Date: 04 Jul 88 20:00 GMT Message-ID: <1053@ON7RC> From: ON7PC@ON7RC To: ALL@BLGNET Subject: NETROM + TheNet User Manual (2) Path: PI8HWB!ON1AWB!ON7RC NET/ROM and TheNet User's Manual Part 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------ The ROUTES command : ------------------------------------------------------------------ The ROUTES command was introduced in NET/ROM version 1.2. On a node using an earlier version, you will get the message "Invalid command". The ROUTES is used to display or modify the neighbor list of the node's routing table. To display the nodes's neighbor list, use ROUTES without any parameters: ROUTES LAS:K7WS-1} Routes: > 1 K7WS-11 255 5 > 0 WA7GTU-1 192 17 0 WA7GTU-2 0 15 ! 0 K7WS-2 via K7WS-4 144 2 0 WB7BNI-1 192 6 > 0 AA6TN-1 192 27 For each neighboring node, the following items are displayed in sequence: . ">" if active crosslink exists to this neighbor . port number (0=HDLC port, 1=RS232 port) . path to this neighbor (callsign + any digis) . path quality (255 is best, 0 is worst) . use count (number of routes via this neighbour) . "!" if this neighbor list entry is locked To display this information for just one particular neighbor list entry, use ROUTES followed by the port number and path: ROUTES 0 AA6YN-1 LAS:K7WS-1} Routes: > 0 AA6TN-1 192 27 Neighbor list entry may be created automatically as the result of receiving an automatic routing broadcast, or manually by means of the NODES + command. When a neighbor list entry is first created, it starts out and unlocked and with a path quality equal to the default channe quality (see PARMS command). However, the control operator has the ability to "fine-tune" NET/ROMs automatic routing by modifying the path quality values for specific neighbors and by locking these modified entries. The ROUTES command supports manual modifications to neighbor list entries, but this capability is available only to a control operator who has previusly validated his credentials during this connection by successfuly executing the SYSOP command. To modify neighbor list entries, the commands are: ROUTES port nodecall [digicall ...] + pathquality ROUTES port nodecall [digicall ...] - pathquality The "+" version locks the neighbor list entry specified by the port, nodecall and digicall parameters, and sets the path quality of hat entry to the value pathquality (255 is best, 0 is worst). If there is no entry in the neighbor list that matches port, nodecall, and digicall, a new entry is created, locked and initialized with the specified pathquality and a use count of zero. The "-" version unlocks the specified neighbor list entry. If its use count is zero, the entry is deleted immediately. Otherwise, the entry remains in the neighbor list and its path quality is set to the value pathquality If the use count of an unlocked neighbor list entry ever becomes zero, the entry is deleted. The path quality for a neighor is used by NET/ROM in its calculations of route qualities for all routes through that neighbor. By modifying the path quality using the ROUTES + command, the control operator can encourage or discourage a node from using paths through a particular neighbor. By setting a neighbor's path quality to zero, the control operator can cause the node to completely ignore the existence of that neighbor, including disregarding the neighbor's routing broadcasts. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The CQ command : ------------------------------------------------------------------ The CQ command was introduced in NET/ROM version 1.3. On a node using an earlier version, you will get a message "Invalid command". The CQ command is used to bradcast a short text message from a node, and to enable other user stations that receive the broadcast to connect to the station that originated the broadcast. The command is: CQ textmessage where textmessage is optional and can be any string uo to 77 characters long (blanks and punctuation are allowed). Note that the CQ command cannot be abbreviated, since "C" is interpreted as a CONNECT command. In response to a CQ command, the node broadcasts the specified message in "unproto" mode, using the callsign of the originated user with translated SSID as the source and "CQ" as destination. (The broadcast is made in the form of an AX.25 UI-Frame with a PID of "F0" hex). For example, if user station W1XYZ connects to a node and issues the command: CQ "Mike" in Las Vegas, Nevada the node transmits a broadcast that would be monitoredby local users as: W1XYZ-15>CQ: "Mike" in Las Vegas, Nevada After making the broadcast in response to the CQ command, the node "arms" a mechanism to permit other stations to reply to the CQ. A station wishing to reply may do so simply by connecting his TNC to the operating callsign shown in the broadcast (W1XYZ-15 in the example above). A CQ command remains "armed" to accept replies for 15 minutes (see PARMS parameter #15), or until the originating user issues another command or disconnects from the node. Any station attached to a node in command mode may determine if there are any other stations awaiting a reply to a CQ by issuing a USERS command. An "armed" CQ channel appears in the USERS display as: (circuit, Host or uplink) <--> CQ(usercall) The station may reply to such a pending CQ by issuing a CONNECT to the user callsign specified in the CQ(...) portion of the users display - it is not necessary for the station to disconnect from the node and reconnect. For example: CTRL-C cmd: C BWI *** Connected to BWI *** USERS BWI:W3IWI-5} NET/ROM 1.3 (701) Uplink(K1HTV-1) <--> CQ(K1HTV-14) Circuit(LAS:K7WS-1 W1XYZ) <--> CQ(W1XYZ-15) Uplink(N4HY) Connect W1XYZ-15 BWI:W3IWI-5} Connected to W1XYZ Hi, Dr. Bob ! Thanks for answering my CQ. etc Users of the CQ command are cautionned to be patient in awaiting a response. Your CQ will remain "armed" for 15 minutes, and will be visible to any user who issues a USERS command during that time. Wait at least five minutes before issuing another CQ - give other stations a chance to reply to your first one ! ------------------------------------------------------------------ The IDENT command : ------------------------------------------------------------------ The IDENT command allows an authorized control operator to set or change the mnemonic identifier of the node. The command is: IDENT identifier where identifier is a string up to six characters long or "*" if the node is to have no identifier at all. For example: IDENT LAX LAX:W6AMT-3} LAX IDENT * W6AMT-3} Node identifiers should normally be composed of letters and digits only. Non-printing characters and punctuation marks are invalid (with one exception discussed in the next paragraph). Lower-case letters are converted to upper-case. In addition, NET/ROM will not acccept a node identifier that "looks like" a valid amateur callsign - a string of letters and digits looks like a callsign if it is four to six characters long, has either one or two digits, and the rightmost digit is neither the first nor the last character in the string. A node identifier may use the "#" character in its first character position. This causes the node to be supressed from the NODES displays at other nodes. (Note: The use of other punctuation characters in node identifiers is reserved for possible future extension of NET/ROM.) Before using IDENT command to change the node identifier remotly, you must validate your credentials as a control operator by using the SYSOP command ... otherwise, the node identifier is left unchanged. In TheNet, the "IDENT" command has been replaced by a new "INFO command". The node will then send 1. it's mnemonic indetifier and the call (as for NET/ROM) 2. a message contained in the eprom (max 80 char. long), 3. a remote programable message (max 80 characters long) ------------------------------------------------------------------ The PARMS command : ------------------------------------------------------------------ The PARMS command can be used to display or change various numeric parameters that affect operation of the node. To diplay the node paramateres, use PARMS with no parameters: PARMS LAX:W6AMT-3} 50 1 192 255 6 5 3600 64 60 3 3 180 4 4 900 16 4 7 10 100 18000 1 1 1 The following 24 node parameters are displayed in sequence: No Description of paramater Def. Min. Max. --- ------------------------------------------- ---- ---- ----- 1. Max destination list entries 50 1 400 2. Worst quality for auto updates (0 disables) 1 0 255 3. Channel 0 (HDLC) quality 192 0 255 4. Channel 1 (RS232) quality 255 0 255 5. Obsolescence count initializer 6 0 255 6. Obsolescence count min. to be broadcast 5 1 255 7. Auto-update broadcast interval (sec) 3600 0 65535 8. Network "time-to-live" initializer 64 0 255 9. Transport timeout (seconds) 60 5 600 10. Transport maximum tries 3 2 127 11. Transport acknowledge delay (seconds) 3 1 60 12. Transport busy delay (seconds) 180 1 1000 13. Transport requested window size (frames) 4 1 127 14. Congestion control threshold (frames) 4 1 127 15. No-activity timeout (seconds) 900 0 65535 16. Link digipeater wait "DWAIT" (10ms inc) 16 0 127 17. Link T1 timeout "FRACK" (seconds) 4 1 15 18. Link tx window size "MAXFRAME" (frames) 7 1 7 19. Link maximum tries (0=try forever) 10 0 127 20. Link T2 timeout (10 ms increment) 100 0 65535 21. Link T3 timeout (10 ms increment) 18000 0 65535 22. AX.25 digipeating (1=enabled 0=disabled) 1 0 1 23. Validate callsigns (1=enabled 0=disabled) 1 0 1 24. Station ID beacons (1=enabled 0=disabled) 1 0 1 Starting with NET/ROM version 1.3 the list of PARMS parameters has been revised. Parameter 16 has been split into two parameters (called 16A and 16B), the meaning of parameter 24 has been changed and a new parameter 25 has been added. The new parameter sequence is: No Description of paramater Def. Min. Max. --- ------------------------------------------- ---- ---- ----- 1. Max destination list entries 50 1 400 2. Worst quality for auto updates (0 disables) 1 0 255 3. Channel 0 (HDLC) quality 192 0 255 4. Channel 1 (RS232) quality 255 0 255 5. Obsolescence count initializer 6 0 255 6. Obsolescence count min. to be broadcast 5 1 255 7. Auto-update broadcast interval (sec) 3600 0 65535 8. Network "time-to-live" initializer 64 0 255 9. Transport timeout (seconds) 60 5 600 10. Transport maximum tries 3 2 127 11. Transport acknowledge delay (seconds) 3 1 60 12. Transport busy delay (seconds) 180 1 1000 13. Transport requested window size (frames) 4 1 127 14. Congestion control threshold (frames) 4 1 127 15. No-activity timeout (seconds) 900 0 65535 16A. Keyup P-persistance threshold (P/256) 64 0 255 16B. Keyup slot time (10ms increments) 10 0 127 17. Link T1 timeout "FRACK" (seconds) 4 1 15 18. Link tx window size "MAXFRAME" (frames) 7 1 7 19. Link maximum tries (0=try forever) 10 0 127 20. Link T2 timeout (10 ms increment) 100 0 65535 21. Link T3 timeout (10 ms increment) 18000 0 65535 22. AX.25 digipeating (1=enabled 0=disabled) 1 0 1 23. Validate callsigns (1=enabled 0=disabled) 1 0 1 24. Station ID beacons (2=on, 1=active, O=off) 2 0 2 25. CQ Broadcasts (1=enabled 0=disabled) 1 0 1 To change node parameters, use PARMS followed by a series of decimal values in the same sequence described above: PARMS * * 224 * 8 6 LAX:WA6AMT-3} 50 1 224 255 8 6 3600 64 60 3 3 180 4 4 900 16 4 7 10 100 18000 1 1 1 To change a particular parameter, you must enter values for all preceding parameters as well. Entering "*" instead of a value causes the corresponding parameter value to be left unchanged. If fewer values are given then there are parameters, then the trailing parameters are also left unchanged. Before using the PARMS command to change node parameters remotely, you must validate credentials as a control operator by using the SYSOP command ... otherwise, the node parameters are left unchanged. The 26 TheNet parameters are the samee as those for NET/ROM V1.3. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The HOST interface : ------------------------------------------------------------------ The node's host terminal may be usrd to enter both host command lines and information lines. Lines may be up to 256 characters long, including the terminating carriage-return. BS or DEL may be used to delete the last one or more characters typed on a line; CTRL-U or CTRL-X may be used to delete the entire line. Lines that don't start with an ESC are interpreted as information lines. If the host interface is connected, information lines are sent across the connection, otherwise, they are discarded. Host command lines begin with an ESC character (echoed as "*"). Valid host commands are C,D,P,T, and Y. ESC-C - connect : The ESC-C command connects the host terminal to the node. When connected, the host terminal acts like a user that has been uplinked to the node. All ordinary node commands (CONNECT, IDENT,NODES, PARMS, RESET, SYSOP and USERS) may then be entered as information lines. However, the host connection automatically has control operator privileges, so the SYSOP command is unnecessary. NOTE: The host terminal connection (like any uplink is automatically disconnected after 15 minutes of no activity. ESC-D - disconnect : The ESC-D command disconnects the host terminal from the node. NOTE: For unattended operation, be sure to disconnect the host interface with ESC-D ! ESC-P - password string : The ESC-P command sets the "password string" used by the SYSOP command to validate the credentials of control operators. etc ... (please refer to the manual for more details ...) ESC-T - transmitter key-up delay The ESC-T command sets the transmitter key-up delay (TXDELAY), which is the time interval allowed by the node between asserting push-to-talk and starting to transmit data on the HDLC port. ESC- T expects a decimal integer parameter in the range 0-255 which defines the delay in 10-millisecond increments. The default value is 30 (i.e., 300 milliseconds). ESC-T with no parameter displays the current setting. ESC-Y - host connections enable/disable ESC-Y1 enables the host interface for incomming connections. ESC- Y0 disables the host interface for incoming connections (default). ESC-Y displays the current host interface state (0 or 1) NOTE: For unattended operation, be sure to disable the host Part 3 follows ...