For all new, and old users of packet, A Maryland PBBS sysop by the 

name of Pete, KA3RFE, put together this quite straightforward and 

easy-to-read guide.  It's recommended reading for all.



What motivated Pete to do it?  Well, one major reason was all the      

TNC's with "PK-232" in their callsign field after the X-mas holidays, 

usually loading down the Northern Virginia LAN on 145.07.  Pete 

determined that the "PK" prefix used to belong to the Dutch West 

Indies.  We wrote to the ARRL to determine if we could get DXCC credit.  

So far, no response :-).



However, the last straw was seeing the following beacon:



JOE HAM IS NOT IN, MAKE NO ATTEMPT TO CONNECT TO HIS STATION



(Well, the last one didn't really happen, but it's still funny).



Please keep the following in mind:



1.  Pete, KA3RFE, is the author and is solely responsible for its 

content.



2.  All questions, comments, and criticisms should be sent to Pete via 

AMPR KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA.



3.  Pete doesn't mind if you disseminate it, just make sure that it's 

not for commercial gain and that Pete is ALWAYS given proper 

attribution.



4.  Requests for garbled, lost, or expired-on-your-news-server issues 

should be sent to me.



73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU



ACMNEWS@zeus.unomaha.edu uunet!unocss!zeus!acmnews 137.48.1.1



ps67@umail.umd.edu       uunet!mimsy!umail!ps67    128.8.10.28



*****************************************************************

 



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 4673 B#  3444 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910106 ATT: New Packeteers

Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ N2GTE KA3RFE 

This is for those of you got new tncs for Christmas and are just starting

out in the Wonderful World of Packet. There are some things you should know

that your tnc manual may not have mentioned.



Some terms which get people confused:



1) Home BBS: A "home BBS" does not refer to the mailbox program which your

   tnc may have in it's guts. It refers to a full-service BBS which handles

   personal mail, bulletins, and file transfers. Your "home BBS" would be

   a full-service BBS which you might check into often to read bulletins

   and to pick up any personal mail which might be held for you. If you

   have arragned for a full-service BBS to forward your personal mail to

   your mailbox, your home BBS still remains that full-service BBS.



   This term is important as several BBS programs will ask you to enter

   a "home BBS" the first time you connect to it.



2)  Node: You can figure a "node" to be something of a packet switchboard

    which has the ability to operate on several frequencies. A node

    differs from a digipeater in the sense that it handles all of the

    packet housekeeping chores within its program. Most nodes have more

    than one operating frequency and they can shuttle packets back and

    forth via any number of intermediate nodes. The benefit of using a

    node over a digipeater is that the node will find the quickest way

    to make the connection whereas a digipeater will only try to connect

    you to the station you tell it to connect to, regardless of whether

    the digipeater can hear it or not.



    You cannot send mail to a node. It is not a mailbox or a BBS.



3)  Network BBS: A network BBS is a full-service BBS which is operating

    under a special node-compatible software program. Network BBSs will

    show up in node broadcasts and can be connected to over the node

    network by entering a connect request to the network BBS alias.



    Generally, a network BBS will have an alias in which either BBS

    or BB is part of the alias. For example: ANNBBS is the alias for

    KA3RFE BBS in Annapolis; BWIBBS is the alias for WB3V BBS in

    Severn. BBJ9X is the alias for AJ9X's tcp/ip BBS in Westminister.



    The network BBS alias is ONLY FOR CONNECTING. You should not use

    the network BBS alias as an entry for "home BBS" when your are

    asked to enter your home BBS. Use the callsign of the BBS and

    not its alias as your home BBS when asked to enter it.



    The same goes for sending mail to a netowrk BBS. If you enter a

    message to KA3RFE @ ANNBBS, the message will never get there since

    ANNBBS is only an alias for use in connecting to it over the node

    network. IF you enter a message to KA3RFE @ KA3RFE, the message

    will be forwarded without much hassle.



I strongly suggest that you throurghly read your tnc manual and also

suggest that you get a copy of "Your Gateway to Packet Radio" from

somewhere. Its the best book yet written on the ins and outs of

packet radio.

                           73, Pete, sysop KA3RFE (ANNBBS)

                               Annapolis, Md.



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 4813 B#  1760 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910110 Att New Packeteers pt.2

Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ KA3DXX WA7NTF KA3RFE 

This bulletin is being re-sent at the request of several people:

"GARBAGE CHARACTERS"

You may see some very strange-looking characters flitting across your

moniter's screen from time-to-time. Those funny-looking things are

symbols for binary data being transmitted. There are several sources

which use binary data instead of text. Net/Rom nodes use binary data

in their nodes broadcasts. The purpose of the node broadcasts are

to inform other nodes within range what nodes they can connect to.

The data is binary for reasons of accuracy.



Another source of garbage characters is binary file transfers from a

BBS to a user. These transfers are generally executable programs which

the BBS might have stored for downloading by users. These differ from

text files in that the binary code contains control characters and

computer programming commands which cant be sent as text files.



A third source of garbage characters is tcp/ip packets being sent

between two stations using that protocol to exchange files or mail.

Tcp/ip is a protocol which has several different layers to it and

can be used to interface with some of the major computer networks

such as those used by colleges and government computers.



So, if you see funny-looking symbols on your monitor, dont panic, its

just binary traffic going bye.

                          73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE BBS



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 4766 B#  3742 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910108 ATT: New Packeteers pt 3

Forwarding path: W3IWI KA4USE N4QQ N2GTE KA3RFE 

SENDING MAIL/BULLETINS



Most BBS programs use the same commands to send mail and bulletins. One

of the most common mistakes in sending messages of any type is the

confusion between what is mail, and what is a bulletin. The issue gets

further confusing when trying to determine how to send a bulletin meant

for all BBSs is a given bulletin distribution scheme.



Generally, there are three commands for sending mail and bulletins:

A) S.....Most BBS programs treat the S command as a command to send a

          PRIVATE message. For instance: entering S KA3RFE will send a

          private message to KA3RFE...but only on the BBS you enter the

          message on. If KA3RFE does not use the BBS you are entering the

          message on, the BBS program will try to forward the message to

          KA3RFE...but ONLY if that BBS has KA3RFE listed in its forwarding

          file.



          If  you try to send a bulletin using S alone, the BBS will still

          treat that message as a private message. So, entering a bulletin

          using "S ALL @ MDCBBS $" will result in a private message to

          NOBODY at MDCBBS except for SYSOPS, because a private message

          to "ALL" could only be read by sysops or a ham who's callsign

          is "all". Since "all" is not a legal callsign, nobody else can

          read the message



          Did you notice the "$" in the example above? To send a bulletin

          out to other BBSs, the address has to include the $. This tells

          the BBS that the bulletin should be forwarded out to other BBSs.

          So, you must include that $ if you want the bulletin to be sent

          to other BBSs.



B) SP......The SP command means "Send Private". This tells the BBS that

           the message you are sending is "eyes only" for the addresssee.

           The sysop will be able to read that message but no one else

           will be able to read it. This is the same command as the

           plain S command. To avoid confusion, you should always send

           your private messages to another ham using the SP.



C)  SB.....This command means "Send a Bulletin". There are two types of

           bulletins you might send. One type would be only for users of

           the same BBS you are entering the bulletin on. If you were

           connected to KA3RFE BBS and you sent a bulletin reading

           "SB ALL", the BBS will treat it like a local bulletin and

           it will only stay on KA#RFE. If you sent a bulletin titled

           "SB ALL @ MDCBBS" the bulletin will still be considered a

            local bulletin on KA3RFE. Why????? To send a bulletin 

            which you want forwarded to  "ALL @ MDCBBS" you have to

            tell the BBS you want it forwarded.....THATS WHAT THE

            "$" IS FOR. So, if you want your bulletin sent to every

            BBS which accpets the MDCBBS distribution scheme, you have

            to add that $. The correct way is "SB ALL @ MDCBBS $".



So, to sum up....use S and SP for PRIVATE messages. ("Mail"), and

SB for BULLETINS. Dont forget the "$" in the address if you want

your bulletin to get forwarded.



Try it out! Send me a private message to KA3RFE @ KA3RFE.md. If it

gets here, I'll send you a reply.

                            73, Pete KA3RFE sysop KA3RFE BBS



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 4894 B#  1594 ALL    KA3RFE USA    910113 Att: New Packeteers pt 4

Forwarding path: W3IWI W3ZH N4QQ N2GTE WB3V KA3RFE 

In Part 3 I stated that a dollar-sign symbol must be appended to

any bulletin which you want to have forwarded out from the BBS

you entered it on.



I've gotten information that entering the dollar sign is not

required on CBBS and RLI bbs systems for the forwarding-out to

take place. At this point, to the best of my knowledge, the

dollar sign is required on MBL, MSYS, and REBBS systems. There

are other systems which may not require the dollar sign.



Your best course of action is to ask your sysop if you need to append

the dollar sign to your bulletins for them to be forwarded-out.



Those of you who are sysops: I want to make this series helpful, so

correct me if I dont have it correct! I dont know how BQE's system 

handles bulletins, nor FISBBS, and maybe I'm wrong with MSYS and

AA4RE...(I ran both MSYS and AA4RE, but I've forgetton and dont have

the docs any more...getting senile...)



The dollar-sign IS required for the WA7MBL bbs and with another

BBS system being beta-tested in Anne Arundel County MD called

"GTEPMS".



Part 5 will deal somewhat with tnc settings....look for it soon!

                      73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE.md.usa



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 4968 B#  3405 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910114 Att: New Packeteers pt 5

Forwarding path: W3IWI WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE 

SETTINGS:



Nothing generates more frustration than trying to set up a tnc to operate

effectively when you dont understand the language. This is a short run-

through of the more important parameters which enable your tnc to work

properly with minimum hassle.



FRACK:     FRACK is short for FRame ACKnowledge. It is the timer which

           tells the tnc how long to wait for an acknowledge frame from

           the other station before re-sending a frame. Typically, tncs

           come with a default value of 4, which is adequate. However,

           if you are operating on a very busy channel, you may want to

           increase FRACK to 6, or even 8. A short FRACK value can lead

           to retrying-out, so dont set it below 4 or so.



RETRY      RETRY tells the tnc how many times to keep sending a packet

           that does not get ACK'ed by the other station. This usually

           defaults to 10 from the factory. After the 10th retry, the

           tnc "times out" and the connection is broken. A value of

           10 is just fine. Some people say a shorter value is better

           but 10 will do. If you set your tnc retry value to 0, the

           tnc will NEVER time-out! This is NOT a good idea!



DWAIT      DWAIT enters a pause in-between transmitted packets to let

           digipeaters to transmit first. This is usuallly set by local

           agreement. Ask around to find out what your DWAIT should be.



TXDELAY    This determines how soon the packet will be transmitted after

           the tnc keys the radio. The purpose of TXDEAY is to insure

           that the first few parts of the packet dont get chopped off

           by a slow-keying transmitter. You will have to set this

           based on what sort of transmitter you are using. Good

           values range from around 30 to 50. Longer TXDELAY values

           just take up air time.



           You can figure that TXDELAY works the same way that you

           do on voice....you wait a second or so after keying the

           mic before you start talking....well, thats TXDELAY!



There are more settings which control your tnc, but the above are the

ones that make the difference. There are also two settings for your

RADIO which are important:



DEVIATION: W3IWI reccomends a deviation of no more than 3 percent for

           optimum packet operation. A too-wide deviation will reult

           in lots of retries and timing-outs.



VOLUME:    Your volume-control is the most important setting on your

           radio insofar as receiving packets is concerned. If you

           have the volume too loud, the tnc will not be able to

           decode the packets, and, of course, if the volume it soo

           low, the tnc wont hear the packets. The best method of

           setting your volume control is to open your squelch and

           increase your volume control until you see the DCD light

           on the tnc come on. That's your setting.



                              73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5029 B#  4630 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910116 Att: New Packeteers Pt 6

Forwarding path: W3IWI KA4USE N4QQ WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE 

SETTINGS CONTINUED



There are two more setting which you must consider when setting up your

tnc. These settings have much to do with how well your RETRY rate is.



PACLEN:     PACLEN is short for PACket LENgth. It tells the tnc how many

            letters, numbers, and spaces should make up the length of the

            packet your tnc sends out. Most people use a PACLEN of 128

            characters, which is ok under most circumstances, I suppose,

            but that depends highly upon how good the path is between

            stations, how crowded the channel is, and a couple other

            factors. On my BBS and node ports here, I use a PACLEN

            of 80 on my UHF port (when its operating....) as I dont have

            all that great of a path to the more distance stations, while

            my 2 meter port has a PACLEN of 180 and my 220 port runs a

            PACLEN of 120. The differences are due to channel loading,

            distance, and radio/antenna performance factors.



BY THE WAY: PACLEN is NOT a substitute for inserting carriage returns in

your transmitted signals. All PACLEN does is tell the tnc to transmit a

packet after X number of characters have been inputted. If you make up a

 long message on a word processor and dont insert any carriage returns in

the text, the message will scroll right off the screen of anyone trying to

read the message! I am inserting carriage returns as I type this message. If

I didn't, you wouldnt be able to read the bulletin! I put my carriage returns

at the end of each line I type. When this bulletin gets forwarded out, the

PACLEN setting will send X characters out, carriage return and all, and the

finished product when you read it, will be exactly as I typed it.



MAXFRAME:    This is the last setting you need to worry about right now.

             MAXFRAME works with PACLEN to determine how much information

             your tnc will send out at any one time and will consult with

             RETRY to give you the bottom-line total thruput. (Thruput?

             ....all thruput means is how fast the job it getting done...

             when packets are just zipping along and being acked real

             fast, that's high thruput...)



             MAXFRAME means how many packets you want to have out un-

             acknowledged before more packets are sent. On a nice

             quiet channel where you are in within spittin distance

             of the station you are communicating with, MAXFRAME can

             be as high as 4 or 5. However, hardly anyone is on a nice

             quiet channel, so your MAXFRAME setting has to be set to

             reflect conditions. If the channel is real crowded and

             noisy, or if you time-out a lot with a high MAXFRAME, you

             might want to consider setting a MAXFRAME of only 1 or 2.

  

             On my UHF port, the channel is both busy and I have a poor-

              to-fair path to most of the stations I connect to. So, I

              set a MAXFRAME of 1. On my 2 meter and 220 ports, I set

              MAXFRAME to 2.  I probably could get away with a setting

              of 4 on 2 meters and 220, but the channels are busy.



A NOTE ON THE "$" IN SENDING BULLETINS



I've heard from many sysops and two BBS software authors on the use of

the dollar sign in sending bulletins which are to be forwarded out from

the BBS you're entering it on. The info is being passed on here, somewhat

modified to reflect the possibility that you may not know which sort of

system you are using.....



The WA7MBL BBS requires that you send bulletins to be forwarded out in

this manner: 

             SB ALL @(USA, etc) $

Other BBS systems dont require it, but if you are not sure which type of

BBS you are using, you can enter the $ with no harm done. In fact, it

may be a good idea to use the $ anyhow. It wont hurt, and wont make

any difference if the BBS does not need it.



(Thanks to all you sysops who sent me the info I needed to clear that up,

and a special "thank you" to the two BBS software authors who were kind

enough to respond.)





MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5026 B#  2411 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910116 Att: New Packeteers, pt 7

Forwarding path: W3IWI KA3T WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAIL AND FILES



When you log onto a full-service BBS, there are two separate things you

can get into: Mail and Files. Some people get confused about what the

two of them are. I know I did when I first got on packet. I thought a

file was a file, whether it was a file or whether it was that long list

of messages you get when you enter an "L" command.



Well, as I found out, they aint the same animal.



When a BBS refers to a "file", it's talking about a separate entry which

is being stored apart from "mail".



I guess I better define "mail" before I get into "files"....its easier.



"Mail" means messages from one ham to another, or bulletins which the

BBS has open. If ham A sends ham B a message, that's "mail". If a ham

sends a message to be read by many people, that's called a "bulletin"

but the BBS still calls it "mail".



A "file" is not mail, nor is it a bulletin; although some bulletins might

be converted to files by the sysop. A file is a permanent part of a BBS.

The file might contain text, or it might be a binary file. (WHAT? I

THOUGHT EVERYTHING IN PACKET WAS BINARY!) Not to worry...everything

packet-ized is binary, but there is a difference in how the information

is kept in the BBS.



Binary files are those which are actually executable programs which can

be downloaded from the BBS. These files require that you have a compatible

binary file downloading program in order to get them from the BBS.



Text files are those which are plain text and you can download them without

needing any sort of special file downloading program. In most BBSs you

can get into a text file area in which the documentation is kept with

all the commands used by the BBS.



So, MAIL is stuff from ham A to ham B, bulletins are from ham A to

a selected audience, but still MAIL. FILES are the more permanent

information on a BBS and come in two flavors: text and binary.

Text files are sent in simple plain old English, while binary files

look like the BBS has got the runs.



                            73, Pete, KA3RFE

                          KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



*********************************************************************



For those that thoroughly enjoyed the previous 7 chapters of the 

KA3RFE "Attn New Packeteers" Guide, here are the latest 3 

installments.  As you can see, they touch on many sore issues that 

have worked their way to the surface of the ham community in the wake 

of the "WA3QNS" citations by the FCC.  Those that would enjoy the 

infamy of their callsigns being remembered with "the Titanic", "Adolf 

Hitler" and "Pontious Pilate" (not to mention the FCC's "Harden and 

Weaver Rule") are advised not to read these posts.... ;-) 



As always, they are written by a Maryland packet BBS sysop, Pete 

KA3RFE, and all comments or criticisms should be sent to him via:



AMPR KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



Requests for lost installments due to Usenet barfs should, of course, be 

sent to me.



73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU



ps67@umail.umd.edu



************************************************************************   



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5733 B#  2923 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910215 Attn New Packeteers pt8

Forwarding path: W3IWI KA4USE N4QQ N2GTE N3ETI KA3RFE 

MORE ON BULLETINS



OK, now you know that there are local bulletins and flood bulletins.

So what? Well, you also need to keep in mind what's appropriate for

which catagory.



With flood bulletins, there are local floods, regional floods, and

national floods; each of which has a designated function and audience.

A local flood bulletin would be one going to a very limited

distribution area such as one city, or one county. A regional flood

would be sent to a wider area, such as a state, or an ARRL region, or

an FCC region. A national flood bulletin goes to BBSs throughout the

country.



Which flood header you choose to use should be appropriate to the

purpose of your bulletin, and to the most logical audience.



Example: Your club is going to hold a picnic and wants to invite hams

from other clubs. What flood header do you use? National? No.

Regional? Maybe. Local? Yes. (Why? If the picnic is to be held in

Upper Lidville NY, nobody in Lower Coax MD cares...but someone in

Middle Lidville NY might be interested.)



Example: You have a Deluxe Gee-whiz Whizbang Antenna Gizmo which you

want to sell. You paid $20 for it, and want to sell it for $10. Which

flood header to use for this? National? No. Regional? No. Local? Yes.

(Why? If you use the national or regional floods, the shipping charge 

to send the thing to anywhere will be almost as much as the asking 

price...so any buyer for it will want to pick it up, and prob ably 

wont want to drive more than 30 minutes to get it.) 



With "for sale" bulletins, you should keep in mind that the item MUST

be ham-radio-related for it to be legal under part 97.113. You should

also keep in mind that there are many sysops who refuse to carry or

forward "for sale" bulletins. You should check with your sysop about

this prior to entering the bulletin, or download his "Info" text, where 

many of them keep their bulletin-forwarding policy. 



Example: Your club will be holding a hamfest. You want to send a

bulletin out to announce it. Its a one-day affair with no programs.

Which header do you use? National? No. Regional? Yes. Local? Yes.

(Why? The information is of regional interest, but not of national

interest. Nobody in California is going to travel to a one-day hamfest

in Maryland.



So, you see that the content of your bulletin will determine which

header to forward it to. You need to excercise some judgement and

common-sense in addressing the bulletin.



(more in Part 9)  



                         73, Pete, KA3RFE

                       KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5730 B#  2328 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910215 Attn New Packeteers pt9

Forwarding path: W3IWI KA4USE N4QQ WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE 

THE NATIONAL FLOODERS



There are several varieties of National Flood Headers, all of which

do the same thing: They go nation-wide. Three of the most common

headers are "USA" "ALLUS" "ALLBBS". There are others, but those three

show up more often than the others.



What bulletins are appropriate for nation-wide forwarding? This

question is continually debated among users and sysops alike. Ask

100 hams and you get 100 different answers. We CAN however use some

judgement and common sense and come up with useful criteria.



Many bulletins sent via the national floods are inappropriate in one

sense or another. It's not  unusual to see hamfest announcements going

out nationwide, and its obvious that a national audience is not

appropriate. It's also common to see someone selling some small piece

of gear nationwide. As pointed out earlier,it makes little sense to

put a national bulletin out to sell something small. The same also

holds true for real big things, like towers. If you send a national

bulletin out selling a tower, you'd better be prepared to package it

for shipping...and wouldnt you rather the buyer pick it up?.



Another point, with "sale"-type bulletins: it's common to see

bulletins advertising stuff for sale which is in no way ham-related.

FCC part 97.113 clearly states the item being sold MUST be ham-radio-

related gear. Also, you must ask yourself if the bulletin could in any 

way be construed as "business" comms. 



You should check with your sysop to see what his policy is regarding

national flood bulletins, since almost every sysop has differing

criteria.



If you exercise good judgement and common sense in sending national

flood bulletins, you can't go wrong.



Oh, one last thing....If you are unsure of the legality of your

bulletin, its best not to send it at all.



                            73, Pete, KA3RFE

                          KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5734 B#  1881 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910215 Attn New Packeteers pt 10

Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ WA3TAI WA7NTF KA3RFE 

HOW TO GIVE YOUR SYSOP ULCERS



1)  Never kill your mail. Let your read-but-not-killed messages 

    accumulate on the BBS.



2)  Assume (wrongly) that the sysop will kill your messages for you.



3)  Never read or download the documentation for the BBS.



4)  Dont pay any attention to your sysop's messages telling you how to

    use the BBS and continue along your merry way with your mistakes.



5)  Assume (wrongly) that any message you enter in error will be

    corrected by the sysop.



6)  Complain long-and-loudly when the BBS goes down, but never, ever

    offer any support for system upkeep...monentarily or sweaty. 

    (The majority of BBS systems are operated by individual hams, not

    clubs...and support for those systems usually are borne by the

    individual hams themselves with no help from the users...so, if

    you want to see the system stay up, HELP OUT!)



7)  Never learn how to correctly enter NTS traffic on a packet BBS.

    Send traffic any old way....regardless of whether its sent in the

    right format or not...then bitch when the traffic never gets

    delivered at the end point because the traffic handlers cant

    figure out where it goes.



8)  Send illegal bulletins. Eventually you will be caught, and you and

    your sysop will get fined. Your sysop will not appreciate that and

    he will lock you out of the BBS, might bomb your shack, and will

    be sorely tempted to put pins through your coax. This is known as

    the "WA3QNS EFFECT".



                        73, Pete, KA3RFE

                      KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



***********************************************************************



Here are the latest (and last, according to Pete) installments of the 

Attention New Packeteers Guide.  For those that desire all 15 parts, 

they are available as one crudely merged, unformatted ASCII text file

(hey, I've got a job, a life, and a girlfriend too, you know!) from me 

via E-mail.



If I get mondo requests (i.e. >> 20 or so) I may consider a repost in 

a month's time or so.



As always, the Guide is not my creation, it is that of Pete, KA3RFE, 

and all questions/comments/criticisms should be directed at him via 

AMPR KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA.  Enjoy!



73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU



ACMNEWS@zeus.unomaha.edu  uunet!unocss!zeus!acmnews 137.48.1.1



ps67@umail.umd.edu        uunet!mimsy!umail!ps67    128.8.10.28



**********************************************************************



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5766 B#  1678 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910217 Attn New Packeteers pt11

Forwarding path: W3IWI WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE 

BEACONING

It seems like the first thing a new packeteer does is send out beacons

announcing to everyone that his/her packet station is on the air. That's

understandable, but not a very nice  thing to do. Beacons from private

mailboxes just take up air time and on a busy channel, they just choke

the frequency so badly that thruput gets very, very, slow.



The best thing to do if you leave your stattion up for mailbox

connects, is just keep the radio and tnc on without beaconing it.

Why? What's the best way to see if a station is on the air??

Try to connect to it! What can be simpler? Leave the beacons turned

off.



Back in the early days of packet when there were not many stations,

a beacon made sense. Now, however, all a beacon does it take up

air time, especially if the beacon is being digipeated from  

various nodes or digi's. A while back, I observed a beacon from

one digipeater being digipeated by 3 nodes and 2 digis. That's

going overboard.



I watched one digipeater being repeated by 4 other digipeaters

each of which could hear each other. An utterly useless application

of digipeating which only grabbed air time which coulda been used

by other stations.



So, the bottom line on beaconing is that its not all that of a

good use of air time and it's sometimes abused.



                             73, Pete, KA3RFE

                           KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5794 B#  2613 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910218 Attn: New Packeteers pt 12

Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ N2GTE WB3V KA3RFE 

DIGIPEATERS AND NODES: Pt 1

A digipeater is a packet station which can repeat packet signals on

the operating frequency the station is on. You use a digipeater by

entering it's call in the connect request when you enter a message.

For example: "C W3XYZ V K3LID". The  "V" tells the tnc to connect to

W3XYZ "via" K3LID digipeater. The digipeater can only work correctly

if it can hear both your call and the destination call, and all the

stations must be on the same frequency. Although its possible to use

up to five digipeaters in a path, it's not a very good idea to use

more than two digipeaters to reach your end-destination station.

Why? Channel loading. Each packet your station sends out will be

repeated by each digipeater until it reaches the destination station,

and each ACK packet from the destination station will have to be

repeated by the digi's until it reaches your station.



If you use two digipeaters to reach another station, the channel will

get three packets  to reach the other station, and three packets back

to your station from the destination station. (Three? yeah...your

original packet, a packet from digi #1, another from digi #2 equals

three packets...the original packet from the destination station gets

repeated by digi #2, then digi #1, which equals three more.) So,

if you send a message over 2 digi's, the channel will wind up handling

SIX packets round-trip. This takes up a lot of air time, not to mention

the time it takes to get the round-trip finished...and that's only for

ONE packet and assuming no retries!



Digipeaters can only work well if they can hear the other stations on

each side of the link. If a digi can hear your station, but cannot

hear the station identified in the "via" address, nothing will work,

and air time has been taken up for no good purpose.



Digipeaters are "dumb". They cannot shift frequencies or attempt to

establish a connect on a different frequency path from the one it is

working. The digi is stuck on that one frequency and can only send on

what it hears. If the destination station cannot be heard by the digi,

nothing happens, except that lotsa air time has been taken up by lotsa

retries, leading to channel loading and QRM.

(more)



                         73, Pete, KA3RFE

                       KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5820 B#  1877 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910219 Att: New Packeteers pt 13

Forwarding path: W3IWI N4QQ WA3ZNW NB3P KA3RFE 

DIGIPEATERS AND NODES pt 2



NODES



What's a node, anyhow? How does it differ from a digipeater?



A node is something like a switchboard - that's not a very good

analogy, but its close. A node takes signals from one station and

"ports" those signals to another station. Sounds like a digipeater,

doesnt it? In contrast to a digipeater, however, the node handles the

ACKs between itself and the stations on each end, cutting down the

number of housekeeping packets going over the air. The difference is

that the connect from station A to the node is one link, and the

connect from the node to station B is another link. It looks like

this:



      Station A: => Node - Node => Station B  (one link)

      Station B: => Node - Node => Station A  (second link)



      or:



      Station A <==> Node  <==> Station B



The arrows indicate the ACK and traffic paths. The signal goes to

the node, where it is ACKed by the node to Station A. The node then

sends the signal to station B, where is must be ACKed by B. If B does

not ACK the packet, the node keeps sending it until it exceeds its

time-out value, then it breaks the link.



How does it make it better than using a digi? Instead of 6 packets

round trip, going thru the node only requires 4 packets...so traffic

should, theoreticaly, be faster.

 

This is only one aspect of using a node versus using a digipeater.

Nodes can also do other things which make them very useful critters to

have around.



                    73, Pete, KA3RFE



                  KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA

MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5835 B#  2602 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910220 Att: New Packeteers pt 14

Forwarding path: W3IWI WA3ZNW N2GTE WA7NTF KA3RFE 

DIGIPEATERS AND NODES pt 3



Other features of nodes which make them very valuable, are their

ability to operate on more than one frequency and "port" signals

between them, and their ability to automatically route traffic from

an orginating node and a destination node many miles away.



There are many different types of nodes, and while they all do

essentially the same things, there are differences in command

structure and features, so I'm not going to go into commands used by

nodes, except to say that they all have a "help" command, usually in

the form of a question mark or "H".



The ability of a node to operate on different frequencies means that

traffic can be sent to a station far away and not on the same channel.

If, for example, you are a Novice, you can legally get into a BBS on

2 meters by connecting to a node on 220. Of course the node must 

either hear that BBS directly or hears another node which can hear the

BBS...and you have to know the destination node to get there.



Nodes interconnect with each other. Its possible to connect to a node

2 or 3 hundred miles away, the traffic goes into what most people call

"the network". Each node has a list in its memory of the stations it

can hear directly, and those which it can hear via another node.



The garbage characters you see on the screen from time to time is a

node telling other nodes on the frequency what it has available.

Its possible, for example to connect to a node in Annapolis, MD and

enter a connect request for a node in Richmond, VA on an entirely

different frequency...all of which will be handled by the "network"

based on the lists kept in each node.



One thing you must keep in mind, each "hop" over the network results

in a time-bite...it takes time to get the frames through, and the

more hops it has to take, the slower the flow of traffic.



If you want to connect to a distant node, you do not have to specify

the routing, nor do you need to manually connect to each node which

is in-between. All you need to do is tell the node to connect to the

destination node (assuming it knows about it...) and the network

will route the request to the destination node using the best path.



                     73, Pete, KA3RFE

                   KA3RFE@KA3RFE.MD.USA



MSG # TR  SIZE TO     FROM   @BBS   DATE    TITLE

 5834 B#  2630 ALL    KA3RFE MDCBBS 910220 Att: New Packeteers pt 15

Forwarding path: W3IWI WA3ZNW N2GTE WA7NTF KA3RFE 

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...



Feedback from users and sysops has been taken into account for this

last (for now) part of the series. Here are some final thoughts:



Instead of beaconing your personal mailbox, put a local bulletin on

your "home BBS" telling everyone you're up. If you feel that you 

ABSOLUTELY have to beacon, no matter WHAT anyone else says: use the

"beacon AFTER X" command instead of the "Beacon EVERY X". This will

let you beacon without adding to the channel loading and congestion.

(If you dont know what the difference is, you should read your tnc

manual.)



Choose ONE "home BBS" and stick with it. Multiple "home BBS's" just

make your mail go into a ping-pong circuit.



Don't play "BBS DX'ing". Dont use the nodes tables to see how far

you can go on the network by trying to connect to a network BBS. Just

about all BBSs have the same bulletins on hand, so going thru a bunch

of nodes to reach a certain BBS is a waste of air time and a bad use

of network resources.



Dont try to download a long file from a BBS during peak traffic times.

( about 2100-2300)



Make sure you use the correct Hierarchical-routing designator when

addressing mail to an out-of-state BBS. (.#local.State.National, and

make sure the periods are there!)



Use the right bulletin header when sending bulletins. Keep in mind your

intended target audience. Dont send club meeting announcements, novice

class notices, hamfest information, and other items of stricly local

interest via @USA or @ALLUS.



Make absolutely certain that your messaage is legal. Its been

suggested by some sysops that your only quarentee of "legalness" is

to keep your bulletins STRICTLY AMATUER-RADIO RELATED! A bunch of

sysops got into hot water with the FCC over a bulletin sent by a

now-imfamous user which had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with

Ham Radio.



Last of all: HAVE FUN! I hope these messages have been helpful to 

you. If you have any questions, feel free to send them to me. If I

dont know the answer right away, I'll get it from somewhere ASAP.

There are lots more areas I could cover, but this series was 

intended to get you up and running with basic packet.



                73, Pete KA3RFE @ KA3RFE.MD.USA.NOAM

