enhancement for version 1.2 of the TTY Reader,
     and may be used when reading the Soviet Ship traffic.  It was included
     for those users that are able to read and understand the Russian lan-
     guage in its proper form.  The Cyrillic alphabet is accurately con-
     verted with the following minor exceptions:

               a)  The symbol '4' will be displayed instead of the Cyrillic
     character which looks something like a 'y', but in larger case.
               b)  The symbol 'b' will be displayed for the Cyrillic 'hard'
     and 'soft' signs.
               c)  The symbol 'E' will be displayed for the Cyrillic 'E' as
     well as the upper case 'ë' symbols.

     Special Note:  These exceptions are a result of the way the characters
     are transmitted at the sending station and not a bug in the software.

          OPERATIONAL MODES:  RTTY is sent under varying conditions and
     modes.  It was the intent of this author to design into the program
     the manipulation of these factors in order to facilitate these condi-
     tions and to accommodate the personal tastes of the user.  It should
     be noted that the condition of all of these functions (as well as the
     baud rate and modes described above) with the exception of the ASCII
     debug mode are saved in the file 'TTY.DAT' upon exiting from the pro-
     gram so they may be automatically reinstated upon re-entry.  A summary
     and description of these modes are as follows:



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               Alt-C - Toggle Carriage Returns (CRLF).  Most RTTY is sent
     with the line ending with the CR,CR,LF character sequence.  The TTY
     Reader automatically ignores the carriage return characters and pro-
     cesses only the linefeeds.  However, in certain instances, such for-
     matting is undesirable.  The line endings take more time to process
     during a full screen, or some information may scroll off the screen
     too quickly.  Normally, the program will display a 'CRLF' on the bot-
     tom of the screen to denote that linefeeds will be processed.  Press-
     ing Alt-C again will inhibit this and will toggle the 'CRLF' display
     off so that the received text will 'wrap around' the full screen.

               Alt-U - Toggle Unshift on Space (UOS).  RTTY convention re-
     quires a FIGS (shift) character to be sent before a string of figures
     are to be sent, with a LTRS (unshift) character following it.  Under
     poor reception conditions, sometimes this LTRS character is missed and
     the text will appear garbled between numbers and other symbols.  In
     these instances, it is desirable to have a secondary safeguard to copy
     the transmission correctly.  Pressing Alt-U will make sure that the
     LTRS case is automatically reinstated upon the reception of a space
     character or at the beginning of a new line.  When this 'unshift on
     space' is enabled, a 'UOS' will appear on the bottom of the screen.

     Special Note:  The TTY Reader does not process third and fourth Cyril-
     lic or Romanized shifts in the normal manner.  The reason for this is
     that it is rarely, if ever, actually used.  A lot has been written
     about it's use with Soviet Ship transmissions, when in actuality, it
     is never used.  These special shifts are supposedly recognized by a
     null character preceding the FIGS or LTRS characters.  Soviet ships
     actually send a single null instead of LTRS and a FIGS without a null
     for FIGS cases.  This program has accounted for this, by automatically
     unshifting upon the reception of a null character.  This feature has
     no bearing on the operation of the user selected 'unshift on space'
     and actually allows the user to correctly copy Soviet Ships (under
     good reception conditions) without the unshift on space enabled.

               Alt-B - Toggle Bell Sounds (BELL).  Operation of RTTY in the
     evening is noisy enough if a speaker is used to aid in tuning your re-
     ceiver properly.  It is for this reason, that the bell sound is inter-
     preted graphically (as a bell symbol) by default.  Pressing the Alt-B
     combination will toggle the bell sound on and off.  'BELL' will be
     displayed on the bottom of the screen if the bell sounds are enabled.

               Alt-I - Invert Character Bit Polarity, and
               Alt-R - Reverse Character Bit Order.  Some RTTY transmis-
     sions may use simple forms of encryption in which one or more of the
     character bits are inverted in polarity or mispositioned.  These func-
     tions are an attempt to reconstruct two instances of this encryption.
     Pressing Alt-I will invert all of the bits (XOR $FF) and Alt-R will
     reverse the order of the bits in the received character.  Pressing ei-
     ther of these key combinations will display an 'INV' and/or 'REV' on
     the bottom of the screen to indicate that these respective processes
     will be performed.  These functions may be used separately or in con-
     junction with another to attempt to decipher some of those hidden
     transmissions.  A future version of this program may incorporate an

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     algorithm to operate in the background to automatically determine the
     number and position of the encrypted bits, or allow the user to input
     'bit' mask of their choice.

               Alt-D - Toggle Debug Mode.  Some RTTY and ASCII transmis-
     sions are sent specially formatted with control characters that do not
     translate well to the screen.  An instance of this are packet trans-
     missions which contain packets of text with message headers and trail-
     ers.  For this reason, it may be desirable to display graphical inter-
     pretations of these control characters, rather than attempt to display
     them.  A unique feature of the TTY Reader incorporates this by dis-
     playing the graphical representations as depicted in Chapter 19 of the
     ARRL Handbook as well in the second help screen.  When enabled, the
     'RTTY' or 'ASCII' indicator is retyped in lower case letters
     ('rtty','ascii') in the lower right hand corner of the screen.  Debug
     Mode for RTTY was added in addition to ASCII for version 1.2.

               Alt-A - Toggle Art Mode.  Amateur Radio enthusiasts often
     send RTTY character artwork over the air.  Copying these transmissions
     correctly required a couple of modifications to the TTY Reader, and is
     included in version 1.2.  Sending artwork will often include apostro-
     phe characters, as well as the ability to 'write over' a line sent, in
     order to create the desired visual effect.  Since the Ham operator has
     no idea whether the receiver is using either of the US Military or
     TELEX transliteration modes (described above), the apostrophe charac-
     ter is usually paired with a 'bell', distorting the picture somewhat.
     Also, TTY Reader normally ignores carriage return characters in favor
     of the linefeeds, which makes 'write over's appear as two lines sent
     instead of one.  Pressing the Alt-A key combination will automatically
     strip all bell characters from being displayed, as well as properly
     translate the carriage return and linefeed characters to accommodate
     artwork (regardless of the state of CRLF).  When the Art Mode is en-
     abled, the normal transliteration indicator (located to the right of
     the data type indicator) will be replaced by an 'a' in order to sig-
     nify that this special mode is being processed.

          OTHER UTILITIES:  Working RTTY transmissions is a hobby that re-
     lates well to both the Amateur and Shortwave Listening hobbies.  Since
     a computer is used as the medium, it is almost second nature to allow
     the abilities of the computer to perform some of the mundane tasks as-
     sociated with both.  It is for this reason that the following generic
     utilities have been incorporated into the TTY Reader:

               Alt-L - Write Log Information.  One of the mundane tasks of
     such radio hobbies is the logging of activity.  The TTY Reader already
     has converted the computer's clock to GMT and can automatically time
     stamp the entries.  Upon pressing Alt-L, the TTY Reader stops incoming
     traffic and prompts the user for a log entry on the top line of the
     terminal screen.  Any information (less than 75 characters long) may
     be typed here, such as frequency, service, call, rate and mode of
     transmission.  The entry is concluded with the ENTER key, and the
     traffic copy is resumed.  All entries are posted in the file



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     'TTY.LOG'.  The previous version of TTY Reader disallowed the use of
     commas in the user's response.  This has been corrected in version
     1.2.

               Alt-P - Toggle Writing to Printer, or
               Alt-F - Toggle Writing to File.  An enhancement to being
     able to log the activity is the ability to simultaneously write the
     traffic to either the printer or a file in the program's resident di-
     rectory.  By pressing Alt-P, all information is simultaneously sent to
     the printer as well as the screen.  In this case, characters which
     have been created as graphic renditions (bell, WRU, and ASCII control
     characters, as well as the special Cyrillic characters) will not
     translate accurately to the printer (or a file).  Some of these char-
     acters will be denoted as foreign characters or line symbols.  It
     should also be noted, that since hard copy may be derived from either,
     both functions may not be performed at the same time.  For instance,
     if the traffic is currently being sent to the printer, pressing Alt-F
     will disable the printer, and continue sending the rest of the trans-
     mission to a file.  The same is true for going from first copying to a
     file, and then to the printer.  The bottom line of the screen will de-
     note 'FIL' or 'PRN' to denote that alternate copying is being per-
     formed.  Pressing Alt-F will also display the name of the file being
     copied to where the 'Help key' reminder normally is displayed.  Also,
     while copying to a file, the beginning and end of the copy session
     will be date and time stamped, since many sessions may use the same
     file.

               Alt-N - Change Output Filename.  As the default name for
     file copying is 'TTY.TXT', this may be changed by the user.  By press-
     ing Alt-N, the current filename is displayed on the top line of the
     terminal screen, and the user is prompted for the new name.  The user
     may then opt to type in a new filename, concluding with the 'ENTER'
     key, or simply press 'ENTER' to keep the old filename.  Only legal
     filenames allowed by DOS are likewise allowed by the TTY Reader.  As
     well, it is not recommended to include path names, as the file will
     default to the resident directory of the Reader.

               Alt-S - Shell to DOS.  As is human to do, errors are in-
     evitable.  Pressing Alt-S will close all open files, discontinue the
     traffic copy, and temporarily put the user in hands of DOS.  This al-
     lows the user to edit the copied file or log entry with a small text
     editor or his/her choosing.  It is recommended that the user remember
     that this is only a SHELL of DOS and the TTY Reader is still in mem-
     ory.  The user must type 'EXIT' to return to the Reader.  A small re-
     minder of this is displayed after pressing Alt-S, but will not be re-
     peated.  A later version of TTY Reader will incorporate this reminder
     into the DOS prompt.

               F9 - Clear Screen.  Sometimes it is desirable to erase traf-
     fic from the screen and start with a fresh terminal.  Pressing the F9
     function key will accomplish this, with no effect to the rest of the
     program (alternate file copies, etc.).



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               F10 - Exit Program.  Pressing the F10 function key will
     close the COM port to traffic, as well as any open output files, save
     the current settings to 'TTY.DAT', restore the computer's clock to lo-
     cal time, and return the user to DOS.  Since this program alters cer-
     tain keyboard and clock functions, it is important that the user ONLY
     exit the program this way.

          CONCLUSION:  This and all of the other files contained in the
     file TTYRDR12.ZIP are provided as public domain software to be used
     and disseminated free of charge to the public.  The author requests
     that no fee be charged for the enjoyment or use of this software, or
     the next version will contain numerous annoying pleas for cash.  Nei-
     ther the author nor his associates are responsible for any results of
     using this software on any computer system, whether used properly or
     improperly.  The user hereby agrees that he using this software at his
     own risk.

     This and all of the other files contained in the file TTYRDR12.ZIP are
     provided as is, with no warranties, express or implied, including but
     not limited to the implied warranties of fitness for a particular pur-
     pose, and all such warranties are expressly and specifically dis-
     claimed.  In no event should the author or any of his associates be
     responsible for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential
     damages or lost profits to you or any other person or entity regard-
     less of the legal theory, even if the author or any of his associates
     have been advised of the possibility of such damage.

     No person or entity is authorized to expand or alter either these war-
     ranties or this agreement; any such representation will not bind the
     author or his associates.

     However, the author would appreciate any comments regarding the im-
     provement of this software or any bug reports (nobody's perfect).  The
     author may be contacted on the following bulletin board systems that
     he regularly calls:

          Santa Software Associates, Warrenton, Virginia    1-703-349-0135
          Pinelands BBS, Vincentown, New Jersey             1-609-859-1910
          (Name used on BBSs: 'MARK FINE')

     He may also be contacted via any bulletin board system currently par-
     ticipating in the following national BBS conference echos:

          RBBS' SWL echo
          PCBoard's PCRelay HAM echo ( route using '->SANTA')

     The author may also be contacted by mail at his home address (phone
     calls are discouraged):

          MARK J. FINE
          c/o FineWare, Inc.
          11252 Cardinal Drive
          Remington, Virginia 22734


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     Comments should be constructive and should contain detailed descrip-
     tions of what the user would like to see included in this software.
     If a bug report is in order, please include information such as com-
     puter make and model, version and make of DOS used, a hard copy of the
     user's AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, as well as detailed descrip-
     tions of the nature of each problem.  All constructive comments and
     bug reports will result in a prompt, courteous response.

          VERSION HISTORY:

     Version 1.2ß - Released 05 March 1990:
          a)  Made documentation easier to understand.
          b)  Converted software to quicker, more compact PASCAL code.
          c)  Decreased time delay of opening screen display.
          d)  Utilized PASCAL windowing techniques for terminal format.
          e)  Added border to aid visualization of terminal area limits.
     Terminal area is now 21 lines tall by 75 characters wide.
          f)  Moved Help key from Alt-F1 to Alt-H.
          g)  Moved 56.92 baud Baudot Quick key from Alt-F2 to Alt-F1.
          h)  Added Russian Cyrillic character set mode (Alt-F5).
          i)  Added RTTY Debug Mode (Alt-D).
          j)  Added RTTY Art Mode (Alt-A).
          k)  User prompts for Log entries (Alt-L) and filenames (Alt-N)
     were moved to the top line of the display.  Log entries are now lim-
     ited to 75 characters, but now allow commas as part of the text.
          l)  I/O Errors (i.e.: Disk, Printer) will be displayed on the top
     line.  Will now prompt user to Retry, Abort, or Fail, instead of auto-
     matically aborting, or disturbing the display.
          m)  Shelling to DOS (Alt-S) now produces a one-time reminder to
     type 'EXIT' to return to the program.
          n)  Clearing the screen (F9) now only clears just the terminal
     window, speeding up the process.

     Version 1.1ß - Released 04 November 1989:
          First release of TTY Reader software.




















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