USER GUIDE FOR TheNet X-1J4 BUCK node TheNet X-1J4 is an extension of TheNet 1, and provides a number of new features. The switch provides the following user commands : Connect Info Nodes Routes Users Talk CQ BBS Host MHeard Bye QUIT In general, commands take parameters, for example to connect to CLOUDV, the command to be entered is C CLOUDV followed by return. Commands are not case sensitive, and commands may be abbreviated. Connect If the connect command is given on its own, you will get connected to the local BBS. If you give another callsign, either of a local station or a node, the node will attempt to connect you to that station either by a level 4 connection or by downlinking. If you are downlinking, you may also specify digipeaters. In either case, you get either a connected message or a message telling you of the failure to connect. If you enter any other command at this stage, the connection attempt will be aborted. Finally, if you connect to the node, then connect to another station, and that station disconnects you ( e.g. connect to a BBS and use the 'Bye' command of the BBS ), you will be disconnected completely. Info This command gives information about the node. Nodes This command gives information about the distant nodes that this node thinks it can get to. With no parameter, it shows the alias and callsign of all the nodes except those staring with a '#' character. If a parameter of '*' is given, those 'hidden' nodes will also be shown. If a callsign or alias is given that the node does not know, it gives an error message. If the callsign or alias of a known node is given, the node gives details of the routes it knows about that lead to that destination. The display shows one option per line, each of which consists of the path quality, obsolescence count and port followed by the callsign of the neighbour. If any route is in use, a chevron is shown against the appropriate entry. Routes This command gives information about the neighbouring nodes that can be heard. For each neighbour, the display shows the port number, the callsign, the path quality and the number of nodes accessible through this neighbour. If a route has been 'locked' by the sysop, then a '!' character is shown after an entry. Users This shows who is using the node. It does not show other nodes that are using the node as a level 3 relay, nor does it show those users who have connected to the node but otherwise have done nothing. The display shows the through connections, followed by those users who are connected to the switch and 'idle'. It also shows those users who are connected to the conferencing facility. The latter stations are shown connected to a destination called 'Talk', whilst in the case of connections, the two endpoints are shown. For connections, two symbols are used, '<-->' and '<..>'. The former is used for established connections whilst the latter is used for connections being established. When a through connection is established, the "<-->" symbol may be modified if one or other circuit is choked. In this version, the '-' characters will be replaced by another character if one or other link is choked. The first '-' character is associated with the left hand connection ( circuit or uplink ). The second with the other circuit or downlink. A link is 'choked' if one end or the other has signalled that it cannot at the moment accept more data and wishes the sender to pause. It is designed to be used by the sysop in locating network congestion problems. For a level 2 uplink or downlink, the "-" is replaced by 'C' if the connection is choked. For Level 4 connections, the "-" is replaced by one of 3 characters, "R" if it is choked from the other end, "L" if it is choked from this end or "C" if it is choked from both ends !. Talk The Talk command allows a group of users to hold a conference call. It also allows a user to send a message to another user of the node provided that user is connected to the switch but is not patched through to another station and is not currently trying to connect to another station. A user enters the conference by giving the command 'talk'. He/she gets a message informing them of this and reminding them that the command to escape from the talk command is '/exit'. Any other users currently in the conference get a message from the node telling them of the callsign of the user who has joined them. At this point, every line sent by a user in the conference is copied to all other users in the conference, preceded by their callsign. To exit from the conference, the command '/exit' is used. This causes a response message to be sent to the user, and at the same time all of those left in the conference get a message from the node telling them of the station who has left the conference. If you force a disconnect, the other stations are not told of your departure. A string of text may be entered on the same line as the talk command when the command is given. If this is done, before the user is connected to the conference, that string of text is sent to all the other users of the node who appear in the 'user' list but are not connected to anything else. For example if GxABC were to type : TALK W5XYZ, Hello Fred can I have a chat - type TALK then other users of the node ( including presumably Fred, would get the message : W5ABC>> W5XYZ. Hello fred can I have a chat - type TALK Note that the TALK command will pass 8 bit data. CQ This command is used to broadcast a CQ message. In addition, the fact that you are calling CQ is indicated in the USER list. The callsign will be your own with a different SSID, and anyone else can connect to you by connecting to the callsign with the appropriate SSID. The CQ remains 'primed' for a while, and if any other command is given to the node the CQ will be cancelled. BBS When you issue the BBS command you will be connected to the local BBS. If you enter the command 'BBS ?', then the current setting of the BBS will be displayed. Host The HOST command operates just like the BBS command. If you enter the command 'HOST ?', then the current setting of the HOST will be displayed. MHeard The heard list shows the last few stations heard. The number of entries is limited and set by the sysop so any stations not heard for a while may get pushed out of the list by others heard. Assuming that a station is not pushed out in this manner, the display shows the number of packets heard from that station since it appeared in the list and the time since it was last heard. The time is hours, minutes and seconds. The list also shows the port on which the station was heard ( port 0 is the radio port ), and if it hears IP frames or Net/Rom frames, it adds a note to show that the station is a node and/or a TCP/IP station. If the list is long enough so that a station is not heard for 12 hours, it will get deleted anyway. The list shows a column headed 'Dev.'. Specifically, it gives an indication of the peak audio level. By means of a software configuration control and prior calibration, this gets converted into an indication of the transmitting station's signal deviation. It does this by sampling the audio level after every valid packet. Care must be taken over its interpretation. It does not measure independently the two tone levels. We use pre-emphasis and de- emphasis in the BUCK node radio. Often, packet stations are set up, and the audio level tweaked until it appears to work reasonably error free. The idea of this add-on is that, having done that, you then connect to the node and display the heard list to see an indication of your actual deviation. It may then be fine tuned to set it correctly. Ideally the deviation should read as near to 3.5 kHz as possible. The meter will give the wrong answer on the following conditions * A badly distorted audio signal * Badly off frequency * Incorrect adherence to local pre-emphasis standards * A noisy signal If you connect, then correct your deviation to the correct display then find performance has deteriorated, it indicates one of the above problems. It is not that the meter doesn't work, it is an indication of a fault elsewhere. It is in your own interest for those around you to use the correct deviation. The list also allows you to see the deviation of others - so apply peer pressure if someone over or under deviates. Remember it is NOT a case of the higher or the lower the better - it is having the setting RIGHT. The heard list also shows received signal strength. It shows how strong each station is at the receiver. The display will be in the familiar 'S1 to S9' format ( or 'S9+' for big signals ). Links The LINKS command shows the level 2 connections to the node. The display shows the links, one per line, with the two callsigns, the link state, the port number and the current number of retries. Bye and Quit These commands disconnects you from the node, closing the link. It says goodbye before disconnecting you if it has been so configured by the sysop. Quit does just the same as Bye does. BBSAlias HostAlias DXCAlias These commands set additional aliases for the node. It can be configured by the sysop to accept connect requests ( uplinks ) to the node callsign, the node alias, or the 3 aliases shown by these commands. When the node accepts a connection to one of these aliases, it will immediately invoke the BBS or HOST commands for you. The way this would normally be used is as follows. Suppose your local ( for example ) BBS was not accessible on the frequency that the node operates on. The BBS alias can be configured to provide easy access across other nodes to the BBS. Hence if in the case of the Ruidoso nodes, W0ZW-1 does not have a port on 145.01, but the node RUI on 145.09 can get to it by means of another node and a 9600 baud link. If W0ZW-1 is set to accept the extra aliases, and if BBSAlias is set to RUIBBS, then anyone who tries to uplink to RUIBBS in the Ruidoso area would be automatically connected to W0ZW-1. It goes without saying that if W0ZW-1 had a port on 145.01 itself, then chaos would ensue. L3MHEARD This is another heard list. It records the identities of nodes that gateway Net/Rom frames through this node, together with data such as the number of frames sent, port, time since last heard and last destination node. 73 - Jim W5ZIT