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Text File | 1991-09-23 | 22KB | 522 lines

Whats New MSYS112 *** NOTE that doc file is now on disk2! *** Home BBS replacement occurs only if @BBS is blank or the call of your bbs. Screen blanking: The F8 key can be used to blank the screen. Pressing any other key will unblank the screen. A new sysop command is also added that allows you to specify the number of minutes after last keystroke to blank the screen automatically: SCreensave # If the number given is zero (which is the default) the screen will not be blanked automatically. The method used to blank the screen will work with all display cards (the screen content is saved and then blanks are written to the screen). When you press a key to unblank the screen you will always get to screen 1 (the one you get with the F1 key). MEXpert [On/Off] If on, the message of the day will be displayed to all non-bbs marked stations. If off, it will only be displayed to non-ex- pert, non-bbs stations. If MAXBullage is set to a negative number, bulletins older than the number given (in days) will be held rather than discarded. BBSTimeout # Number of seconds of inactivity on bbs to disconnect user, de- fault 300 seconds. Note that when version 2 of the ax.25 protocol is enabled that no activity for CHEck time no longer causes a disconnect. NODETimeout # Number of seconds of inactivity on network node or K node at command prompt to disconnect user. Default is 300 seconds (5 minutes). TRetries has been changed to TREtries. TRUncate filename Adds CR/LF to files as needed to make lines no longer than 80 characters so it can be editted with ED command. Alt-F1 Alt-F2 Alt-F3 keys work like DOS F1 F2 and F3 commands to retrieve/edit last sysop command typed. FMsg pattern-string Searches all messages in MAIL.BAK directory for given pattern string. For example, to find messages that refer to hurricanes you might type FM hurricane Automatic password reply: If your system receives the password prompt (the Usage state: .. line) from a system that you connected to during forwarding or from the Connect commands, MSYS will now automatically supply the 1 correct response. You must have a file called PASSWORD.RMT in your FWD directory that is the same as the MSYS.RMT file on the other system. New form of Connect command: In addition to the usual C# form (like C0 ...) there is now a connect command in which you do not specify a port number with the C, nor do you give the call of the station to which you want to connect, but rather give the name of a file that contains a connect script to reach that station. The files must be in the FWD directory and can have any name. The connect script is the same format used in the forward file except that the first line begins with C rather the other letters used in the forward file. You can thus use the command C HOME in which case in the FWD directory you would have a file called HOME. An example of the contents of this file is c0 wa8bxn @olvgn #120 +to #180 +to #300 +to This example can be interpreted as follows. In the first line the C means this is a connect script, port 0 is to be used for the initial connect, and the ultimate destination is WA8BXN. The second line says to make a connect to OLVGN (which is a network node). The following . lines are commands sent to the node, the # lines are times to wait for responses, and the +to lines indicate the responses to look for that indicate success. See the descrip- tions for forwarding scripts for more information on these var- ious option. Another simple example of what you could put in a connect script file is C0 WA8BXN @WA8BXN V TOMSYS That's the entire file; it is a simple way to put the digipeater (TOMSYS) needed to reach the destination station (WA8BXN). AX.25 version 2 protocol: AX25L2v2 [port#] [On/Off] Version 2 can be enabled for all ports or specified ports. Ver- sion 1, the default, may be better for HF opertion. TCP/IP FTP function has been modified to give an estimate on the number of bytes transfered during GET and PUT commands. A number of bugs in timing have also been corrected (hopefully!). 2 MSYS DX Node General Description The MSYS DX Node is a subset of and compatible with the PacketCluster (trademark of Pavillion Software, PO Box 803, Hudson, MA 01749). The DX Node provides services of interest to DXers, such as DX station spotting and WWV reports, in addition to a conference function. The DX Node may be used in stand-alone mode or connected to a PacketCluster node. Currently MSYS does not support connects from other MSYS DX Nodes or PacketCluster nodes. User Interface The DX Node may be entered from the BBS through use of the C (for Conference) command or by connecting directly to the DX Node callsign (see DXCall command). When in the BBS itself, the SH/ family of DX Node commands may be used without leaving the BBS (SH/DX for example). The command syntax used once in the DX Node is patterened after the commands familiar to PacketClus- ter users. The H command gives a list of the user commands and a brief description of each. Its output is similar to that shown below: DX Node commands Bye Disconnects from DX Node BBS Returns to BBS Conference Enters local conference DX freq dxcall comments Enters given data as DX spot SH/CL Lists basic stats about DX network SH/COnfig Lists DX nodes in network and users on each SH/Dx Lists last 5 DX spots SH/Dx/# Lists given number of DX spots SH/Users Lists local DX node users SH/WWV Lists WWV reports (up to 5) Talk callsign Sends following lines to given user call Talk callsign msg Sends single line msg to given user call WWV SFI=# A=# K=# comments Enters given data as WWV report Bye Disconnects from DX Node. A regular disconnect also works. BBS Leave DX Node and go to BBS (even if original connect was into DX node call directly) Conference Enters local conference. Following lines typed will be sent to all stations in the local conference. Control-Z (^Z) is used to exit the conference. When a station enters or exits the conference a message noting the event is sent to the stations in the conference. When in the conference the various forms of the SHow/ command can be used by preceeding it with an asterisk 3 (example: *sh/dx). DX freq dxcall comments Enters given data as DX spot which is sent to all station in the DX node locally (and the DX network if connected to a PacketCluster station). Some examples: dx 14026.1 zp6cw dx 3795 KP2A/KP5 Listening 3805 - 3810 SH/CL Lists basic stats about DX network. Output looks like this: Cluster: 20 nodes, 1 local / 30 total users Max users 75 The Max users value is the highest number of users in the network at one time. This value is reset each time MSYS is started. SH/COnfig Lists DX nodes in network and users on each. Output might look like this: NODE USERS N8HTT KB8VN WX8T W8NR W8XYX N8BLD WA8VPN KC8FS N4RR AD8J K3UA KA3JWJ N3BPB In the sample above, N8HTT, N4RR and AD8J are DX nodes (or PacketClusters). The other stations listed are connected to the given nodes. N4RR shows no users connected. SH/Dx or SH/Dx/# Lists previously broadcast DX spotting infor- mation as shown below. By default 5 lines are sent. The SH/DX/# form may be used to specify more or less than 5 (up to the limit set with the DXSTart command). Examples of this command: sh/dx SH/dx/10 Sample output from this command: 14214.5 CE0LJI 28-Aug-1991 0206Z Easter Is NO9Z 14151.0 A41KJ 28-Aug-1991 0207Z AJ9C 14020.3 3B8FG 28-Aug-1991 0353Z QSY'd WB3KKX 7116.1 WB9FIU 28-Aug-1991 0351Z GREAT SIGNAL! N8LSQ 7006.6 FO4DL 28-Aug-1991 0350Z N9SW SH/Users Lists local DX node users SH/WWV Lists WWV reports (up to 5). Sample output: Date Hour SFI A K Forcast 27-Aug-1991 07 210 10 3 N24=M-H/UNS ONKD2YP 27-Aug-1991 21 196 18 5 SA=L GF=U-A > SA=M GF=A. K8IP 28-Aug-1991 00 196 20 4 mod mostly active SPE PCA K8DD 4 Talk callsign All typing until ^Z is typed is sent to the given station. The station may be a local user or connected to some other node in a DX network. The ^Z must be the only content on the line used to exit talk mode. Talk callsign msg Sends single line msg to given user call. Use of ^Z is not required (nor allowed) with this command. Example: t kq8m Anybody there? WWV SFI=# A=# K=# comments Enters given data as WWV report. Example: wwv sfi=210 a=10 k=3 N24=M-H/UNS Sysop Interface The following commands controlling the DX Node are available as Sysop commands: DXCall callsign DXDiddle #seconds DXNconnect scriptfilename DXPorts portmask DXRestore DXSAve DXSTart #nodes #users #dxspots #wwv SHow/... DXCall callsign where callsign is the call, with ssid, that will be used by the DXNconnect command to connect to a PacketCluster station. If a connect is made to this callsign, it will take the user directly into the DX Node. DXDiddle # where # is the number of seconds of inactivity before a 'diddle' packet is sent to connected dx node to keep connection estab- lished. DXNconnect scriptfilename where scriptfilename is a connect script file found in the FWD directory using the same format as the keyboard C scriptfile command. Note that connection to only a single PacketCluster station is allowed. Your DXCallsign must be enabled as a Packet- Cluster node by the sysop of the node to which you will be con- necting. The PacketCluster command that is used for this is the SET/NODE command (not supported in MSYS DX Node). DXPorts portmask One bits enable use of the DX node on that port. Rightmost bit is Port 0. DXRestore Reads the last recorded DX spotting and WWV information. If the 5 current maximum number of DX spots or WWV reports (as set by the DXSTart command) differs from the values in effect when the info was last stored this command will have no effect. This command should probably be put in MSYS.DO after the DXSTart command if the DXNode is to be enabled. DXSAve Records the current DX Spotting and WWV information in a file called DXNODE.DAT. This function is done automatically when a QUIT command is issued if the DX Node has been started. DXSTart #nodes #users #dxspots #wwv where #nodes is max nodes in DX network (default 25) #users is max users in DX network (default 100) #dxspots is number of DX spots to be recorded (default 20) #wwv is number of WWV reports to be recorded (default 5) SHow/... The various SHow commands listed above as user commands can be used as sysop commands Installation To activate the DX Node, at least two commands are needed (DXCall and DXSTart). The DXCall defines the callsign with SSID that users can use to connect directly into the DX Node as well as the callsign that will be used if the DXNconnect command is used to connect to a PacketCluster node. A DXRestore command should probably also be used to recover the DX Spotting and WWV information saved at the last time QUIT was used. These commands can conveniently be placed in the MSYS.DO file to automatically start the DX Node each time MSYS is start- ed. An example of the commands is DXConnect WA8BXN-6 DXSTart DXRestore DXNconnect DX An example of the contents of the file DX (found in the FWD directory) is given below. It has the same format as the connect scripts used in the forward file except that the first line begins with the letter C. The file below first connects to a network node CLE220 using port 0, then a connect command is issued to CLE220 to connect to network node #CLEDX and finally #CLEDX is told to connect to PacketCluster station KQ8M. C0 KQ8M @CLE220 +to +to When connected to a PacketCluster station there is the possibili- ty that the connection will be lost for some reason. Automatic reconnection may be accomplished by using the automatic timed 6 sysop command facility in MSYS (the TO DO facility). For example, the following line could be placed in MSYSTODO.DAT to attempt to connect every 10 minutes. The command will fail (by design) if the connection still exists. ???????0 DXN DX The interpretation of this line is to do the command DXN DX whenever the time in minutes has a right digit of 0, namely at 00, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 minutes after each hour. 7 MSYS AMTOR Interface Introduction ------------ NOTE: The AMTOR interface is still undergoing develop- ment. Additional features (in particular forwarding) will be added in later releases. Currently only Kantronics KAM tncs with Host Mode are supported. When used for AMTOR, the VHF portion of the KAM cannot be used (this limitation will probably never be removed unless Kantronics allows simultaneous use of KISS and Host Mode). The AMTOR interface in MSYS allows AMTOR stations to connect to the normal MSYS BBS. From there the DX Node may be accessed if enabled. The connect commands may also be used to make outgoing keyboard connects to other AMTOR stations. AMTOR has some major differences when compared to packet operation. The two most important is that when AMTOR is used only two stations can be connected together at one time on a given frequency and secondly that AMTOR uses a greatly reduced charac- ter set when compared to ASCII used with packet. Another difference is that AMTOR will probably work better than packet in marginal signal situations. AMTOR is also much slower (around 100 bits per second) that packet operation. This combined with the fact that only 3 bytes of text are sent before an acknowledgement is obtained account for the improved performance on HF. AMTOR operates in a half duplex mode; only one of the two connected stations can send data at a time. Thus there is a sending and receiving station at any given time unlike packet which is more full duplex in nature. This description of course ignores that fact that at any given instant usually only one packet station can transmit at a time. With AMTOR an explicit action must be taken to reverse data flow direction. This is usu- ally done by sending +? at the end of a group of text lines. Think of the +? sequence as the "go ahead, its your turn now" signal. IMPORTANT NOTE: There can be no space between the plus and the question mark. Also note that if you happened to send data that contained the sequence the direction of data flow would be changed when you might not have expected it. MSYS handles the direction of data flow control for the most part. When an AMTOR station connects to MSYS either the +? sequence or CR LF can be used to indicate when MSYS should begin transmitting. If MSYS does not have anything to send (as would be the case if you are in the process of entering a multi-line message) MSYS will again reverse the direction of data flow to allow the station to continue sending. Much more can be said about AMTOR. Refer to your TNC manual for more information. 8 Setting up an AMTOR port ------------------------ AMTOR ports are identified by the port name beginning with the ~ character. An example of a PORT statement in MSYS.OPT for an AMTOR port is PORT 0 AT $3F8 INT 4 SPEED 4800 NAME ~20M RADIOSPEED 300 The use of RADIOSPEED 300 will shorten some of the messages sent by the bbs to the user. The TNCTYPE parameter should not be used. Before starting MSYS with the AMTOR port for the first time, be sure that the SELCAL parameter in your TNC is porperly set. Note that the AX.25 parameters (such as FRACK) can be issued for an AMTOR port but they are ignored in operation. For- warding should not be attempted on an AMTOR port. Reverse for- warding will be attempted but probably won't work if a connecting station requests it. Turning an AMTOR port off will not prevent stations from connecting to it; turn the radio off instead! You cannot monitor general activity on AMTOR ports on the F2 screen. Only the infor- mation exchanged with a station connected to your system is shown (along with various status messages the TNC sends to the comput- er). AMTOR Users and the BBS ----------------------- Due to the character set limitations of AMTOR, the famil- iar > prompt character is replaced by the +? sequence which also allows the user station to enter their reply. Most of the normal BBS commands should work without modification from the way they would be used on packet. A notable exception are the various S commands used to send messages. In place of the @ character the word AT (with blanks around it) must be used. Since the $ character is not in the AMTOR character set (if used it may have strange results), BIDS cannot be explicitly entered. The < character is also invalid in AMTOR so it can't be used to indicate the originating station. Here are some examples of S commands: SP WA8BXN AT WA8BXN.#NEOH.OH.USA {valid} SP WA8BXN@WA8BXN {invalid because of @} SP WA8BXN < WB8ZZS {invalid because of <} ST 44026 AT NTSOH {valid} SB ALL AT NEOH $SOMEBID {invalid because of $} SB ALL AT ALLOH {valid} SB ALL ATALLUS {invalid, no space after AT} The Talk command will work. You will have to use the +? sequence to turn it over to the user station as needed. The user will also have to use the +? to turn it back to you. 9