World of Ham Radio 1994 January

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████████░ ███████░ ██████░ ███░ ██░ █████████░ ███████░ █░ ███░ ██░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ ▄█░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ ▄█░ █▄▄▄▄▄█░ █▄▄▄▄▄█░ █░ █╔═══════════════╗ █▄▄▄▄▄█░ █░ █▄▄▄ █░ █░ █░ █░ █║ MESSAGE THIEF ║ █░ █░ █░ █░ ▄▄ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █╚═══════════════╝ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ █░ ███░ ███░ ███░ ██████░ ███░ ██░ ███░ ███░ ███░ ██████░███░ ██░ This manual covers versions from PT-1.04 to PT-109M. PACKTALK - PBBS uses SOFTWARE FLOW CONTROL. A three wire hookup is all that is necessary. If you find you are having speed related problems slow your computer down. This software is designed to run on a 286 XT, AT. If you MUST run the computer at a faster speed make sure that you open the com ports to at least 9600 baud. Also, PACKTALK should not print more than 1 line per second to the TNC when doing an UP or DOWNLOAD otherwise you will loose data. This can be controlled by the settings of the parameters in line 1 and 23 of the PBBS.CNF file. Set in increments of 5 until you get the proper speed. Set for a little slower than 1 line per second to be safe. IF YOU HAVE PT-109J OR HIGHER, PARAMETERS 1 & 23 DO NOT APPLY!!! PACKTALK is written in COMPILED BASIC and needs BRUN45.EXE run time module in order for it to work. Do not use any file compression programs on any of the files associated with this software. PACKTALK IS NOT GUARANTEED TO WORK WITH ANY DOS ABOVE 3.3 OR WITH ANY TNC OTHER THAN A KANTRONICS! If you make the GATEWAY available to your users keep this in mind. When a user accesses the Gateway, the USERS callsign is the one that will be used on the Gateway, NOT the call of the PBBS. The first thing to do after acquiring PACKTALK is to make a directory called PACKTALK and copy ALL files into the PACKTALK directory. **** The EXE files **** ============= PACKTALK EXE [ the terminal program ( see note below ) ] PBBS EXE [ the BBS program ] GATEWAY EXE [ the gateway routine when user enters a <G> ] REVFWD EXE [ used to manually poll a PBBS for mail ] BRUN45 EXE [ the run time module ] EDITOR EXE [ an extremely good text editor ] MFWD EXE [ mail forwarding routine ] MFWDAUX EXE [ mail forwarding routine for alternate connects ] MAKFILE EXE [ to auto make dir/files out of messages ] PAKMSGS EXE [ packs up the messages for compressed forwarding ] UNPAKMSG EXE [ unpacks the compressed message file ] INVERT EXE [ invert the MESSAGE.DAT file for making 'Mail for:' ] DS EXE [ sorts the files in all the directories ] The last page will contain a list off ALL the files that come with the PACKTALK - PBBS package. (PT-109K.EXE & PT-109KS.EXE). Page 2 You will have to make any directories for the PBBS. These are the DIRECTORIES that are displayed when a user sends a <W> to the BBS. At this point you can make the necessary directories needed to RUN the pgm. Create these directories from the ROOT of your hard drive: MSG BBS BBS\LOG BBS\HOME <If your using PT-109J and above PT will create these> BBS\NAME <directories the first time you run it>. BBS\DATABASE BBS\MFWD BBS\STATS BBS\MFR ANY additional directories needed for USER downloads will be made as sub- directories of the BBS directory, ie.: BBS\PGMS BBS\BASIC <these you must create yourself>. BBS\MODS * ALL directories must have in them an ASCII representation of the directory except for the MSG directory. You can create these ASCII directories in 2 ways, 1 by running the pgm. SORTBBS or by going into each and every dir. and typing DIR>DIR. DS.COM is used to sort the directories and should be used before creating the ASCII directories manually by typing from the ROOT dir. DS N/S. If you use SORTBBS.EXE this step is not necessary. If someone is on the PBBS and they send a W or a W directoryname and the pgm. sends back a prompt, no such directory exists and you know that it does it is probably because you did not create the ASCII representation file for that directory. When a file is uploaded to a directory PACKTALK will sort the directory and then create a NEW ASCII directory for that directory, so once you set it up properly you no longer need to maintain it. To find out what the PBBS can do access it your self and download the BBS-CMDS.DOC file which you should have put in the BBS directory also you should have HELP.BBS and SHELP.BBS in the BBS directory. >>>>>> THE ABOVE FOR PT-103 AND LOWER ONLY! You may operate this PBBS as a CLOSED system. This means that only stations that are in your MFWD.BBS file will be able to connect. This is a parameter that you set in the PBBS.CNF file. The options you have are OPEN or CLOSED. The following is an EXAMPLE of what the PBBS.CNF file consists of with explanations. EDIT the real file before attempting to run PT using EDITOR.EXE included in this package. Page 3 Example of the PBBS.CNF file. 0 <not used, but do not leave blank>. 9600,N,8,1 <9600 baud for PT-104 and higher, 2400 baud for lower>. N3DFD <your call, no SSID's>. N3DFD-4 <the call that will be assigned to the TNC, SSID ok>. *** CONNECTED *** DISCONNECTED JUNK.TXT <default file name for downloads, may include path>. TNC=2 <if you are utilizing more than COM1, if not then TNC=1>. SOUND=Y <or 'SOUND=N'>. CONOK OFF <setting for TERMINAL mode, PBBS will always be CONOK ON>. BEACON E 240 <for tnc 1>. BEACON E 120 <for tnc 2>. BT PACKTALK, Version 1.09K by N3DFD. <this will be changed as you get mail>. CT Accessing PBBS, please wait.. <for PBBS mode, changed when in TERMINAL>. U PBBS < unproto > TXD 75 <you can use this setting for any parameter you want>. K <K for Kantronics, O for other. Sends RESET or RESTART to TNC>. 20 45 <times within any given hour to forward mail, up to 3 entries>. F3 to Exit..<line 25 prompt for PBBS ready mode, no longer than 20 chrs>. [PBBS back on line]. <sent over the air when returning to PBBS ready mode> TIMER/S <the command to run your timer pgm. ,to set the computers clock>. *** eof Z <this will allow compressed BINARY forwarding with another PT-109K-BBS>. Please enter your HOME PBBS, (where you get mail). ie., (NH N3DFD). 361 <time out for PBBS in seconds>. Phila., Pa. <keep short as possible as this is used in your R: header>. 19124. <your zip code>. - (B,CB,D,F,FS,G,H,HA,I,J,JH,K,L,N,NH,R,S,T,U,V,W,WH,X,?,)> [You have mail, use <RM> to read it and <KM> to kill it]. thanks for connecting, ya'll come back now, hea! < signoff text > ===> [Timeout] <=== <prompt sent when PBBS times out>. Please stand by... <prompt for Talk mode, PBBS>. 18 19 20 21 22 23 <download prohibit hours for files over 25k>. N3DFD N3FOA WB3EUF <list of remote SYSOPS>. 144.990 <COM1 freq.>. 29.2500 <COM2 freq.>. 15 <amount of things a user can do on the pbbs before kick off>. Y <limit MAIL FOR Btext to CALL signs only>. No - already have that BID. No - don't want it. You are being denied access to this PBBS at this time! <jerk text>. NOCALL PK232 <jerk list>. (lids) PA.USA.NA <your "H" address for the R: headers>. OPEN <OPEN or CLOSED BBS, if CLOSED then BBS connects only>. *** eof ### DISCONNECTED FAIL < prompts that you get back > RETRY < from the various nodes. > LINK MADE > CONNECTED < you may edit them if needed. > CONNECTED Y <if N then all messages will be forwarded without the R: headers>. Page 4 **** REMOTE SYSOP **** ============ REMOTE SYSOP: You can place up to 5 callsigns in the PBBS.CNF file and these will have remote sysop privileges. PT-109K and higher can require a REMOTE SYSOP to enter a password before given privileges. This will be explained later in this documentation. By a call being in the PBBS.CNF file as a remote sysop the first thing this allows is that when that particular person when connected to your PBBS will be able to see private messages, he will be able to kill ANY message, He will also be able to over write existing files in your directories, kill files in any directory, create new ASCII directories in any directory on any drive, he can up and download files to and from ANY directory on ANY drive, so be careful who you give privileges to. He can also shut your system completely down. By creating an ASCII directory in the ROOT directory, then downloading that ASCII directory he will have a full map of your disk layout. Can you see the possibility? To find what the remote commands send a X and you will get the menu listed below: Summary of SYSOP commands for the PBBS [LF] ------- Used to see what mail is left to be forwarded. [STATS] ---- Used to download the daily STATS file, who con. and did what. [DEL STATS] Used to kill the STATS file. [DD xxxxx] - Use to delete a 'user' DIR, ie., <DD AMSAT>. [*] -------- Used to see how many messages on the PBBS. [XD] ------- Used to download files, ie., <XD C:\BBS\MFWD\BID.NUM>. [XU] ------- Used to upload a file, ie., <XU C:\BBS\MFWD\REJECT.BBS>. [XX] ------- Used to toggle expert mode (SYSOP ONLY). [SHELL] ---- Used to shell a pgm, ie., <SHELL SORTBBS>. [DIR] ------ Used to create an ASCII dir. ie., <DIR C:\WORK>. [DEL] ------ Used to delete a file, ie., <DEL C:\WORK\M.AA>. [KF xx-xx]-- Used to kill messages, ie., <KF 30-70>. [KS] ------- Used to kill messages, ie., <KS AMSAT>. [K ALL ----- Used to kill ALL messages, ie; <K ALL>. [PURGE] ---- Used to PURGE the PBBS, ie., <PURGE>. [PS xxxxx] - Used to reset tnc parameter, ie., <PS TXDELAY 50) [CREATE] --- Used to create a .BAT file that will be executed as soon as you complete it. Type CREATE and then follow the prompts. [*** SHUTDOWN ] -- Used to shutdown the PBBS. Not recoverable by SYSOP. ***** C A U T I O N ***** ============= The SHELL command may be used remotely but be careful with it. if you SHELL a .BAT file or a pgm. that at any time requires keyboard input your stuck. Presumably you won't be there to press any keys. Example of the SHELL command usage: SHELL DO.BAT When the task is completed you will get the prompt back, Completed! Page 5 *** FORWARDING *** ========== PACKTALK can forward BULLETINS to as many BBS's you want to, just enter callsigns in the MFWD.BBS file. It can forward messages addressed to a specific call sign as long as they are entered in the MFWD.BBS file. You can enter any amount of calls you wish to forward to. The first thing you will need to do to set up the BBS for auto-forwarding is to create a file in the directory you are running PACKTALK from and name it MFWD.BBS. This file will contain the call signs of the stations you will forward to, the PRIMARY BBS is POSITION SENSITIVE and has to be the last entry in the file, this is normally the PBBS that FORWARDS TO YOU. If you get a message and it can not go in any other PBBS's slot then it will always go to the last PBBS in the MFWD.BBS file. It can forward either on COM1 or COM2 ports. Forwarding on COM2 is determined by the PORT2.BBS file. Following is an example of what the MFWD.BBS file will look like: KA2EZN ALLBBS ALLUSA ALLUS AMSAT N3FVG NO2V NJNET WA3TSW ALLBBS MDCBBS EPA SEPA PHILA N3FOA ALLBBS ALLUSA PANET N3FVG N3INY AMSAT ARRL .CA .OR N3ACL ALLBBS ALLUSA MDCBBS ATLDIV 123456789 <not part of the file>. NOTICE: all the text following the callsign begins at location 8 on the line. THIS IS VITAL for the file to work as PACKTALK at times reads only the first 6 characters to compare it to other strings. The text following the callsigns are the distribution designators, (the @BBS field) and there can be as many on the line as you need. The line can be up to 32k long, (an unbroken line, meaning no CR/LF except at the end of the line). In the first example, if a message came in for N3FVG, it would be forwarded to KA2EZN, etc... This file is kept in the \PACKTALK directory with another file you create called FWD.TIM. In this file, on a single line you place the hours your BBS will be allowed to forward. For example, here is what the FWD.TIM file might look like; 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 During the hours that are in this file, your BBS will forward mail. If you desire to forward 24 hours a day then put an * anywhere on the line. If you don't create this file PACKTALK will create it automatically and place a single * in the file and nothing else. This file works in conjunction with entry #18 you made in the PBBS.CNF file. Page 6 Now you must create the CONNECT files and they will be put in the \BBS\MFR directory. The name of the file will be the callsign of the BBS you are forwarding to and the extension .CON. Here is an example of a few: N3ACL.CON, WA3TSW.CON, N3FOA.CON. What you place in these files is the connect request you would normally type to connect to a station, ie; C N3FOA, You may place as many connect requests as you need, for example, if you wanted to connect to WA3TSW via a node you would on the first line place the connect request to the node and on the second line the connect request to WA3TSW. Following is an example of what the file would look like: C WA3YUE-1 C WA3TSW That's all there is to it, just remember you MUST have a correspon- ding .CON file for every BBS you list in the MFWD.BBS file. >>>>>> See end of .DOC file for info on AUX connect paths (PT-109K) <<<<<<< The MFWD.BBS and FWD.TIM files can be edited from the program. As messages come in they are put into files corresponding to the callsigns you have listed in your MFWD.BBS file. For example if a bulletin comes in to ALL @ ALLBBS, its corresponding number will be put into a file with the callsign of a BBS you forward to and the extension .MFD. ie; N3CAL.MFD The .MFD files are created as messages come in and will have only 1 number on each line. These files also can be edited from the terminal mode if necessary with the ALT-F function. WARNING! There must NEVER be a blank line in any file pertaining to this PBBS and also there must never be a blank line as the LAST line in any file. PT-104 will read all lines in a file and if any are blank this will leave a string variable in the software blank and that will cause problems. Also kept in the \BBS\MFR directory is a file named in numerals, representing the day and an extension .MSG. This is a permanent record of the messages that are forwarded and to what BBS. This file can also be accessed by the ALT-F function. Any messages that are not forwarded due to not having a bid number are listed in a file named NO-BID.MSG and can be viewed by the ALT-F function. This file is not automatically reduced so it can grow quite large over a period of time. ALL private messages are backed up in the \BBS\MFWD directory and are periodically archived into a ARCHIVED file with the first name being the month and the extension .MSG. This way there can only be 12 files at any given time. If for one reason or another you need to abort the MF routine, just hit the ENTER key. [not a good practice, only do this if necessary]. Page 7 PACKTALK will handle "H" addresses. Addresses are kept in a file named ADDRS.BBS. This file is kept in the \BBS\MFWD directory. PACKTALK will now keep this file updated. Here is a sample of an entry: WA3ABC.PA.USA.NA. PACKTALK also supports BID's and MID's. You can have your BBS reject any type of message you wish by entering the type of message in a file named \BBS\MFWD\REJECT.MSG. For example if you wanted to reject messages addressed to @AMSAT you would enter AMSAT into the REJECT.MSG file. You can also have PACKTALK reject messages from a particular call by entering the persons call sign in the file also. Each entry on a separate line. If you wish to have PACKTALK hold the mail instead of forwarding it automatically you can do this by entering the terminal mode and press ALT-M and you will be prompted if you want to hold the mail. If you enter Y to the prompt it will put the mail on hold. The BID numbers (BULLETIN IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS) for bulletins are kept in the \BBS\MFWD directory in a file named BID.NUM. Packtalk keeps the last 4k of BIDS in it at all times, there is no need to do anything to this file. PACKTALK keeps all of the R: headers in each message although the user will not see them. What this does is when a message is read the program uses the R: headers to show the user the PATH that the message took to get to your BBS. Here is an example of what it may look like: PATH: N3FOA!N3DFD!WA3TSW!WB3JOE! FORWARDING TO TNC MAILBOXES: You no longer need to do anything about that, just put the persons callsign in the MFWD.BBS file, make up a .CON file for it in the \BBS\MFR directory and that's all there is to it. PT-104 will know if it's a tnc's mailbox or a regular PBBS. If you want to forward more than just personal messages to him then place the categories on the same line as his call sign, ie; AMSAT, ALLBBS, ARRL, etc... WARNING: If you forward BULLETINS to these new TNC mailboxes there is the chance that the TNC mailbox will forward them back to you, WITHOUT BID NUMBERS. If it's an older mailbox this won't happen. If PACKTALK doesn't find a BID number for a BULLETIN that it is attempting to forward, it will NOT forward that BULLETIN. MORE ON 'H' ADDRESSING FURTHER ON IN THIS MANUAL. Page 8 *** PACKTALK UTILITIES *** ================== RENUM.EXE ----- Used to renumber messages. BUBBS.EXE -- Used to backup the entire PBBS on to another hard drive ONLY! (mirror backup). SORTBBS.EXE -- Used to sort all the directories associated with the PBBS and create a new ASCII directory in each directory. CHANGE.EXE -- Used to automatically alter the TO and AT fields in the MESSAGE.DAT file and delete old messages set by the LIMIT.MSG file. SERVER1.EXE -- Used to remove duplicate and bad 'H' addresses from the ADDRESS.BBS and ADDRS.BBS files that are kept in the \BBS\MFWD directory. This pgm. can be run automatically by inserting the com- mand in the OPTION.BAT file which is run once a day at 7pm. ALL the above support pgms. for PACKTALK must be available to MS-DOS by the PATH command. It's probably a good idea to keep all these pgms. in the \PACKTALK directory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **** RENUM.EXE **** =========== A word about RENUM.EXE. This is a separate program that you must run from DOS. What this pgm does is RENUMBERS your messages that are in the PBBS. BTRENUM MUST be in the PACKTALK directory . After you do a renumber you can move RENUM.EXE to any place you like to store it until the next time you need it. The highest message number allowed is 99999. All the messages and the MESSAGE.DAT file are kept in a directory named \MSG, off the ROOT directory of the hard drive that you installed the program on. Also kept in this directory is the MESSAGE.CNT file that keeps track of the message numbers. NOTE: CHANGE.EXE and SERVER1.EXE are part of the PACKTALK.EXE file for versions 1.05 and above. Page 9 The following files are to be kept in the same directory you are running PACKTALK from. PORT2 .BBS [ BBS's that you forward to on port 2, see note below ] GATEWAY .HLP [ text sent to user going into the Gateway ] DBASE .INF [ see note below ] TNCPARMS.SET [ parms to set up TNC, ALT-L ] LOGO .TXT [ displayed upon boot up of program ] INFO .TXT [ the info about your system, "I" command ] SIGNON .TXT [ text sent to the user accessing the BBS ] MFWD .BBS [ this file controls the mail forwarding ] PBBS .CNF [ this is how the BBS is setup to run ] BTRENUM .EXE [ renumbers messages, optional ] PORT2.BBS note: ENTER 1 PBBS per line only, no SSID's, Example follows: WB3EUF N3DFD KA2EZN ===> NOTE: See page 27 for documentation on PT-109-E and using SUB ports. LIMIT.MSG note: the default file will be as follows: SYSOP NONE NONE NO KILL 250 This can be set up for anything in the TO field and you may have it delete the message after it has been copied into the BBS\DATABASE directory. It can be very handy if you want to take a poll. When you send a bulletin you would have replies sent to POLL @ N3DFD and setup the LIMIT.MSG file as follows: POLL whatever other TO field you want here. whatever other TO field you want here. KILL 250 Any message addressed to POLL will be copied into the BBS\DATABASE directory then message will be killed and be removed from the MESSAGE.DAT file. The number 250 in the LIMIT.MSG file determines the number of messages CHANGE.EXE will allow on the PBBS. When that number is reached CHANGE will KILL the oldest messages up to that number. If you wish to PROTECT any msg. from being killed place a * after the DATE in the MESSAGES.DAT file for that message. You may edit this number to be any number up to 505. Page 10 The following files are to be kept in the \BBS\MFWD directory. ADDRS BBS [PACKTALK now compiles this file] ADDRESS BBS [for mail addressing and the CALL BOOK feature]. CHANGE TO [ optional ] CHANGE AT [ optional ] REJECT MSG [ optional ] The following should be kept in the \BBS directory: SHELP.BBS HELP.BBS BBS-CMDS.DOC This is the directory the user sees when he sends a W to the BBS. ============================================================================== **** TERMINAL MODE **** ============= There is one menu that may be brought up by entering ALT-H in the terminal mode only. Here is a list of the keys and their function: ALT-Z [ copy a message into a directory to use as a file ] ALT-F [ clean MFWD.BBS file, DELETES ALL MESSAGE NUMBERS ] ALT-M [ to put mail on or off HOLD / to force mail forwarding ] ALT-N [ reverse polling to BBS for mail forward ] ALT-C [ to clear screen ] ALT-E [ to activate CHANGE.EXE ] ALT-R [ access DR.COM to read messages in the \MSG dir. ] ALT-J [ calls up EDITOR.EXE to edit the MFWD.BBS file ] ALT-P [ toggles dual screen when running dual ports only ] ALT-L [ upload parms to TNC ] ALT-X [ view/kill STATS files ] ALT-B [ message thief ] HOME [ toggle between COM ports ] PgUp [ to upload a file ] PgDn [ to download a file to disk ] Page 11 At the bottom of the screen in the terminal mode there is a list showing the function of the F keys. Listed below is a run down on what they do. F-1 < to set path and file name for download > F-2 < shells to DOS, type EXIT to return to program > F-3 < toggle between the TERMINAL and PBBS READY MODE > F-4 < to access your BBS > F-5 < calls up DR.COM to read files > F-6 < filter the headers, on the bottom of the screen shows the HEADERS > F-7 < calls up EDITOR.EXE, you name the path and file > F-8 < shows who connected to the BBS, STACK and DATA space left > F-9 < does a hard disconnect and restores screen > F-10 < calls up EDITOR.EXE to edit the MESSAGE.FWD file > F-8 note: the program will delete the WHO.CON file after date change and somebody connects to the PBBS. ============================================================================= At this point it might be a good idea to bring up the editor and edit the SIGNON.TXT file. (no more than three lines, each line followed by a carriage return except the last line). and then create or edit the INFO.TXT file. This is the file that is read when an I is sent to the BBS. Page 12 ***** Final Comments **** ============== Don't forget, you will need BRUN45.EXE for the program to run. You may keep it in the PACKTALK directory or any directory covered by your PATH command. Anyway, that's about it, so hope you can get the thing up and running with out too much difficulty. There are a few here in this area who have been running PACKTALK for some time now so just about all the bugs are out of the software. This software runs perfectly with any TNC. PACKTALK.EXE uses SOFTWARE FLOW CONTROL, so set your TNC parms accordingly. If you have any problems you might try running SORTBBS.EXE before running PACKTALK and after you create all the directories and subdirectories you need. ALWAYS use the RUN.BAT file to load and run PACKTALK as the RUN.BAT file sets a few DOS conditions. ============================================================================== /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ ============================================================================== Any support pgms. for PACKTALK you do not have may be obtained from the N3DFD PBBS on 144.990/29.2500 Mhz. in Philadelphia or from: The Software Exchange Xpo (S.E.X) 912 E. Ramona Ave. Phila. Pa. 19124. de N3DFD (Joe). ============================================================================= /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ ============================================================================= NOTICE: Whatever TNC is used, the following MUST be observed: The TNC must NOT send added LINE FEEDS to the computer. Carriage return & line feed must be appended to each outgoing packet. ALL time and date stamping must be turned OFF. DO NOT SET UP YOUR TNC FOR "BLOCK TRANSMISSION OF PACKETS". Streamswitch must be set for $00. These are all parameters set by your tnc but all tnc's don't use the same name for the particular parm. in question, that's why this explanation! Page 13 TNC parameter settings for the AEA tnc's for running PACKTALK. COMMAND MNEMONIC DEFAULT FUNCTION _______ ________ ____________________ ________________________________ 8BITCONV 8B ON Strip bit 7 in CONVERSE ABAUD AB 110 baud ASCII baud rate ACRDISP ACRD 256 OR 0 Screen width ACRPACK ACRP ON Add <CR> to packet ACRRTTY ACRR 71 Auto <CR> column in RTTY ALFDISP ALFD OFF Send LF after <CR> to terminal ALFPACK ALFP ON Send LF after <CR>, packet AWLEN AW 8 Data bits per word, to terminal AX25L2V2 A ON Operate as AX.25 Version 1.0 AXDELAY AXD 0 (zero) Repeater key-up delay (X ms) AXHANG AXH 0 (zero) Repeater hang time (X10 ms) BKONDEL BK OFF Send BS SP BS for DELETE char. CANLINE CAN $18 <CTRL-X> LINE DELETE character CANPAC CANP $19 <CTRL-Y> PACKET DELETE character CASEDISP CAS 0 Display case; as is/lower/upper CBELL CB OFF Enable "Connect" bell CCITT CC ON Select CCITT ITA#2 or US Baudot CFROM CF Empty Connect request/accept list CHCALL CHC OFF Show call sign after channel ID CHDOUBLE CHD OFF Show CHSWITCH character twice CHECK CH 30 Idle link timeout (X10 seconds) CHSWITCH CHS $00 Channel-select (Link) character CMDTIME CM 1 Transparent Mode escape timer CMSG CMS ON Send CTEXT message to caller COMMAND COM $03 <CTRL-C> Character escape to COMMAND Mode CONMODE CONM CONVERSE Mode to enter when link starts CONPERM CONP OFF Never disconnect this link CONSTAMP CONS OFF Mark connections with time/date CPACTIME CP OFF Use packet timeout in Converse DAYSTAMP DAYS OFF Include DATE in time-stamp DAYTIME DA None Set/read PK-232 internal clock DCDCONN DC OFF RS-232 Pin 8 follows "CON" LED DELETE DEL OFF Use BS ($08), not DEL ($7F) DFROM DF Empty Digipeat call sign list DWAIT DW 16 Delay for digi repeat (X10 ms) ECHO E OFF Echo typed keyboard characters ESCAPE ES OFF Send ESC character $1B as $24 FLOW F ON Stop echo to screen while typing FRACK FR 4 Time (X1 sec) to wait for ACK FULLDUP FU OFF Full-Duplex terminal operation HEADERLN HE ON Insert <CR> after headers HID HI OFF Send ID UI packet every 9.5 mins HOST HOST OFF Host/terminal interface HPOLL HPOLL OFF Host poll, packet mode ILFPACK IL OFF Ignore linefeeds in packet xmit Page 14 MAXFRAME MAX 7 Maximum un-ACK'd frames allowed MBX MB none Monitor channel without headers MCON MC 0 (zero) Monitor while connected (0-6) MDIGI MD OFF Monitor digipeated frames MFILTER MFI $80 Filter received characters MFROM MF Empty Monitor MFROM call signs MONITOR M 4 Monitor mode level select (0-6) MRPT MR ON Show digipeaters in headers MSTAMP MS OFF Time-stamp monitored frames MTO MT Empty Monitor MTO call signs MYALIAS MYA none Alternate MYCALL MYALTCAL MYALT Empty Alternate AMTOR SELCAL MYCALL MY PK232; enter yours Your call sign for packet adrs NEWMODE NE ON Return to Command mode at DISC NOMODE NO OFF Never switch modes NUCR NU OFF Nulls to terminal after <CR> NULF NUL OFF Nulls to terminal after <LF> NULLS NULL 0 (zero) Number of nulls for NUCR & NULF PACLEN PACL 0 # of user-typed bytes in packet PACTIME PACT AFTER 10 Packet transmit timer (X100 ms) PARITY PAR 0 Parity, none/odd/none/even PASS PAS $16 <CTRL-V> Pass input editing character PASSALL PASSA OFF Ignore CRC in HDLC ("Junk Mode") RAWHDLC RAW NO Raw HDLC Mode RECEIVE REC $04 <CTRL-D> Receive-mode character in text REDISPLA RED $12 <CTRL-R> Re-display current input buffer RELINK REL OFF Reconnect after retrying out RESET RESET Immediate Command RESET bbRAM to factory defaults RESPTIME RES 10 Minimum delay before sending ACK RESTART RESTART Immediate Command Same as power-on/off reset RETRY RE 10 Maximum number of frame repeats RXREV RXR OFF Reverse received data sense SENDPAC SE $0D <CTRL-M> Character that "sends" a packet SQUELCH SQ OFF Select receiver squelch polarity START STA $11 <CTRL-Q> Resume sending data to terminal STOP STO $13 <CTRL-S> Stop sending data to terminal TBAUD TB 9600 baud Set terminal data rate TIME TI $14 <CTRL-T> Insert "send time" in text TRFLOW TRF OFF Terminal flow ctrl - Transparent TRIES TRI 0 (zero) Show or force retry count TXDELAY TXD 75 PTT key-to-data delay (X ms) TXFLOW TXF ON PK232 flow control - Transparent UNPROTO U CQ Path/address to send UI frames USERS US 1 # of multi-connections allowed USOS USO ON RTTY "unshift on space" VHF V ON Packet - wide or narrow shift XFLOW XF ON Software flow control XMIT X Immediate Command Start transmission - key PTT XMITOK XMITO ON PTT line can be keyed XOFF XO $13 <CTRL-S> Stop sending data to terminal XON XON $11 <CTRL-Q> Resume sending data to terminal Page 15 TNC-PARMS for the KANTRONICS TNC's. 8BITCONV ON ABAUD 9600 ALIAS OFF AUTOLF ON AXDELAY 0 AXHANG 0 BBSMSGS ON BKONDEL OFF CANLINE $18 CANPAC $19 CCITT OFF CHECK 24 CMDTIME 1 CMSG ON COMMAND $03 CONLIST OFF CONMODE CONVERS CONOK OFF CPACTIME OFF CR ON CSTAMP OFF DAYUSA ON DBLDISC OFF DELETE $08 DIGIPEAT OFF DWAIT 1 ECHO OFF ESCAPE OFF EXCARDET OFF FLOW ON FILTER ON FRACK 5 FULLDUP OFF HEADERLN ON HID OFF KISSMODE OFF KNTIMER 3 LCOK ON LCSTREAM ON LFADD OFF Page 16 MALL ON MAXFRAME 7 MAXUSERS 1 MCON OFF MCOM ON MODEMENA OFF MRESP ON MRPT ON MSTAMP OFF NDMON OFF NEWMODE ON NOMODE OFF NUCR 0 NULF 0 PACLEN 0 PACTIME AFTER 1 PARITY 4 PASS $16 PASSALL OFF PERSIST 255 PID OFF REDISPLA $12 RELINK OFF RESPTIME 1 RETRY 10 RNRTIME 0 SCREENL 0 SENDPAC $0D SLOTTIME 1 START $11 STATSHRT OFF STOP $13 STREAMSW $00 STREAMCA OFF STREAMDB OFF STREAMEV OFF SUPLIST BOTH SWDETENA OFF TRFLOW OFF TRIES 0 TXDELAY 75 TXFLOW ON USERS 1 XFLOW ON XMITOK ON XOFF $13 XON $11 Page 17 Latest improvements: *** CHANGE..EXE, Version 1.0.4. *** CHANGE will now provide FULL maintenance of your PBBS and is part of the PACKTALK.EXE file for versions 104 and higher. (no longer seperate). To change the TO or AT fields you need to create 2 files for the \BBS\MFWD dir. CHANGE.TO and CHANGE.AT. Here is a sample CHANGE.TO file: old new <----> (not part of the file). SAT -AMSAT 4SALE -SALE WANT -WANTED NOTE: The first 6 characters MUST be used even if the entry is not 6 characters long. The - will ALWAYS be the 7th character. This applies to both files. On every day then ends with the number 1 or 5 CHANGE will repair and remove dupes from the ADDRESS files in the \BBS\MFWD directory and every so often will ARCHIVE the backed up messages that are stored there. If you look at your LIMIT.MSG file, which CHANGE reads every time it is activated, you will see a new entry. The last entry will be a number. The default is 250. This number represents the number of messages CHANGE will allow in the \MSG directory. If, for example, you have the number set to 50, and you have 100 messages on your BBS, CHANGE will delete the first 50 messages on the BBs, leaving you with 50 messages. The highest number of messages permitted in the \MSG directory is about 508. This is dictated by MS-DOS which will not allow more than 512 files in a directory (hard disk), for floppy disk the max number is 112. CHANGE will not affect any messages that have not been forwarded or any messages with your call sign in the TO, AT or FROM field. IF YOU MANUALLY RUN CHANGE AND THE MESSAGE COUNT DOES NOT EXCEED THE LIMIT YOU HAVE PLACED IN THE LIMIT.MSG FILE BY 3, CHANGE WILL NOT DO ANYTHING. You may PROTECT any message from being killed by CHANGE by entering a * after the date in the MESSAGE.DAT file for the message you want to protect. ANY message with your call in it will not be killed by CHANGE. With these new additions to CHANGE you do not have to do any maintenance to your PBBS at all except when your last message number gets to 99999. Then you must renumber your messages with the RENUM.EXE pgm. This new version of CHANGE.EXE still does what the older version does and also takes care of the ADDRS.BBS and ADDRESS.BBS files such as removing bad addresses and removing dupes, etc. Page 18 Latest improvements: Here are some of the new features for PACKTALK-104. From the PBBS if you enter a * you can get a count of the messages on the PBBS. All bulletins when read by a user will now be tagged at the end of the message. The tag will tell the user how to address any replies to the bulletin. If a bulletin does not contain a callsign in the BID number assigned to it the message will not be tagged, however the PATH: line is still given and a user can glean from that how to address a reply. Messages addressed to ARRL or from ARRL for example do not contain a call sign in the BID number so these types of messages will not be tagged. There is no need for a user to manually address a message with a 'H' address, however if it should become necessary he can do so and the 'H' address will be placed in the ADDRS.BBS file for future use. In the PBBS ready mode if there is no activity after 30 seconds the screen will clear. You can get the screen back by pressing F3 or if any com port activity takes place the screen will come back. This is only active when you are in the PBBS READY mode. The screen buffer has been enhanced and you can save the screen buffer to disk by pressing the END key from the TERMINAL mode. If your in the PBBS ready mode and you press the END key the screen buffer will be displayed but not saved to disk. The screen buffer is maintained even when someone connects to your PBBS. The SCREEN buffer is maintained at about 20k at all times and is kept in the \PACKTALK directory. The STATS feature keeps a record of who connects and what commands they issue to the PBBS. The STATS file is renewed at midnight when the date changes. From the TERMINAL mode, if you press ALT-X, you can view the STATS file. The STATS file can also be download remotely by sending the command STATS to the PBBS. Page 19 Latest improvements: If you have any problems, refer to the PACKTALK.DOC file, if you can't resolve it then let me know... N3DFD @ N3DFD.#PHILA.PA.USA.NA You no longer have to update any ASCII directories for your user directories when you add new files in them for download. When ever a user uses the W command, PT-104 creates a new ASCII directory before the dir- ectory is accessed, however it does not SORT the directory automatically so it's still a good idea to run the SORTBBS program every now and then. For 'H' routing of mail edit the STATES.ABB file in the \BBS\MFWD directory. Place 1 state abbreviation per line. ie; CA NY OH NJ Then in the MFWD.BBS file you make the entries you need, ie; .CA, .NY, .NJ, etc... HOLDING A MESSAGE: If you desire to hold certain messages from being forwarded edit the MESSAGE.HLD file. On a SINGLE LINE only, you can place a callsign, the TO or AT field string. When PT-104 tries to forward this message, instead of forwarding it, it will put the message number in a file named HOLDING.MSG. If at a later date you want to forward the message just kill the MESSAGE.HLD file and place the message number in the file of the BBS you want to forward it to. (\BBS\MFR directory). If you have messages that have been put on hold you will see an * preceding the MAIL NOT ON HOLD prompt at the bottom of the screen when you are in the PBBS READY mode. PURGING THE BBS... If you ever desire to start your PBBS 'new' again, go into the BBS and use the K command to kill all the messages. You do this by typing: K 0-x , x being 1 number higher than the number of the last message on the board. Then send a B to leave the BBS. You will then see a prompt come up on the screen that says, Purged BBS. This action will set everything pretty much back to the way it was the first time you ran the BBS. This action will not effect any user directories or the ADDRESS files. You can also use the PURGE command. The new CALLBOOK feature for the PBBS. PACKTALK compiles a list of 'H' addresses for any user or PBBS that it gleans from the R: headers sent with every message that is forwarded through the BBS. PACKTALK will correctly address a message even if the user doesn't. A user can look up anybody's 'H' address by using the CB command and following the prompts. These addresses are kept in the ADDRES.BBS and ADDRESS.BBS files in the \BBS\MFWD directory. Page 20 ============================================================================= Transferring BINARY files ============================================================================= BINARY files can only be transferred between PACKTALK, BACKTALK and the new LAP-TOP terminal software! (released in NOVEMBER of 1991). When the receiving station sees that the file extension name ends in .EXE, .COM or .ARC, it knows this will be a BINARY transfer and will act accordingly. The same is true for the sending station. Software FLOW control is used in these transfers, just as with an ASCII transfer so the reliability of the BINARY transfer should be as good as an ASCII transfer. Doing a BINARY transfer using PACKTALK or BACKTALK is as easy as doing an ASCII transfer but the files will be much shorter since the files do not have to be converted to ASCII before transfer. Unlike previous versions of PACKTALK, version 1.0.4 runs in the TRANSPARENT mode, (BBS only). The terminal section of the program still runs from the cmd: mode as does the MAILFORWARDING routines. The only difference between version 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 is that 1.0.4 can do BINARY transfers. Critical TNC parameters for version 1.0.4 are as follows: PARITY 4 (for Kantronics, 0 for others) = no parity. CMDT 1 PACTIME E 30 TRFLOW OFF all other FLOW parameters must be set to ON. PACKTALK, version 1.0.4 should open Com ports with NO PARITY. This is determined by the setting in the PBBS.CNF file. If TNC's PARITY or the Com ports PARITY are set to anything other than NONE then a BINARY transfer will not be possible. All commands on the PBBS generally consist of a letter a space and then the qualifier and then a Carriage Return or on some computers the Return key. eg. N Joe<C/R) will place your name into the system as Joe. For most of the commands if you send just the letter without any qualifier, you will get an explanation back on the use of the command. Sending the letter D plus <C/R> for example you will get back from the PBBS; Use: D directoryname\filename.ext Page 21 Summary of COMMANDS on BBS: [B] ---------- to LOG off from BBS. (DISCONNECT). Sending the letter B plus a carriage return will disconnect you from the PBBS. [CB] --------- this BBS keeps a running log of 'H' addresses of anyone who's bulletin or message passes through it. If you want to send a message to someone and you don't know what BBS they get their mail on, this feature may help. It will give you the BBS's call plus the 'H' address for it. The file that holds this information is allowed to grow to a half a million bytes before it is reduced. [? or H] ----- to get HELP, these instructions. Sending the ? or the letter H will get you the Summary of commands list. (short version). [HA] --------- to get instructions on how to address mail to be forwarded. [F] ---------- to FIND any file on the PBBS. Send an F to the BBS and then at the prompt you get back you can enter the first name of the file you are looking for, eg., MORSE, MORS, MOR, CODE, COD, etc. The shorter the string you enter the less selective the search will be. If you entered MORSE you would get back a listing of all the files on the BBS that has the string MORSE in it and what directory it is in. [L] ---------- to LIST LAST 20 messages on BBS. Sending just the letter L will list only the last 20 messages on the PBBS. To list more than that you can use LL #, L>, L<, LB or L ALL. [LB] --------- to LIST only msgs. addressed to ALL. Sending LB to the PBBS will get you a list of all the messages addressed to ALL only. [L ALL] ------ to LIST ALL the msgs. on the BBS. Sending L ALL will get you a list of every message on the PBBS except those that were sent as private mail with the SP command. [L>] --------- to FIND mail addressed to you. L> your callsign. Use this to find a particular message or group of messages, for example, if you saw in the BEACON that there was mail on the PBBS for N3XYZ OR SALE, you can list only mail addressed to them by the L> command. eg. L> SALE will get you a list of all the mail addressed to SALE and nothing else. [L<] --------- to FIND mail addressed from you. L< your callsign. This command is just the opposite of the L> command, this one will find and list mail from someone rather than to someone. if for example you wish to see how many messages are on the PBBS from you, you would send L< yourcallsign. Page 22 [LC xxxxxx] -- to LIST messages by category, eg., < LC DX, LC ARRL >, etc, This command will search the TO and @BBS fields and also the SUBJECT field for the STRING you enter for search. [LM] --------- to LIST msgs. addressed to you. If you have mail on the BBS, when you first connect to the system, you will be notified you do. It is only at this time you can use the following: LM, RM, KM. These commands eliminate the need for you to deal with message numbers at this point. [LL #] ------- to LIST # of messages. This command will list the number of messages you desire, eg. LL 7 will list the last 7 msgs. [LT] --------- to LIST messages for TODAY only. [I] ---------- to read INFOrmation file about this station. Sending a letter I to the system will download to you the Information file con- taining all the pertinent information about the PBBS system and radio station. [N] ---------- to put your NAME into the system. <N yourname>. This command puts your name in the system permanently so that the system may address you by name. [NH] --------- to Enter your HOME PBBS into the system. This puts your home PBBS in the system files so the sysop will know where to notify you in the event you have mail here or he can forward it if need be. [R] ---------- to READ a message, <R messagenumber>, <R 5>. You may also stack this command, for example if you wanted to read more than 1 message you could send: <R 2 234 236 305>. This syntax would result in the BBS sending you message 2, 234, 236 and 305 with just the one command. [RM] --------- to READ your message(s). This applies only if you have mail on the system. RM will read ALL your messages. [S] ---------- to SEND a msg to someone. <S callsign>, <S N3XYZ>. [SP] --------- to SEND PRIVATE MAIL. Use this command to send mail to someone that you want to be private. It will be only able to read by the sender or the person it is addressed to. [S ALL] ------ to SEND a message or bulletin addressed to ALL. <S ALL>. [S xxx @ xxx] to SEND a message or bulletin to another PBBS or USER at another PBBS. eg., <SB ALL @ ALLBBS>, <S N3ABC @ W3XYZ>. Page 23 [JH] --------- to SHOW LOG.(Who has connected to BBS). [J] ---------- to show what stations the TNC has heard. [G] ---------- to access the Gateway if it is available. [KM] --------- to KILL your message(s). Kills ALL mail addressed to you. [W] ---------- to see WHAT directories/files are on the PBBS. Files of info- rmation and computer software are stored on the disk in SUB- DIRectories. When you send the command W to the system, what you get back is a list of what's in the various directories. You may see files there and also SUB-DIRectories. A file will have a name like, BBS-CMDS.DOC followed by its size in bytes. If you see a name like BASIC <DIR>. then you know that BASIC is a SUB-DIRectory and in it are probably computer pgms written in BASIC. If you wanted to download any files that might be there, you must first be able to see what's there and you may do this by sending the command W BASIC and this will show you what's in the BASIC DIRectory. then if you wish you may down load any file you see there by sending the following command: D BASIC\MINITERM.BAS, if indeed that is the file or pgm you wanted. [WH] --------- to find some ones Name, Home PBBS and when they last logged into the PBBS. <WH callsign>. [D] ---------- to DOWNLOAD a file. (D dir\filename.ext).(CTRL-Z to ABORT). After starting a download you may Abort it at any time by the sending of the CTRL-Z character. Upon the PBBS receiving the CTRL-Z the pbbs will immediately stop sending data to the TNC. However there may be up to 3k of data still left in the TNC that will be sent to you so you won't see an immediate cease of incoming data, but be assured it will stop as soon as the TNC has purged itself. It's rather like trying to stop a woman from completing a tirade in mid stream, it'll never happen unless your prepared to shoot her. BINARY downloads can ONLY be done if you are using BACKTALK-100 or PACKTALK, version 1.0.4 and the filename extension ends in .EXE, .COM or .ARC. [V] ---------- to show what VERSION of software and author. Page 24 [U] ---------- to UPLOAD a file. (U dir\filename.ext). You can upload ASCII or BINARY files to this system. Just do the same as you would for a download except you replace the D with a U, for example, if you wanted to upload a pgm to the BASIC directory and the programs name was MINITERM.BAS then you would type the fol- lowing: U BASIC\MINITERM.BAS. BINARY uploads can ONLY be done if you are using BACKTALK-100 or PACKTALK, ver. 1.0.4. and as long as the filename extension ends in .EXE, .COM or .ARC. [T] ---------- to TALK to SYSOP. Sending a T to the PBBS sets in motion a series of events that take place in the shack where the PBBS is located. The PBBS pgm moves to an area in its pgm that will allow whatever the sysop types on the keyboard to be sent to the TNC for transmission and whatever comes in from you to be read by him and having no effect on the PBBS. When you sent that T it made the computer BEEP rather loudly to catch the attention of the sleeping sysop, so if he comes back to you a little disoriented don't be too concerned. If he does not reply you will be put back to the PBBS in about 15 seconds. [X] ---------- to 'toggle' expert mode. If expert mode is on then user will not get signon text or command prompt. [CTRL-Z] ----- This control character is used for closing files and also to ABORT any download, this also includes messages you are reading. Actually sending anything to the PBBS will cause an ABORT. ============================================================================= Page 25 *** MESSAGE THIEF *** ============================================================================= MT.EXE is the newest feature to be added to PACKTALK PBBS, version 1.0.6. This program gives the PACKTALK PBBS software the ability to capture messages being forwarded to another PBBS without PACKTALK having to be connected to anybody. MT.EXE will capture ONLY bulletins and private messages addressed to SYSOP. MT.EXE utilizes the REJECT.MSG and BID.NUM files that were created for PACKTALK so it can reject certain types of messages and also check for duplicate messages. There are 2 modes you can run this software in and what mode you run it in is determined by the way you have the MT.CNF file set up. In mode 1, it will be possible only to capture messages that do not have any missing FRAMES. Mode 2 will allow capture of messages with missing frames, this is not a recommended mode. Messages that are captured with missing frames CAN NOT and MUST NOT be forwarded back into the PACKET SYSTEM! Messages that are captured in mode 1 may be forwarded only if you have not changed the BID.NUM and the AT field. The AT field CAN be changed to something else, determined by the MT.CNF file. Capturing messages in MODE 1 DOES NOT INSURE THAT THE MESSAGE WILL BE AN EXACT COPY OF THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE so it is a good idea to check these messages before forwarding them back into the SYSTEM. MT.EXE does a good job of keeping the integrity of the messages captured but there can be errors. Remember you are not connected to the station forwarding messages so there is the chance your messages will not be error free although great measures have been taken to prevent contamination of the message you are 'stealing' off the air. MT.EXE can be set up to run automatically or manually, determined by the MT.CNF file. Following is a sample of the MT.CNF file: ON BUCKET N3DFD WB3EUF Y 03 06 └Q└ Page 26 Latest improvements: The following is an explanation of each entry made in the MT.CNF file: ON <ON or OFF, this entry will determine whether MT.EXE will run manually or automatically when running with PACKTALK-PBBS. ON = AUTO>. BUCKET <BUCKET can be any 6 character name or if you do not want to change the AT filed, enter a * instead of a name>. N3DFD <YOUR callsign>. WB3EUF <call sign of the PBBS you want to forward captured messages to. If you do not want to forward any messages then enter a * in place of the callsign>. Y <Y or N entry determines whether you will capture messages with or with out missing frames. (data). Y = mode 1, N = mode 2>. 03 <hour to force an exit from MT.EXE. IF you do not wish to force an exit at any given hour enter a * in place of the hour>. 6 <outstanding packets allowed before abort, Max = 10 but 6 recommended>. └Q└ <the escape sequence to exit the HOST mode, Kantronics>. (192Q192). <the escape sequence to exit the HOST mode, Non Kantronics>. (ctrl C). >>>>> EDIT this file to suit your TNC if needed <<<<<< When running MT.EXE in the automatic mode with PACKTALK, PACKTALK will no longer transmit the BACK ON LINE prompt over the air. The main improvement to PT-109-E is that it will handle the SUB ports of the Kantronics KAM and KPC-4. This is accomplished by streamswitching. The STREAMSW parameter is set to $7E(~) for port 1 and $7C(|) for port 2. and the stream will be 'A'. This means ~A for port 1 and |A for port 2. To have PT forward to a station on the sub port of your TNC you must enter the callsign of the PBBS in the SUBPORT.TNC file. That's all there is to it. Put as many calls as you need separated by a space all on 1 line only. The line can be as long as necessary. A callsign placed in the PORT2.BBS file will make PACKTALK access COM2 and a callsign in the SUBPORT.TNC file will access the sub-port of the KAM or KPC-4. NOTICE: When using the KPC-4 the TNC SUBPORTS may be reversed. You will know this if when you try to forward mail and PT tries to access the wrong SUBPORT. If this is the case add the stations callsign you are trying to forward mail to, to the SUBPORT.TNC file or delete the call from the file, which ever works. Page 27 Latest improvements: PACKTALK, version 109-H and higher will now allow operation on any com port from 1 to 4. This is accomplished by editing the COMPORT.SET file. The default settings for this file are as follows: COM1: COM2: 1 2 The file as is will access com1 and com2 if you have the PBBS.CNF file set for 2 port operation or if set for 1 port operation it will access only comport 1. The following set up will access comports 2 and 3. COM2: COM3: 2 3 If you wanted to access only comport 2, you would have to change the line in the PBBS.CNF file to read 'TNC=1' instead of 'TNC=2'. This tells PACKTALK that you only wish the 1 comport. You can only access 2 comports. Any ports from 1 to 4. POLLING TNC MAILBOXES: PACKTALK will not POLL TNC mailboxes automatically unless the PBBS has mail for that particular mailbox. It will POLL the TNC mailbox when it has delivered the mail. If you wish to have PACKTALK POLL a TNC mailbox, you may do so by utilizing the OPTION.BAT file to have PT-109 POLL a TNC mailbox once every 24 hours. Do the following: (1) In the \PACKTALK directory create the following files: MAIL. callsign.MFD <callsign = the call of the TNC mailbox, no SSID>. In the MAIL. file place the word YES (in CAPS). In the callsign.MFD file place the number 0 (2) Place these lines in the OPTION.BAT file: COPY MAIL. \BBS\MFR COPY \BBS\MFR\callsign.MFD+callsign.MFD \BBS\MFR\callsign.MFD NOTE: If you are forwarding this TNC mailbox any bulletins the above steps will not be necessary as PT-109 will POLL it every time it sends it bulletins... Page 28 Latest improvements: There is a new SERVER program named MAKEFILE.EXE available for ALL versions of PACKTALK-BBS. This program will be run from the OPTION.BAT file which is accessed by PACKTALK once every 24 hours. What this program will do is create FILES from your messages and install them in a new user dir- ectory. When MAKEFILE is run it looks at the MESSAGE.DAT file and searches for a 'string' that you named when you ran the program. For example, if you wanted to make files out of all for SALE messages you would invoke the server in the following fashion: MAKEFILE SALE <search only the TO field>. MAKEFILE will now search each line in the MESSAGE.DAT file and if it finds a match it will create a new user directory named SALE and then copy all the messages to that directory that it finds a match for. There will NEVER be more than 50 messages allowed in these new directories at any time. If there are more than 50 messages in the SALE directory, for example, MAKEFILE will delete all the files in there before putting new ones in there. This way you are assured of always having up to date files in the directory. The search MAKEFILE makes includes the TO, AT and SUBJ fields of each message if you format the command in this manner: MAKEFILE 1 SALE <search TO, AT and SUBJECT fields>. MAKEFILE.EXE can, like I said, be run from the OPTION.BAT file. To do this just insert the filename + string on a line in the .BAT file. ie., MAKEFILE AMSAT <searches the TO field only for AMSAT>. MAKEFILE 1 AMSAT <searches the TO, AT and SUBJECT fields for AMSAT>. You can run this program any time you want to by shelling to DOS and type the proper command or you can run it from the PBBS by typing at the command prompt: SHELL MAKEFILE xxxxxx. xxxxxx being the 'string' you wish to search for. REMEMBER, the new directory created will always be the same name as the 'string' you search for. The files it creates will have the same name as the 'string' also with the extension of what ever the original message number is. ie., SALE.345. You can now, for PT-109J and above only, delete user directories from the PBBS. If for example you wanted to delete the new SALE directory you would simply access the PBBS and at the command prompt type: DD SALE. Page 29 Latest improvements: PT-109K is capable of BINARY COMPRESSED MAIL FORWARDING to another station running the same software. If you have more than 10 messages to go to another PT-109K PBBS then PT will pack up all the messages into 1 file and then compress this file using ARC.COM. ARC.COM and UNARC.COM are part of the PKXARC program. I have split the 2 files and named them ARC and UNARC for convenience. The BINARY file created by ARC.COM will then be forwarded to the receiving station. When the file is successfully uploaded, upon the disconnect the receiving station will then UNPAK the file using UNARC.COM and put the messages on the PBBS. The BINARY COMPRESSED FORWARDING ROUTINE is activated by the initial hand shaking of the 2 PBBS's involved. In the PACKTALK.CNF file the 23rd parameter setting must be the letter 'Z' on both programs involved. If either program has a setting other than the letter Z then a compressed forward can not take place. This Z shows up in the prompts sent to each other when first connected. This is what the prompt will look like: [PT-109K-HZM$] If you do not want to allow compressed forwarding then change the letter Z in the PACKTALK.CNF file to the number 0. The 0 will not show up in the prompt sent to the other PBBS. If you are running the PBBS at a remote site, there are some commands you can issue to it without connecting. For illustration lets say your PBBS call sign is N3DFD-4. Here are the commands you can send by going UNPROTO and typing the following: ###RUN###N3DFD <will re-run the software>. ###CHANGE###N3DFD <will force CHANGE to be activated>. ###MF###N3DFD <will force a mailforward if your FWD.TIM file permits>. ###READY###N3DFD <will put PT in the READY mode if it was left in the TERMINAL mode>. To RE-BOOT the computer you will have to connect to the PBBS and then issue the command: SHELL REBOOT and then disconnect. By using the CREATE command you can do almost anything remotely. Just be careful that you don't run any .BAT or EXECUTABLE files that require a keyboard input. If you do this you will have to go to the site and press whatever key the program is requesting. Page 30 Latest improvements: The following are some personal notes: I run PT here in Philly at a 'remote site' and I have installed new versions of the program from time to time, re-booted the computer, killed files, move them around, run other programs, upload 'packed' files and 'unpacked' them all from my home. All you need, to do these things suc- cessfully, is to understand MS-DOS commands and know what to expect when using various ones. This can be very beneficial to a SYSOP who needs to run his PBBS at a remote site if you are careful not to do anything that will make the computer stay in DOS. The CREATE command lets you create a .BAT file that will be executed as soon as you finish making it, so you can be very creative. Between the CREATE command and the SHELL command there is almost nothing you can't do on the computer at the remote site. PT will maintain itself completely without your interference however should you desire to interfere or change something in a file use the CREATE or SHELL command to accomplish your task. If you need to edit a file, just download the file using the XD command, edit it and then send it back using the XU command. All the SYSOP commands are contained in a file in the \BBS directory, named SHELP.BBS. This file can be accessed by sending an X to the PBBS. ============================================================================ For PT-109M and above: You can now set up AUX. connect paths to PBBS's you forward to. This is done by creating files that are just like the 'callsign.CON' files you created for mailforwarding. The file you now create will be 'callsign.AUX'. In these files you can put auxilliary connect paths. The format is the same as for the .CON files. If you try to connect and retry out, PT-109K will attempt another connection using the AUX file for the connect prompts. You can now place an '* ' in place of or with the message DISTROS in the MFWD.BBS file. For example if you wanted to forward every DISTRO to a station instead of putting all the DISTROS on his line you need only place an asterick (*). The '* ' will superceed all the DISTROS you have on a line in the MFWD.BBS file. A new 'user' command has been added, the 'REP ' command. A user can use this command to reply to a message. Usage: <REP xxxxxx>, where xxxxxx is the callsign of the station he wishes to reply to. The HELP.BBS and BBS-CMDS .DOC file have been updated to reflect this new addition. Page 31 There are (3) 'server' type programs that PT will try to RUN every time someone disconnects from the PBBS. They will have the names of: SERVER1.EXE SERVER2.EXE SERVER3.EXE These programs can be written in any language and what they can do will be determined by whoever writes them. If the SERVER program(s) are not present there is no problem, no error takes place. The most common type of SERVER program you may want to write is a REQUEST FILE type SERVER. If you undertake this project there are a few things to remember and the files involved in this type of SERVER would include the following: \MSG\MESSAGE.DAT <add message headers and other info here>. \MSG\MESSAGE.FWD <add message headers and other info here>. \BBS\MFWD\BID.NUM <add BID.NUM of messsage to be forwarded>. \BBS\MFR\callsign.MFR <you add any message numbers here of messages that have to be forwarded>. Also make sure you KILL the REQUEST messsage after you process it so that the SERVER won't act on it again. Create a BID number for the out going message, look at the BID.NUM file for format. The first number in the BID must be the current message number of the message to be forwarded, ie., 345_REQFIL <REQFIL could be anything including your callsign>. You can write these SERVERS to do anything you want or need. Feel free to correspond with me if you need any guidence. All SERVER programs must be placed in the \PACKTALK directory or PT will not be able to find them. A new command can be added to the PBBS command line that will run a server named SERVER4.EXE. You can write this program or maybe use a program that already exists. Just rename it SERVER4 and when the user sends the letter 'M ' to the PBBS, PT will run this program. This command replaces the 'HA ' command. If you use this command edit the command line in the PBBS.CNF file to reflect the new command. At any rate you will have to delete the HA command from the command line in the PBBS.CNF file since in version 109M and above this command is no longer valid. The HELP.BBS and BBS-CMDS.DOC files have been changed to reflect this new command option. For ANY of the SERVER programs that you may use or write that are going to use the COMport, make sure that you re-open the right COMport to 9600 baud with NO PARITY and 8 stopbits. If you write any SERVER programs in BASIC, you can pass parameters to the SERVER program from PT by using the $COMMAND function, ie., you might want to pass the MYC$ parameter, which would be the callsign assigned to the PBBS. There is a new file included with the PT-109M.EXE file named PBBS-CNF.STR. This file contains the string vaiable names used by the PBBS.EXE module and their string representation. Name Length Date Time Storage SF Size now CRC ============ ======== ======== ====== ======== ==== ======== ==== ARC COM 17456 12/15/86 Distill 28% 12646 5F76 BBS-CMDS DOC 10822 1/24/92 9:17p Distill 63% 4055 1861 BRUN45 EXE 77440 9/28/88 1:43a Distill 28% 56281 DFD7 CAPSLOCK COM 11 11/09/89 8:06p -- 0% 11 B3AD CONFIG SYS 106 2/03/92 2:51a Crushed 15% 91 9B56 DR COM 3456 7/10/87 4:51p Distill 9% 3169 3FBF DS COM 6292 1/21/85 3:00p Distill 27% 4607 0A7D E BAT 15 5/31/90 6:51p -- 0% 15 56ED E88SETUP DEF 39 7/01/90 2:44a Crushed 21% 31 335A GATEWAY HLP 285 9/02/90 8:46p Crushed 27% 209 0AB7 HADDRES INF 2698 4/21/91 4:31p Distill 46% 1479 8E68 HELP BBS 2267 2/15/92 12:13a Distill 52% 1090 042E INFO TXT 2834 10/08/91 2:33a Distill 50% 1434 46AE LFADD EXE 32206 8/10/90 7:22p Distill 3% 31361 D72A LIST COM 7144 1/01/80 12:54a Distill 18% 5890 DC3D LOGO TXT 1259 1/09/92 8:23p Crushed 79% 272 207A OPTION BAT 34 6/22/91 4:23p Crushed 6% 32 9076 PACKTALK DOC 67724 2/22/92 5:45p Distill 62% 25896 4E7F PBBS CNF 871 2/03/92 12:48a Crushed 20% 697 3A8C README NOW 159 8/19/90 3:02a Crushed 23% 124 E6E9 REBOOT COM 19 10/02/90 6:56p -- 0% 19 33ED RN COM 4272 8/11/87 3:32p Distill 9% 3921 D6B3 RUN BAT 80 9/22/91 6:20p Crushed 7% 75 0AE3 SHELP BBS 1265 2/15/92 1:00a Crushed 40% 768 E307 SIGNON TXT 228 1/22/92 9:54p Crushed 8% 212 26CA TNCPARMS SET 1390 10/19/91 8:58p Crushed 42% 819 EB90 UNARC COM 11482 12/15/86 Distill 24% 8789 C4B9 ============ ======== ======== ====== ======== ==== ======== ==== EDITOR EXE 13430 10/04/86 3:03a Distill 36% 8602 34C7 GATEWAY EXE 13406 2/01/92 9:06p Distill 44% 7619 AD5A INSTALL EXE 5072 10/20/91 2:24p Distill 22% 3984 7470 INVERT EXE 4366 2/19/92 11:05p Distill 19% 3548 1F67 MAKEFILE EXE 6756 2/01/92 2:28a Distill 30% 4767 BB93 MFWD EXE 74596 2/20/92 7:41p Distill 54% 34620 3976 MFWDAUX EXE 74458 2/20/92 7:43p Distill 54% 34558 51B5 PACKTALK EXE 198412 2/23/92 2:12p Distill 59% 83093 AAA7 PAKMSGS EXE 9118 2/20/92 7:44p Distill 34% 6019 4A0C PBBS EXE 158652 2/20/92 5:55p Distill 56% 70090 BBCE RENUM EXE 6746 7/08/91 9:10p Distill 28% 4896 B296 REVFWD EXE 51540 2/04/92 6:22p Distill 54% 23925 0E6E UNPAKMSG EXE 13494 2/17/92 8:04a Distill 42% 7842 E6A1 VOPT EXE 27089 4/15/87 8:00a Distill 44% 15310 09D2