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Text File | 1992-06-23 | 21.5 KB | 524 lines

UK AMPRNET TCP/IP Newsletter Mike Chace - G6DHU Issue 2 Volume 1 - March 1991 1. Introduction Hello and welcome to the second issue of this newsletter. I had a great response to the first issue and so I've decided to carry on as before. If you're reading this for the first time perhaps I ought to explain what the newsletter is all about... With the number of amateurs now using TCP/IP software on packet radio rising steadily, I thought that we needed a newsletter to help us keep up to date with matters such as new software releases, TCP/IP network information, beginners help and interlinking of IP 'clusters'. The newsletter appears bi-monthly, distributed through the national mailbox network addressed to the TCP/IP community (TCPIP @ GBR). If you have an Internet/JANET connection at your work then I can mail the newsletter to you that way. The format is largely down to me at the moment and I'm always happy to include topics that YOU want to see included! If you are a beginner, perhaps thinking of starting out on TCP/IP, perhaps I should say that my beginners information package is still available (see below). Also, if you missed the first issue of the newsletter, I'm happy to include the previous copies on disk. Anyway, on with the important business.... 2. Beginners Matters Getting Your IP Address Each TCP/IP user is identified by their IP address, a unique number. These addresses are allocated by an administrator who does this on a country wide basis. Our IP address co-ordinator is Dave Lockwood (G4CLI) who can be contacted at GB7YAX. If you are starting out on TCP/IP you will need an address. The best way to go about this is to apply for your address by sending Dave some mail with the following information :- Your Full Name and Callsign Your Postal Address (especially your postal town) Your IARU QTH Locator Your local Mailbox You might also like to include details of the equipment that you are thinking of using. Within a short while you will receive your address. Obviously, in the meantime you'll probably want to get going on the air with a temporary address while you wait for your proper one. Temporary address allocation is best handled by contacting your local IP group who'll always be happy to set you up. A short note: Dave recently suffered a break-in and this will obviously affect his speed in processing new address requests. SO BE PATIENT and use a temporary address in the meantime! 3. Some Beginners Questions One of my local stations recently made the jump to TCP/IP using his Amiga machine which runs a version of the NOS (Network Operating System) software. He sent me a selection of questions which were causing him some concern before he eventually started up on TCP/IP. Since these are pretty common questions I'm sure that they will be of help to many of you considering IP. 1. Can I still monitor normal ax25 when using TCP/IP? Yes, you can. In fact the monitor facility in all versions of TCP/IP software (called 'trace') will decode and display all currently known protocols used in packet radio eg. NET/ROM, TCP, IP, ARP and normal AX25. All TCP/IP software still allows you to connect to other AX25 (TNC) users and them to connect to you. In fact, NOS software provides a BBS like interface to all users which allows people to send/list mail, connect to other TCP/IP stations, connect to your NET/ROM node and upload/download files. So you won't lose touch with your chums still on AX25 Level2! 2. Will my ax25 mailbox still work? Yes it will but of course the mailbox is a bit different from those seen in TNC firmware. All TCP/IP software versions have a mailbox from which other users can send you mail. They also allow a local BBS to forward mail to you and for you to forward mail (personal and bulletins) from TCP/IP to either your local BBS or to normal TNC PMS/PBBSs. 3. Can I still work non-TCP/IP stations - do I have to keep changing from one mode to another? Yes you can. All TCP/IP software will allow you to hold multiple simoultaneous conversations in more than one mode. For instance, you can be talking to another local IP station, a local AX25 user's TNC and making a NET/ROM connect to your local node - all at the same time. While this happens some one could be sending you mail, downloading a file to you - all handled 'in the background' by your machine. 4. What about connecting to my local GB7___ BBS - can I still do this? Yes. I mentioned earlier that you can have all you mail automatically sent to/from your TCP/IP BBS too. But you can still connect to the mailbox just as you did with your TNC. 5. What sort of machine will TCP/IP software run on and do I need any other hardware ? TCP/IP runs on most 16bit computers. The Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Apple Macintosh and the PC clones will all run TCP/IP. You will need a minimum of 512k bytes of memory in your machine to run TCP/IP satisfactorily. The programs are Public Domain and therefore FREE. There is no other hardware needed apart from your normal TNC - as long as it supports the KISS firmware (look it up in your TNC manual). 6. What functions is the tnc performing in kiss mode? KISS firmware takes over the control of your TNC (So your normal firmware functions eg PMS won't be available). KISS basically forms a simple interface between your computer's RS232 link and the airwaves. Your machine wraps up packets to be sent in a simple serial 'packet' and sends them to the TNC. The KISS TNC software 'unwraps' the serial packet and makes up the HDLC frame to be sent out over the air from it. The receive process is much the same but the host computer decodes all the data in the KISS packet. It is this simple interface that gives the host computer the power to hold conversations in any protocol necessary. Perhaps I should also stress that NO modifications are necessary to either your computer OR radio in order to run TCP/IP. 7. If most of the work is being done by the computer, is it feasible to home brew a kiss mode tnc? Yes. For instance, the G0BSX homebrew TNC design can be equipped with a KISS only ROM to provide your interface. If you run a NET/ROM node, TCP/IP software supports the NRS (NET/ROM Routing Server) protocol, so you can connect a TCP/IP node to your NET/ROM node via the TNC serial port. 8. How much activity is there on TCP/IP? Quite a lot and it's growing all the time as 16bit computers become cheaper. There are some 600 allocated TCP/IP addresses, about half of which are stations on-air 24 hours. Activity tends to be in pockets, obviously increasing around the major towns but there are enough TCP/IP stations now for at least one to be within a few miles of most of us. You could always look on your local node for nodes with an SSID of -5 or an alias of IPxxxx or TCPxxx which will probably indicate the NET/ROM node port of a TCP/IP system. Alternatively, switch 'monitor' on while on 144.625MHz and if you receive lots of 'garbled' packets, this probably indicates local IP traffic. If you are interested, why not put a message on your local mailbox and ask if there are any local IP stations! 9. What advantages/disadvantages does TCP/IP offer? There's not a lot of space for this one but here are some.... Your computer becomes part of an integrated (and cooperating) network. It can perform packet switching operations (in all modes) as well as being a 'user end-point'. Your machine can converse in all the current protocols and provides other users with an interface for using them eg mailbox, NET/ROM node, gateways etc. TCP/IP has a number of standard 'services' available to you and anyone using your station. FTP for transferring files (binaries and text), SMTP for the automatic sending and receiving of TCP/IP mail, TELNET for TCP/IP keyboard to keyboard chats, NNTP for news distribution etc. As well as providing all the facilities you would expect for your own use, TCP/IP makes them available for any other IP station. The software handles packet switching, file transfers, mail routing on behalf of other stations automatically and transparently while you get on with what you want to do. 10. I have the program - it all looks terribly complicated - there are 101 commands - just how easy is it to get it all going? Admittedly, this is one of the difficult parts to "taking the plunge". Yes, there are a lot of commands but you can get by with a few at first and build up your knowledge as you use the program and read the documentation and help provided. Most distribution disks come with much documentation and help on installing the program and getting it running. Obviously, you have to do some 'fine-tuning' such as callsigns etc but again the set-up files usually tell you how to do it. As usual, there's no substitute for READING the documentation and if you do get stuck there is nearly always help available from local IP stations or via the national mailbox network (TCPIP@GBR). 4. Interference Claims and other Myths A number of interested beginners have written to me mentioning that they have been discouraged by their local nodeops, sysops and AX25 users from using TCP/IP on the grounds of both network congestion and 'interference'. So let's consider these points - you might well be accused yourself! Admittedly TCP/IP sometimes sends long packets and so adds to network congestion a little. However, running a KISS based system means that your system makes better use of the channel by using proper slotted access and engaging p-persistance timing (look it up in your TNC manual). Obviously the TCP/IP users have an obligation to keep packets as small as possible and all distribution software does this. AX25 users are just as much to blame if they run with large MAXFRAME values, long packets and FRACK timing. TCP/IP causes interference. Wrong! TCP/IP uses the services of AX25 and NET/ROM to send it's packets and so there is no way that using TCP/IP on the same channel can cause 'interference'. There are a number of things that you can tell your local AX25 users if they complain of corruption of their terminals etc when monitoring TCP/IP traffic on the channel. Tell them to switch in their TNC 'protocol filter'. Most TNCs have one called either MPROTO or PIDCHECK. Switching this on will make their TNCs ignore any packets that have a 'higher-level' protocol (eg NET/ROM, IP etc). That way, their monitors won't crash. You can't run TCP/IP on 144.675 or 144.650. Wrong! I know 144.625 is set aside for real-time and TCP/IP traffic but some of us (myself included) have no well enough connected 144.625 network and so we must use one of the other channels. As I said before, sending TCP/IP traffic on any channel WILL NOT interfere with existing users. Obviously, we all have to be sensible about these matters as we all have to co-exist. Once the IP network expands we can all move off to channels such as 144.625. 5. Software News - New Releases PE1CHL NET Version 9101 - Atari ST, PC clones and Xenix systems. A new release of this software is immenent featuring :- NET/ROM Source Quench Support for the PACSAT (Packet Satellite) protocol stack Updated mailbox Improved session control This software is available from Paul (G1PLT) who can be contacted at the GB3XP Mailbox and QTHR. I'm willing to help users of this software but please DON'T contact me for copies of the software! G1EMM NOS 901130 v1.6 - PC clones The new release of Kelvin Hill's program features NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) support New set of packet hardware device drivers Mailbox capable of forwarding to/from PMS/PBBSs and local BBSs This software is available from Kelvin (G1EMM - QTHR) at GB7WOK and he is also willing to help users get going with his excellent software. Amiga NOS Version 2.6 - Commodore Amiga John (G1YYH) has enhanced this version of NOS for the Amiga series of machines. The software is available from him (via GB7NWP). G6DHU TCP/IP Beginners Documentation Package. This package is distributed by myself on a 3.5 inch floppy in Atari ST or IBM-PC (MSDOS 720k) formats. The package has been updated to include three more articles and manuals (below) of interest to all TCP/IP users or beginners. NET/ROM User Manual by W9NK NOS Mailbox Manual by SM0RGV et al RSPF Defining Document by K1IO MSYS TCP/IP and BBS System Version 1.11 - PC clones I hear from the Internet that there is a new version of this BBS program with TCP/IP support following hot on the heels of v1.10. I'd welcome any reports from users of this software. NOS - Apple Macintosh Again, I'd like some user reports of this software. The software is available but apart from that I don't know much more! If you do decide to send disks to the above mentioned PLEASE remember to include return postage and your address. 6. TCP/IP Network Development This section of the newsletter is devoted to matters concerning local TCP/IP networking and exists to keep TCP/IP users informed of changes and additions to the network. Firstly, thanks to Paul (G0MHD @ GB7KHW) for a description of his local IP network in and around the Cambridgeshire area. To give you a clue there is a central NET Node in Cambridge, GB3PX. This node connects the following: GB7PX 23cm trunk link, this connects to G0DDX-8 NETROM, GB7DDX BBS located in Cambridge, G4UXV-8 NETROM, GB7HXA BBS located in Huntingdon, GB7WNM +NODE located in Kings Lyn, all these connections are first class and should be considered practical. GB3PX is a 2 meter node on 144.650 and is hard wired to GB7PX which is 23cm. G0DDX-8 has the following frequencies: 23cm, 70cm 432.675, 2m 144.650, 4m. G4UXV-8 has the following frequencies: 23cm, 70cm 432.675, 2m 144.650, 6m. There are as you might imagine many more further connections from this group. Places like Northampton. Saffron Walden and Peterborough to name a few. The local TCP/IP group uses 2 meters (144.625) and is almost isolated from the rest of the NTS/NETROM system. The gateway for mail is GB7KHW and this station uses Msys. His Netrom node is switched off at the present time for reasons which I fully understand. I run NOS which is running behind a G8BPQ node and supports two frequencies, 144.625 and at the present time 70cm, attended only, on 432.675. This provides an excel- lent gateway into the main network in this area. I hope to change the 70cm port to 23cm in the future. I had better point out that all the 23cm links in this area are 9600 baud and are can handle more load than the conventional 1200 baud links. My link to GB3PX is via G0DDX-8. Thanks Paul for that description. So if you're a newcomer to TCP/IP in Paul's area - you know who to contact! Bath and Bristol Subnet Since the last newsletter my own subnet has joined up with other TCP/IP nodes further North. Believe it or not we now have a reliable link from Bristol to Sheffield via Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham and West into Wales. The topology looks something like the following. Bath and Bristol (subnet 20) (6 users - most 24 hour) | TCPWRW:G4WRW-4 ------------- SGLAM:GW3NYY-5 | (S. Wales) | | TCPAMD:G8AMD-5 Sutton Coldfield | |-------------G7BGP Birmingham | | TCPBSX:G0BSX-2 Sheffield As you can see from the map above, it is possible to link up IP nodes over long distances and over busy NET/ROM networks. Obviously with round trip times of some 200 seconds end-to-end, the link isn't good enough for chats but mail finds it's way along nicely. We are currently looking at the possibility of links to London and Oxfordshire which as you can see will be a great step forward for the UK AMPRNet. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, please send in your reports of local activity, even if you are isolated. Your report might start another group thinking about linking up to you. 7. Beginners' Tutorials I'm aware that there are a few gaps in the existing TCP/IP documentation that could be filled with some tutorials. Springing to mind come ARP, IP routing using NET/ROM and the OSI Reference Model. The first topic (ARP) seems to be the most mis-understood and I've begun work on a tutorial to be sent out later some time. If anyone else would like to suggest areas for improvement please drop me a line or give me a ring and we could sort something out. And you beginners out there ? Send in your requests for discussion topics and articles (See my address at the end of the newsletter). 8. 221 Closing.... Last but not least, thanks to all those who responded to my last newsletter... G0's IYJ, MHD, LCE, LXC G1's FDK, WIK, PLT G3's KFN, RPI G4's WRW, OTJ, JQD, NUB, OOS, DJD, BBH, ZKK, YLJ G6's KVK, HUJ G7's EXU, FTO G8's XAN, ASO, GGI GM4YED, GM4JJJ, GM4WMN GW4NNL, GW3NYY Please send suggestions and articles for inclusion to me at the following addresses ; 84 Frankland Close Bath Avon BA1 4EL or via e-mail (mikec@praxis.co.uk), AMPRNET g6dhu.ampr.org [44.131.20.3] or AX.25 NTS BBS (G6DHU@GB7IMB). I can accept material on 720k IBM/MS-DOS and Atari ST 3.5 inch format disks and if you want them back PLEASE include the return postage. All material greatfully received! 73 until next time, Mike.