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PCMODEM.TXT
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1997-01-05
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190 lines
PROBLEMS THAT MAY ARISE BETWEEN PC AND TNC WITH THEIR SOLUTIONS.
This section deals with some problems that may raise up between a PC
and a TNC.
If you're not able to startup DXHUNT, it could be one of the following
problems.
If your TNC continuously displays strange messages such as CSTAMP ON
or CSTAMP OFF, edit the file COMMANDS.INI and change the parameter 3
to S (instead of CS).
If your TNC continuously displays strange messages such as "Z stream:
link state is DISCONNECTED", you have to edit the file COMMANDS.INI
and substitute parameter 3 (normally set to CS or S) with C or |AC
(|1C if streams are associated to numbers instead of letters); in the
first case you'll have to stay always on the stream where you perform
the connection to the cluster (if not, you'll have problems in
connection detection, automatic reconnection and so on); in the second
case the letter (or the number) after the symbol | (the streanswitch
character) must represent the stream where you connect the packet
cluster (normally the first); in this latter case the current stream
will be forced to the one specified after |, when the connection state
is checked, or when an automatic connection is performed.
CABLE AND FLOW CONTROL.
DXHUNT performs two flow control types: HARDWARE and XON/XOFF. The
hardware control is recommended when possible and is performed via
RTS/CTS lines, where RTS is an output for the PC, CTS an input.
Once you're sure that your cable and TNC support these lines, you can
set USE RTS/CTS LINES to YES (default) in config, to enable control.
If these lines are not supported DXHUNT will warn you and you'll have
to set this option to NO.
If you use a three wires connection cable (TXD RXD and GND) then a
software flow control is possible by setting XON/XOFF to YES (and your
modem's XFLOW parameter to ON).
DXHUNT is also able to drive a DTR PC output line (if you set USE DTR
LINE to YES in config); this tells the modem if the PC is ready or not
to receive data; anyway DSR PC input line is always ignored, so if you
want a real bidirectional hardware flow control, you must use RTS/CTS
lines.
Then if you use that DTR line to drive a PTT or a CW KEY, you must set
USE DTR LINE to NO (default), to avoid conflicts.
HOST MODE.
If your modem is a AEA PK232, PK88 or similar, be sure that it's not
in HOST MODE when starting DXHUNT: DXHUNT will not work in host mode.
This might happen when quitting PC-PACKRATT program with above
described modems.
You can fix this problem, by setting some special initialization
commands below described on the first line of CONFIG program
(Initialzation/End string).
The heading command string, in this case, must be ^AOHON^W # PACKET
(the "^" symbol, means pression of Ctrl Key together with the
immediately following letter, so it means Ctrl-A then OHON then
Ctrl-W, without spaces between letters respecting a UPPER CASE letter
format; CONFIG will then show you the following characters: OHON
(it's important that OHON letters are in UPPER CASE).
If you want to use PC-PACKRATT after quitting DXHUNT, set HOST ON as
PCMODEM.TXT page 1
the final command.
Example of a possible complete Initialization/End string:
OHON # PACKET # MYCALL XXXXXX ! HOST ON or:
OHON # PACKET # MYCALL XXXXXX ! ECHO ON.
SERIAL PARAMETERS.
If you've got problems when starting DXHUNT up and you're sure that
the chosen COM port in config is the right one, communication failure
betwen DXHUNT and modem could be due to a difference in some
communication parameters setting, such as data speed, parity, data
bits.
To discover current TNC's serial port settings you'd better to
temporarly use another terminal program issuing the following commands
when in command mode: BAUD or TBAUD, in many cases, TNCs accept one of
these commands, indicating current data speed.
Remember: the speed here described is the one between PC and TNC, not
between TNC and radio.
AWLEN command is often supported to read/set the data bits number
(normally 7 or 8) finally PARITY command allows you to discover which
parity (if any) is currently in use (common values are N for None, E
for EVEN, O for ODD etc.). If the above described commands are not
supported by your TNC, try to discover their equivalent (on modem's
manual).
If you haven't got any other terminal program to discover current
modem's setting, you'll have to proceed with DXHUNT by changing the
value of single parameters until you get the right modem's settings.
Consider that common data speed values are 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600,
19200 while for other parameters, a No parity, 8 data bits 1, stop bit
(N,8,1 which is the default for DXHUNT) or Even, 7 data bits, 1 stop
bit (E,7,1) will fit the most of the cases.
Before testing a new parameter value, it's a good rule to restart the
modem by switching it OFF then ON.
NOTES.
When the backup battery is out, some modems require a character to
perform the auto-baud routine. It's the case of PK88 or PK232 that
require a star character "*". In this case there's no way to start
DXHUNT with success if you do not include one (or more than one) star
character followed by # and correct mycall value (ex: *+# MYCALL XXXXX
where XXXX is your call). The "+" character means 1 second pause.
In this case the modem will be able to auto-tune its settings to
DXHUNT's settings. In case of more than one star, separate them with #
(ex. *+#*+#MYCALL...).
If you operate a KANTRONICS modem, youll'have to edit the file
COMMANDS.INI and modify the CS command into S.
If your modem supports the EXPert commands (ex. PK 900), DXHUNT
requires EXPert ON and BBSmsgs to OFF.
If your modem's answers to Monitor Echo and MYcall commands contain
the same keywords: Monitor Echo and Mycall at leftmost position or
also immediately following the command prompt (cmd:), then you can set
the CLEAN ANSWER parameter to YES (default).
If you loose part of the incoming lines, when starting DXHUNT, raise
the values of the 7th and 8th parameters into COMMANDS.INI files.
If you want to completely reconfigure the modem each time you start
DXHUNT, you can specify a command set PATH\FILENAME.TXT. The command
PCMODEM.TXT page 2
set file must be ASCII and must be a list of accepted commands. All
the listed commands will be issued to modem, when starting the
program.
If you use a XON/XOFF flow control, check that STArt = $11(Ctrl-Q) and
STOp = $13 (Ctrl-S).
If your modem is connected to a PC non standard serial port, you'll
have to set proper port IRQ and/or ADDRESS into the file COMMANDS.INI.
THE DXHUNTER: THE SOFT WAY OF HUNTING!!!.
PCMODEM.TXT page 3