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1. Introduction
1.1 What is Amicom ?
1.2 System requirements
1.3 Copyright
1.4 Disk contents
2. Packet radio use
2.1 What is packet radio ?
2.2 What do you need for packet radio ?
2.3 What does Amicom do ?
3. Installation
3.1 The "konfig.ac" configuration file
3.2 The content of the other files
3.3 Standard texts
3.4 Using Amicom with the WA8DED Hostmode
3.5 Using Amicom with the KISS mode, SMACK-mode or Flexnet-CRC-KISS
3.6 Using Amicom with a BayCom modem
4. Using the terminal program
4.1 Screen setup
4.2 Pulldown menus
4.3 Commands
4.4 Description of the TNC commands for BayCom.drv and KISS.drv
4.5 Keyboard layout
4.6 Remote commands
5. Data transmission
5.1 Different kinds of data transfers
5.2 Sending text data
5.3 Sending binary data
6. Special functions
6.1 Autosave
7 Plus link
6.2 BoxCheck
6.3 Monitorsave
6.4 Convers
7. Explanations
7.1 Character set converter
7.2 PCFont
7.3 Explanations concerning the transmission format
7.4 Explanations about the monitor contents
7.5 For further questions
Amicom is a packet radio terminal program for the Amiga, which is used for the wireless data transmissions of radio amateurs. It works with almost any hardware (modem, TNC, multimode controller) and gives you all the comfortable functions that are necessary in packet radio use.
I would like to thank here all the OMs who helped me to develop this software. A special thanks to Daniel, HB9VBC [Hey that's me! :-)] for the English translation of this manual.
Amicom needs an Amiga with a minimum of 512K RAM, Kickstart version 1.2, Workbench version 1.3 and one floppy drive. 1MB RAM and a hard drive is recommended for optimal convenient use. For the connection to the radio, you need one of the following:
AmiCom is freeware. It can be freely copied and given on from OM to OM, but only in the form of a 1:1 copy of the original disk or the original archives. You are only allowed to give it in the UNCHANGED state and for free, all commercial usage is highly prohibited! It is not allowed to give this software for free with other commercial products. A distribution through PD networks is allowed.
All other rights to this software as well as all other files attached to it stay by the author.
The program can only be used for non commercial applications in the radio amateur community, all commercial usage and usage outside ham-radio is prohibited.
The use of this software is at one's own risk, I do not take any responsibilities for any damages caused (loss of data, broken serial chips, ...) by the use of this program. I can't give you a guarantee for a total good function of the software.
The original rights to the BayCom modem stay by Johannes Kneip, DG3RBU. The modem can only be used for non commercial purposes in the radio amateur community. Modems made are only for your personal usage. An advertisement for the software (BayCom) or the programming of a software that uses their hardware, has to get prior approval of the authors.
You can find the following files on the original disk or in the original archives:
| AmiCom/AmiCom | The terminal program itself. |
| AmiCom/AmiCom.info | The icon that goes with it. |
| AmiCom/Anleitung.txt | The german documentation. |
| AmiCom/Anleitung.txt.info | The icon that goes with it. |
| AmiCom/BayCom.drv | The driver for the BayCom modem on the serial port. |
| AmiCom/Documentation.txt | The English documentation that you are reading right now ;-). |
| AmiCom/Documentation.txt.info | The icon that goes with it. |
| AmiCom/greeting.ac | A text file in which a personal greeting message can be stored for each call sign. |
| AmiCom/help.ac | A text file with the german and English help files. |
| AmiCom/history.txt | A text file containing the program history for the different versions. |
| AmiCom/Host.drv | The driver for the WA8DED hostmode. |
| AmiCom/KISS.drv | The driver for KISS mode, SMACK and Flexnet- CRC-KISS. |
| AmiCom/KISS.ini | A text file containing the command sequence which must be sent to the TNC or multimode controller to put it into KISS mode when the program starts. |
| AmiCom/konfig.ac | The main configuration file. The most important informations for the program configuration are contained in this text file. |
| AmiCom/logbook.ac | This text file is only made if you wish, it contains the logbook entries for all your connections. |
| AmiCom/names.ac | This text file is automatically used by AmiCom and contains for each call sign a name up to 20 characters long. Here are only included the call signs and location of most of the german, as well as some neighboring digipeaters and mailboxes. |
| AmiCom/text.ac | In this text file, you can define up to 26 multi line standard texts. These standard can then be sent by pressing a key. Some standard texts already used by the system are already contained in this file. |
| Fonts/AmiCom.font | An IBM Character font, so you can represent on your AMIGA those special IBM block graphic drawings and special characters. |
| Fonts/AmiCom/style | Font information. |
Packet radio is a mean to transfer data (text, images, computer programs, ...) with wireless transmissions between radio amateurs. Transfer rates up to 2400 bit/s transform the digital information into a series of 2 different audible tones and transmits them via the microphone entry. It is very similar to RTTY, for example. Other methods are used for higher speeds. The transmission is established thanks to a special protocol, which is called the "AX.25", an amateur adaptation from the world famous X.25 protocol. With this protocol, you are insured to get an error free transmission because errors are detected and corrected by asking another transmission from the sender. With this protocol you can also use only one channel for multiple users.
The interesting thing about this transmission method is that both stations which are in a packet radio connection, do not need to hear themselves. They can connect through up to 8 other packet radio stations, the data is then always transmitted from one station to the other until it finally reaches destination.
In the early days of packet radio, there were only some individuals talking to each other using this mode. Over time, there came digital relays stations, called digipeaters, which were well placed and had dedicated directional transmissions with other digipeaters (links), mostly on higher amateur bands. Thanks to these digipeaters, it was possible to contact other amateurs with only very little material and power. You can even send news worldwide through mailboxes, or exchange information on all kinds of topics. The research goes on every day, and the experiments of radio amateurs have no limits.
To be qrv in packet radio, you need, apart from your radio station, some hard and software. You have a lot of possibilities:
These special software solutions exist for the C64 (Digicom) and the PC (BayCom) for example. BayCom is a really simple modem, which uses the serial interface of the computer. A special software controls the modem so packet radio can be used with it. This implies that the computer does a lot of the work: since the modem is so simple and easy to make, the computer has to do a lot of calculations for it. Especially for modern multitasking operation systems this is a big problem...
TNCs and multimode controllers give you a lot of different possibilities for connecting to your computer. The simplest way is to use the terminal mode which is available on most devices. This way, the transmission is simply represented in normal ASCII text. You can switch between commands and data with special control characters like CTRL-C or ESCAPE. The only job the terminal has to do is to give to the TNC the commands you type on the keyboard and to display on the monitor the text it receives from the TNC. For this job, you simply use a terminal program which was intended to be used with telephone modems. This method is very easy, but not convenient at all. The conducting of multiconnections or the transmission of binary data is not possible without some major problems.
Another very common way to talk to the TNC is the WA8DED hostmode. The host here is the computer, since he's the only one having the control of everything. The transmission in WA8DED hostmode uses a special binary format. The data is collected into blocks and is transmitted with some other information, so you can distinguish very clearly between channels as well as data, commands, answers, and errors. To be able to use the WA8DED hostmode, you need a specific software on the computer; a simple terminal program is not enough. On the other hand, using such a software is much more comfortable because special amateur radio needs are incorporated into it. These softs often allow you to send data on more than one channel. On a special channel, the monitor, you can always see what is happening on the QRG, etc...
Most TNCs or multimode controllers also support the KISS mode because it is a very simple mode; so it is very easy to implement it. In the KISS mode, the only thing the TNC still does is use it's modem capabilities. The received frames are sent almost untouched to the computer, which also has to send the frames ready to transmit to the TNC. The whole AX.25 protocol is managed by the computer. That's what makes programming the KISS mode so complicating. Even though, it has the advantage that you can also use higher level protocols like TCP/IP.
Since version 2.2 AmiCom also supports SMACK-mode and Flexnet-CRC-KISS. These are extensions of KISS with an 16 bit checksum (CRC) to avoid errors on serial transmission between computer and TNC.
Amicom is a special terminal program for packet radio. Amicom doesn't use one specific hardware configuration because it consists of two different parts: the terminal program itself, and a driver to communicate with the TNC, multimode controller or even specific hardware (like a BayCom modem). Because you are able to exchange these drivers, the program is able to use a lot of different hardware configurations. The drivers that exist for Amicom up to now are:
| Host.drv | A driver that uses a TNC with WA8DED hostmode on the serial port. It works with all TNCs who have a WA8DED or NORD><LINK firmware, or which are compatible with one of these. |
| KISS.drv | A driver that uses TNCs or multimode controllers which support KISS mode. KISS mode is available on almost any device, but has some disadvantages. If the TNC can also use WA8DED hostmode, it should be preferred. If the TNC does support SMACK-mode or Flexnet-CRC-KISS (KISS with CRC) it will be supported by KISS.drv automatically. |
| BayCom.drv | A driver for the BayCom modem (developed by DG3RBU and DL8MBT) connected to the serial port. For the moment, only 1200 Baud is supported, for use with a TCM3105. Since version 2.2 you could use unmodified modems. Because of a software trick there is always +12V on the TXD pin of the serial port. |
Amicom offers a really comfortable user interface with all the functions you need for a comfortable packet radio usage. You can define up to 255 separate different channels. You can have a separate and independent connection on each channel; each connection being able to have a two way data transfer. There is a separate write and reception window with numerous editing functions for each channel. You can switch comfortably between the channels with the function keys. There is a separate window for constant monitoring of the frequency. You can scroll back ANY window and the scroll back size is only limited by your RAM size. Other stations can control Amicom remotely with special remote commands (which start with a "//"). This way, you can start a file transfer remotely from another station, even if the OM isn't there. Amicom uses a data file containing 20 characters for each call sign, which are displayed when you're connected to them and can be sent to them when the station connects. This file contains in the base version most of the german and some neighboring digipeaters and mailboxes. In another text file, you can define up to 26 multi line standard texts which can simply be sent by the press of a key. These standard texts also support some simple macros like date, time, name, callsign, etc... Some standard texts are used by Amicom for special functions. For example when someone connects you, Amicom can send (if you wish) a greeting message. 7plus binary coded files can be stored right at the reception with the correct filename to a drawer you previously defined. A BoxCheck function can alphabetically order by title the messages from your mailbox and you can simply retrieve them with a click of the mouse.
| CONVERTER 0 | There is no character conversion used apart from the conversion of End Of Lines (LF to CR). It is the equivalent of the ANSI character set of the Amiga. |
| CONVERTER 1 | The Amiga character set is changed to the IBM character set before transmitting and the other way round for reception. This concerns mainly the special national characters like for example éèàçöäüßçøµ°. |
| CONVERTER 2 | Like 1, but the german "Umlauts" (öäüßÖÄÜ) are converted to the DIN character set (\[]~|{}). |
| BayCom.drv | Driver for the BayCom modem from DG3RBU and DL8MBT for the serial port. |
| Host.drv | Driver for using a TNC with WA8DED or compatible hostmode firmware. |
| KISS.drv | Driver for all TNCs or multimode controllers with KISS mode, SMACK or Flexnet-CRC-KISS. |
The text you entered is not sent right away to the TNC, but the program waits some time before doing it, this time is defined by INFOTIME. If you type more text before this time is up, then this other text is collected with the first and they are sent together. This function avoids that a lot of small frames are sent out and it gives you some higher data transfer rate.
| MONDECODE OFF | All receieved data will be displayed in the monitorwindow without any change. |
| MONDECODE ON | If the receieved data contains binary AmiCom will display an short message like "<BIN <size> BYTES>". |
| NUMPAD ON | The numeric keypad is used to control some of Amicom's special functions (Home/End/PgUp/PgDn/ScrlL...). |
| NUMPAD OFF | The numeric keypad is used for numbers. Amicom can also be used without numeric keypad, which is especially important for Amiga 600 users... |
| PALETTE 0 0 0 0 | ;background=black |
| PALETTE 1 15 15 0 | ;text color 1=yellow |
| PALETTE 2 0 15 0 | ;text color 2=green |
| PALETTE 3 8 8 8 | ;background color 2=grey |
| UMLAUTE ON | The german "Umlauts" (öäüßÖÄÜ) can be typed in the type-in window. | ||||||
| UMLAUTE OFF | The german "Umlauts" are not allowed and are transformed the following way: ö->oe, ä->ae, ü->ue, ß->ss, Ö->Oe, Ä->Ae, Ü->Ue |
| Text C: | The connect text. This text is sent when you are connected from someone. It can contain for example a greeting or a short station description. |
| Text I: | The info text. It contains the station description and can be asked for by the connecting station with the remote command "//I". |
| Text N: | This text can be asked for with the remote command "//N" and contains for example important news (//News). |
| Text P: | The prompt. It is sent after some remote commands. |
| Text Q: | The quit text. It is sent at the end of a connection when the connection station issues the "//Q" command, and can contain a goodbye message. |
The following macros can be used in the standard texts, which of course will be replaced by Amicom with the actual values:
| %b | The file "greeting.ac" is looked up for a personal greeting of the connecting station and sent. It is used in the connect text (text "C"). |
| %c | The callsign of the connecting station. |
| %d | The date. It will either be sent in the European (DD.MM.YYYY) or the American (MM/DD/YYYY) format, this depends on the setting in the "konfig.ac" file. |
| %m | Your own callsign which was used for MYCALL. |
| %n | The name of the connecting station. If the name is unknown, so it is not in the "names.ac" file, then the call sign is used (like %c). |
| %p | The channel number on which the station is connected. |
| %v | The version of Amicom, to date "2.2". |
| %z | The time if the "HH:MM:SS" format. |
| %? | If the name of the connecting station is known, that is, he is registered in the file "names.ac", then this macro is treated as a comment (;) and ignored. If the name is unknown, then the line starting with a "%?" is sent. You can for instance ask the connecting station to register his name with the remote command "//N" by using this macro in the connect text. |
| %% | The character "%" itself. |
Since Amicom is basically prepared to be used with a TNC with WA8DED Hostmode, it is not necessary to make major modifications to make it work. Just edit the file "konfig.ac" with your favorite text editor (ex: ED) and make the following changes:
Then set the driver you wish to use, for hostmode it's "Host.drv". The keyword DRIVER has to be changed to:
Amicom also needs some paths to know where to put the data. If Amicom is directly in the main directory of a diskette or a Hard Disk, you can leave the following entries untouched:
It's important that the paths always end with a "/" or ":", because Amicom
just adds the file name to this.
If you want to use a text editor with the pull down menus or a command, then
you need to tell Amicom which one and where it is:
If your TNC firmware has no clock (command "K"), then you should change the keyword TNCCLOCK to the following:
If TNCCLOCK is on, Amicom tries to set it with the command "K". This only
gives you an error message if your TNC doesn't have a clock.
If your TNC is connected to the in built serial port of the Amiga, then you
have to use:
You can also put some personal greetings, etc... in the files "greeting.ac" and "text.ac", but this is not necessary for a first test.
| @0 | Auto. KISS.drv uses KISS-mode, after having received an SMACK- or Flexnet-CRC-frame mode will be switched. |
| @1 | KISS. KISS.drv will only use KISS-frames. |
| @2 | SMACK. After KISS.drv has been startet it will be in SMACK-mode, only frames with correct SMACK-CRC will be interpreted. |
| @3 | Flexnet-CRC-KISS. Only frames with correct Flexnet-CRC will be interpreted. |
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | K I S S | O N | R E S T A R T +-RETURN +-CTRL-C +-space +-RETURN
In the file are already included some entries for different TNCs, some which weren't tested by myself. So all you need to do is find the right line, take the semicolon away and leave all the others with semicolons.
You can also put some personal greetings, etc... in the files "greeting.ac" and "text.ac", but this is not necessary for a first test.
Amicom can be used with the Baycom modem from Johannes, DG3RBU and Florian, DL8MBT since the version 2.0. For the time, only modems with 1200 Baud and which use the serial port can be used, for example the plug in modem with TCM3105.
Since version 2.2 all modems could be used without modification for power-supply.
But those who think they can finally sell their TNC should read on. The Baycom modem is a simple modem which transforms the received AF signal (1200 and 2200 Hz) into respective digital HI/LO levels. When sending, the modem makes the correct tones respectively to the level on the serial port and sets the PTT of the transceiver. That means that the software has to control bit by bit the modem and that the modem has no intelligence like a TNC. This is achieved by special interrupt functions which have to be called quite extensively, which is of course very straining for the multitasking system of the Amiga. You also need a very exact timing since the interrupts need to be exactly at the right time and very regular. This is exactly the problem. I have found out that some graphic routines disable the interrupts a short time. This is especially noticeable with the ScrollRaster() function which is used to scroll the screen contents. I have no idea why it is like this. The time the interrupts are disabled depends of the processor you use and not of the use of the Blitter like one could think.
That means that you can only use a Baycom modem with a fast processor. It works perfectly on my Amiga with a 25 MHz MC68030 and even multitasking is still possible. With a 7 MHz MC68000, you will always get receive errors (Reject) when the text is output to the screen, because there is no CPU time left. An Amiga 1200 with a 14 MHz MC68020 will work problem free. But if you use Amicom with other software, you could have some problems. Like stated, the interrupts have to stay free at all times. That's why all programs which disable the interrupts even a little while, will give transmission errors. An example for such programs are old hard disk drivers which disable the interrupts when they access the hard drive. To see if the interrupts are disabled, you can use the function "@DEBUG". When you click on the speaker symbol, the "Baycom.drv" will output a click on audio channel 0 at each interrupt. You should get a constant whistle. Important is the tone when you don't receive a packet (DCD off). Is this tone distorted or even discontinued, then a problem free use with a Baycom modem is not possible. Baycom.drv also uses the timer A in CIA B which is only used for data transfer of the serial port, so it is normally free. Sometimes it is still in use from another application or a program that used the serial port before, this can be fixed by doing a reset. But there are also some programs which just simply take this interrupt without checking if it's free, that's the case of some sound module players. Using such programs with Baycom.drv gives you a system crash. Recognition of the DCD, so if the QRG is free or not, is achieved by checking the modem's data throughput. Because the TCM3105 in the modem also reacts to noise, you have to use the squelch on your transceiver. It is recommended to build a "digital squelch" with an XR2211 because the radio squelch is usually so slow and is the main culprit of reception errors and collisions. The modem will then only react to the AF tones, so your squelch can stay open. The schematics for this are also contained in the file "Baycom.iff".
To use Amicom with a Baycom modem, some changes are necessary. First, open the file "konfig.ac" with your favorite text editor (ex: ED) and make the following changes:
First set your own call sign and name, for example:
Then set the driver you wish to use, for the Baycom modem it's "Baycom.drv". The keyword DRIVER has to be changed to:
Amicom also needs some paths to know where to put the data. If Amicom is directly in the main directory of a diskette or a Hard Disk, you can leave the following entries untouched:
It's important that the paths always end with a "/" or ":", because Amicom
just adds the file name to this.
If you want to use a text editor with the pull down menus or a command, then
you need to tell Amicom which one and where it is:
| AmiCom 2.3 | [01.01.1999 23:59] | [][] |
| 1:discon | 2:discon | 3:discon | 4:discon | 5:discon | 6:discon |
| . |
| . |
| . |
| . |
| 1 T:discon | B0 N0 U0 T0 discon. | 0AB |
| . |
| . |
| . |
| . |
| MH: |
| AmiCom-driver for BayCom-Modem by DG3RBU/DL8MBT. |
| 6 channels installed, 1200 Baud modem. |
On the top line, you can see the screen title line (Amicom 2.2...) in which there is the actual date and time. Then follows the status line 1 (1:discon...), the type in window, the status line 2 (1 T:discon...), the output window, the status line 3 (MH:...) and finally the monitor window.
This line contains the calls of the first 6 connected stations. The active channel has a frame around it and is displayed beneath the status line 1. If data is received on any other channel, then you will see instead of the double point (:) a bigger than symbol (>). You can switch between channels with the function keys or just click on it with the mouse.
The type in window consists of a 40 line buffer of which only a portion is
displayed here. All the text you enter on the keyboard is first stored in
this buffer so you can edit it freely with the cursor keys. You can just
type freely your text, any words that will not fit on the line are just
reported to the next line (wordwrap feature). When you have completed 3
lines, they are automatically sent off. If you want to send them off
before that, just press the Return key. When you move around with the
cursor keys, the lines that belonged together are split and when you press
Return, they will be sent one at a time. Pressing Return will then send
out the line on which the cursor is currently positioned.
"Del" erases the character underneath the cursor "<-" the character before
the cursor and "CTRL+Y" erases the whole line.
If you are at the beginning of a line, you can go into command mode by
pressing "ESCAPE" which will be represented by a "» " at the beginning of
the line. Enter your command for the TNC of Amicom and send it off with
Return. Amicom can differentiate automatically TNC commands from terminal
commands. The size of the type in window can always be changed by clicking
on the status line 2 with the left mouse button (leave the button pushed)
and moving up and down until you like the size, then stop pushing the
button.
| 1 D:DB0ZKA | Digi Augsburg | B0 N0 V0 T0 Info Transf. | 1AB |
| <-----1-----> | <----------2---------> | <-------------3------------> | <----4----> |
All received data and informations from the program are shown in the output window. Following colors and style are used for easier comprehension:
| Text color 1: | This data was received or output from the program himself and are for the user. |
| Text color 2: | This data came from the user or from the program and were sent off. |
| Normal: | This is normal received or typed in text. |
| Bold: | This text came from the program, for example error messages or output to a remote command. |
| Cursive: | This text came from the TNC or the driver, for example status display. |
You can scroll back/fwd in the output window with the keys "PgUp", "PgDn",
respectively "shift+cursor up" and "shift+cursor down". With "Home" and
"End", respectively "ctrl+cursor up" and "ctrl+cursor down" you can go
directly to the buffer beginning/end. How far you can scroll depends on
your BUFFERS setting. While you scroll back, the TNC is not emptied, so
always go back to the buffer end with "End".
If you want to read some text you could stop the output by pressing the
"ScrL"-key, pressing it once again will continue the textoutput.
For a comfortable textreading exists the TextView-option, it will be startet
with the pulldownmenu "Switch/ViewText" or Amiga-Right+"V". It works similar
to the texviewer "more". Is it switched on AmiCom stops the textoutput after
each complete page. If you press now the key "PrtSc" AmiCom will display
the next page.
If you click separate words in the output window, they'll appear in the
type in window and can be edited. For those who want to use bigger textblocks
exists the clipboard. If you press "Amiga-right+X" you will enter textmark-
mode. Now you can mark blockstart and -end by klicking into the outputwindow.
Pressing "Amiga-right+L" puts the marked text into clipboard so that it could
be used for further functions (Send, Save...). Cou could cancel textmark
if you press "Amiga-right+X" second or define an another textblock by marking
blockstart and -end new.
Because clipboard uses memory you should close it if you don't need it.
| R7 TEST.7PL | 3450/9876 | (34%), | t=5 min |
| <------1------> | <------2-----> | <-----3----> | <----4----> |
Points 3,4 and the total size will be missing if the total size of the data is unknown.
On the bottom of the screen you can see the monitor window. You can constantly monitor the activity of the QRG in this window. You can switch to whole screen with the HELP key. Once in the whole monitor screen, you can also send out unnumbered info on the frequency (CQ calls, etc...), or see the scroll back monitor buffer similarly to the output window scroll back buffer. If you press HELP again, you will switch back to the last active QSO channel. You can choose between two monitor window sizes with shift+HELP. You can also set the monitor window size by pulling on the status line 3 with the mouse.
Program menu:
Editor (E) Calls the specified editor in "konfig.ac" with
"RUN >NIL: <name>".
Shell (S) Opens a new shell with "RUN >NIL: NewShell".
Quit (Q) Quits the program.
File menu:
Read File The received data can be saved to (hard)disk this way.
You can only read one file at a time. While reading,
the autosave function is off.
Send File Sends a file from a (hard)disk.
Send Clipboard Sends the content of the clipboard.
Stop Reading The file which Amicom was saving to, is closed.
Stop Rending Stops the transmission of a file.
Delete File Deletes a file name, like the command "Delete" in shell.
Function menu:
Connect (C) A call sign is asked for. Amicom attempts to connect
this call.
Disconnect (D) The connection is ended. Please wait until the
connection is really finished!
C. Message (T) You can enter a short message that will be sent upon
connection. (max 80 chars, e.g.: "Moment pse, just have a
600 ohm call, "be right back"...)
Undo (U) Amicom shows all the received messages of the type
"Connected to..." or "Reconnected to..." and actualizes
the logbook. The status line will also contain the
actual call. If for example you should receive a "false
message" from a BBS, you can undo it with this command.
The logbook will be changed too.
BoxCheck/Clear The BoxCheck buffer is cleared and the memory is freed.
This is done automatically when you leave the mailbox.
BoxCheck/Show (B) Shows the contents of the BoxCheck buffer. You can
leave this mode by pressing ESCAPE.
BoxCheck/
ReadNext (N) Sends a read command ("R") for the next chosen message.
Rec. Buffer/Clear Clears the receive buffer and output window.
Rec. Buffer/
Mark Block (X) Defines a block in the receive buffer. After selecting this
item you could define the block by klicking on the
start- and stop-point in the outputwindow.
Rec. Buffer/
Buffer -> Clipboard After the definition of the block you could put it into
the clipboard for further actions (save, send, print...).
Clipboard/Clear Clears the entire clipboard and frees memory.
Clipboard/Save Saves the clipboard on disc.
Clipboard/Print Prints the clipboard.
Clear Editbuffer Clears the entire editbuffer.
Printer/On (P) Everything that is received will be sent to the
program's internal 64K printer buffer and printed. This
buffer is used because you'll receive the data faster than
your printer can print it.
Printer/Off (O) Turns the print function off. The printer buffer is
cleared.
Printer/Break Printing is immediately stopped and the printer buffer
is cleared.
Standardtext (-) After having chosen this function, or by pressing
rightAMIGA+"-", you have to type a key (A-Z) to send out
that key's specific standard text.
Monitor menu:
Save/On Starts the monitor save function.
Save/Off Stops this function.
Mon. H. /Show (M) Shows the big monitor heard list. This list contains up
to 30 heard stations.
Mon. Heard/Clear Deletes the big and small monitor heard list.
Switch menu:
Some functions can be turned on/off with this menu.
The following switches are seperate for each channel:
Convers Converse mode on/off.
Converter Choose the character converter (off, IBM or IBM/DIN).
Umlaute "Umlauts" on/off.
ViewText (V) Turns the ViewText-option.
The following switches are used global for the whole program:
AutoSave Turns the autosave function on/off.
Bell Turns bell on/off when connected or "//RI".
BoxCheck Turns the BoxCheck function on/off.
CText Sets connect text on/off.
Echo Switches the echo-function on or off.
MHeard Sets monitor heard list on/off.
PCFont Uses the IBM character set (Amicom.font)
Remote Sets remote on/off. ("//XXXX" commands on/off)
Sound Turns noise on/off when receiving data or CTRL-G.
If the cursor is in the type in window at the beginning of a line, you can switch to command mode by typing ESCAPE. The command mode is represented by a "" at the beginning of the line. You can then enter your command for the TNC or the terminal and send it by pressing RETURN. The differentiation of terminalm or TNC commands is made by Amicom. Here is a list of all the terminal commands. Which TNC commands can be used depends on the driver you use or of your TNC firmware. A list of commands for KISS.drv or Baycom.drv follows in the next chapter.
Each command is a keyword followed by one or more parameters which can be a number, a character chain, or a switch. A switch is made up of the words "EIN", "AUS", "ON" or "OFF". If the character chain contains spaces, it should be set between quotation marks, e.g.: 'df0:data', '"This is a test."'. If the command is sent without a parameter, the actual value of this parameter will be displayed.
When using the WA8DED-hosmode all TNC-commands and the whole protocol and
transmittercontrol is worked by teh TNC-firmware.
That is why when using "Host.drv" the TNC commands are only dependant on your
TNC firmware since "Host.drv" directly sends the commands unchanged to the
TNC. For further informations look into your TNC-documentation.
By "BayCom.drv" and "KISS.drv", the TNC commands are treated at the
driver's level, just like the whole AX.25 protocol, a part from the status
and error reports and the monitor output. The usage is so very similar as
to using WA8DED hostmode firmware. If a command is used without
parameters, it's actual value will be displayed.
Here is a list of TNC commands for the "BayCom.drv" and "KISS.drv". Those
marked with a star (*) are valid for each channel separately. When you
disconnect, the values of the channel 0 will be taken again. This is why
the most important settings have to be made on channel 0!
This parameter is only used for DAMA activity, it will be automatically
detected and used by the driver. With the parameter "B", you can set the DAMA
time-out in seconds, the default setting is 180 (3 minutes). If during this
time, Amicom hasn't received a poll from the DAMA master, Amicom will
switch back to CSMA usage (normal usage).
Since version 2.2 AmiCom will change this timer automatically depending on
the time between 2 polls from the DAMA master.
Sets a connection to the defined station. You can also specify a route with up to 8 digipeaters. If a connection is already established to this station on this channel, then the new route will be used instead and the link rebuilt. On channel 0 (monitor) you can define the unproto (UI frames) destination call with this function (e.g. "C CQ").
Attention: When you are working via an DAMA-node you are only allowed to connect the DAMA-master (node) or via the DAMA-master! When you connect an another user directly it will disturb the whole operation on the frequency.
Sets the value of the timer 1 (frack) in 1/100 of seconds. If a frame has been sent out to the other station and if he hasn't acknowledged during this laps of time, then the same frame will be resent (poll). Since version 2.2 this parameter only sets the start-value of the timer 1. The actual value will be calculated using the average response-time of the other station. IN DAMA-mode this parameter will be ignored.
Sets your own callsign. This setting should absolutely be made on channel 0 because the other channels will take these values after a disconnect.
Q <call> Searches for the station <call> directly and on the configured search route (Q +).
Q <call> <route> Searches for the station <call> on the route <route>. The <route> can contain up to 8 digipeaters. If <route> is specified then the configured one is not used.
Q + <route> Sets the route <route> to the search routes. You can have up to 8 search routes, each containing up to 8 digipeaters.
Q - <route> Takes the <route> out of the search route.
TXI 12, TXR 6 (50.0%), RXI 20
TXI is the number of transmittet info-frames.
TXR is the number of retransmissions of info-frames and retransmissions in percent (percent=TXR*100/TXI). In this example this means a very bad link...
RXI is the number of receieved info-frames.
| F1...F10 | Switches between the channels 1-10. |
| SHIFT+F1...F10 | Switches between the channels 11-20. |
| CTRL+F1...F10 | Switches between the channels 21-30. |
| HELP | Switches to the monitor channel (channel 0). When you press HELP again, you go back to the channel you left (QSO channel). |
| SHIFT+HELP | Switches between the two alternative monitor sizes at the bottom of the screen. |
| ESCAPE | If the cursor is at the beginning of a line, then you can enter TNC or terminal commands by pressing ESCAPE. If a requester is beeing displayed you could close it by pressing ESCAPE. If AmiCom awaits an user input ESCAPE is like selecting "Cancel". |
| DEL | Erases in the type in window the character that is under the cursor. |
| SHIFT+DEL | Erases all characters from the corsor position till end of the line. |
| <- | Erases the character just before the cursor. |
| SHIFT+<- | Erases all characters from the beginning of the line till one character before cursor position. |
| CTRL-B | With this you could insert spaces between the words in the actual line till it reaches maximum lenght. If you do this with more than 1 line you get a beautiful textblock. |
| CTRL-C | Witth this you could center the actual line. Good for headlines... |
| CTRL-Y | Erases the complete line in the type in window. |
| RETURN | Stops the entry on a line and sends the command or the text out to the TNC. Amicom then jumps to the next line. If AmiCom awaits an user-input in an requester then RETURN is like selecting "OK". |
| SHIFT+RETURN | AmiCom jumps to the next line but the text will not be sent (like in the wordwrap function). With this you could join up to 3 lines and send them together. |
| CURSOR UP | Moves the cursor in the type in window up one line. |
| CURSOR DOWN | Moves the cursor in the type in window down one line. |
| CURSOR LEFT | Moves the cursor in the type in window back one character. |
| CURSOR RIGHT | Moves the cursor in the type in window forward one character. |
| SHIFT+UP or PgUp | Scrolls back one page in the output window. The output is stopped until you go to the end of the buffer again. |
| SHIFT+DOWN or PgDn | Scrolls forward one page in the output window. |
| CTRL+UP or Home | Jumps to the beginning of the buffer. |
| CTRL+DOWN or End | Jumps to the end of the buffer, incoming text will be displayed again. |
| ScrL on numeric pad | The output will be stopped until SclL is pressed again, like this you can read the received text. |
Keyboard layout in the BoxCheck buffer: | |
| F1...F10, | Switches between the channels like in normal mode. |
| SHIFT+F1..F10, | If the key of the current displayed channel will be |
| CTRL+F1...F10 | pressed then AmiCom closes the BoxCheck buffer and switches to normal display. |
| HELP | Switches to the monitor channel (channel 0). When you press HELP again, you go back to the channel you left with the BoxCheck buffer. |
| SHIFT+HELP | Switches between the two alternative monitor sizes at the bottom of the screen. |
| ESCAPE | Goes back to normal mode. BoxCheck display will be ended. If a requester is beeing displayed you could close it by pressing ESCAPE. If AmiCom awaits an user-input ESCAPE is like selecting "Cancel". |
| CURSOR UP | Scrolls back one line in the buffer. |
| CURSOR DOWN | Scrolls forward one line in the buffer. |
| SHIFT+UP or PgUp | Scrolls back one page in the buffer. |
| SHIFT+DOWN or PgDn | Scrolls forward one page in the buffer. |
| CTRL+UP or Home | Jumps to buffer start. |
| CTRL+DOWN or End | Jumps to buffer end. |
| F | You can define a search string for which Amicom will search through the BoxCheck buffer. |
| R | Goes back to normal operation and sends a read command for all (!) selected messages. It is better to close the BoxCheck buffer and read the messages one by one with rightAMIGA+N. |
| SPACE | The top most message is selected. Pressing SPACE again will un mark it. All marked messages can then be read automatically. |
Amicom can be remotely controlled if you activated this feature (REMOTE
ON). The remote commands start with a "//" at the beginning of a line,
this is to differentiate them from the normal QSO text. Remote commands
will be ignored from mailboxes, that's why you have to set the entries in
the file "names.ac" correctly!
The following remote commands are supported by Amicom:
| "//CHAR 0" | Switches the charset converter off (Amiga charset, ANSI). |
| "//CHAR 1" | Switches to IBM charset. AmiCom does now try to change all characters which are contained in IBM charset as well in Amiga charset so that they are displayed correctly. This concerns most of the national special characters like the german umlaute (ae ue ue...). |
| "//CHAR 2" | Swithes to IBM charset but the german umlaute are transformed to DIN charset. With this charset you couldn't use all characters (cornered brackets, backslash...). |
Connect Status de HB9VBC, 02.05.1994 14:10:30:
| 1 | > | B: | HB9IAP-8 via HB9IAC | 02.05.1994 | 14:00:30 | Digi | Geneva |
| <1> | <2> | <3> | <-----------4-----------> | <----5----> | <----6----> | <----7----> | <----8----> |
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! ! ! If the CRC is not correct the receiver must delete the received file or ! ! file fragment because it contains an error! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Most stations and mailboxes can only transfer files as text. To bypass this problem, there are several programs which can transfer binary files to text. The most common in the Amateur radio world is 7Plus. A 7Plus file transfer goes like this: Let's say you want to transfer a file that is called "test". You first have to transform it to a text file with 7Plus. You write the following command in the shell:
Most mailboxes are only capable of transferring text files. If you want to
transfer binary files, you have to transform them first to text. The most
common packet radio binary coder is "7Plus" from Axel Bauda, DG1BBQ. 7Plus
will code automatically binary files to small text files. If there was a
transmission error somewhere, 7Plus allows you to transfer only the
missing/destroyed part. It is actually a very practical way to transfer
files, but the saving of the multiple parts is a cumbersome chore.
The autosave function of Amicom will do this job for you. With the
"AUTOSAVEDIR" keyword in the "konfig.ac" file, you can define to which
directory the files have to be saved to. If Amicom receives a line which
starts with " go_7+", " go_text." or " go_info.", it will automatically
stop using the character set converter and save the file with the right
name (*.7pl, *.pxx, *.err, *.cor or *.inf). It will close the file and
start using the character set converter again after having received a
" stop_text." or " stop_info.". If the file already exists (e.g. "TEST.7PL"),
Amicom will change the name (e.g. "TEST.7PL_TRY_2") to avoid erasing the old
file.
If AmiCom receives more ERR-files (e.g. "TEST.ERR") it will change the
filename like the way 7Plus expects it when there are more parts (e.g.
"TEST.E01" up to "TEST.EFF"). So you now can easy join the files with
"7Plus -j TEST.ERR" and create an COR-File with "7Plus TEST.ERR". with this
correction-file all stations should be able to correct their errors.
If AmiCom receives more COR-files (e.g. "TEST.COR") it will change the
filename to "TEST.C01" up to "TEST.CFF". When an error appears when
decoding the file 7Plus will now try all parts to get the missing lines.
Most mailboxes have a check function which will show you the message titles
since your last login. Like this you can check in by regular intervals to
see if there is anything new of interest. But the mailboxes usually
receive hundreds of messages a day which are listed in their order of
reception. Having to look through this list is already a cumbersome task
but then you have to send several read commands if you found some messages
of interest. This is especially the case with FBB style mailboxes, because
the numbers are usually made up of 5 or 6 digits.
The BoxCheck function of Amicom will make this task much easier for you.
If Amicom receives a check or list line, it will automatically put it into
a buffer and sort the line by the TO field and by alphabetical order. The
contents of this buffer can be seen with the "Function/BoxCheck/Show"
function or by pressing Right-Amiga+B. Then you can select the interesting
messages by clicking on them with the mouse or the space bar. ESCAPE
leaves the BoxCheck buffer but it's contents is still there. To send a
read command for the next selected entry, you simply type Right-Amiga+N or
use the "Function/BoxCheck/Next" function.
The function "Function/BoxCheck/Clear" will erase the BoxCheck buffer's
contents on this channel. The same is true if you disconnect from the
mailbox.
Problems:
The BoxCheck function needs to receive a special type of line format from
the BBS. That's why this function only works with BayCom and DieBox
mailboxes (command "Check") as well as F6FBB mailboxes (command "List").
Because the FBB type mailboxes have sometimes some differences, I cannot
guarantee you that it will work with all of them. I have tested it with
FBB-5.15.
All recognized lines are automatically save to the BoxCheck buffer without
checking if the line has already been received, so please clear the buffer
before doing another check or list. This is done automatically when you
disconnect from the BBS - unfortunately also when you just get shortly
disconnected from the mailbox...
Sometimes you can see in your monitor that when an interesting message has
been written by an OM, the evening at prime time, a lot of other OMs are
reading his message. This is actually a waste of time because it would be
much easier to have just one OM read the message and the others read it
along in their monitors. Sometimes it can be necessary to save the
complete monitor channel for software test, etc...
I have implemented the monitor save function into Amicom for this reason.
This function will save the whole monitor or only a specified part of it.
You can limit it to specific frames or even save the whole QSO from one
station to another.
You access the monitor save function with the menu "Monitor/Save/On".
Amicom then opens a requester in which you can set everything. You first
have to define the fm- and to- calls if you want to save a specific QSO:
Only fm [ ] to [ ] -> The whole monitor will be saved.
Only fm [HB9IAP ] to [ ] -> Only the frames which are sent by
HB9IAP will be saved.
Only fm [ ] to [HB9VBC ] -> Save all that goes to HB9VBC, doesn't
matter from whom.
Only fm [HB9IAP ] to [HB9VBC ] -> Save only the frames from HB9IAP to
HB9VBC.
In case you don't want to save all the frames, you can select which ones
you wish to save:| Only Info-Frames: | These frames (I) contain the actual data. |
| Only Unnumbered-Info: | These frames (UI) contain also data but are not related to a QSO. |
| Only Supervisory-Frames: | These are control frames which control the connection (RR, REJ, RNR, SABM,...). |
In packet radio could only exist connections between 2 different stations but
sometimes you would like to chat with more than 1 OM. The AX.25 protocol
does not allow this, because of this AmiCom has an "convers function".
Every channel, expect monitor, could be switched into convers mode with
pulldown menu, command or remote command. All received text on an convers
channel will be sent to all other channesl in convers mode, extended with
call and name of the station which sent this text.
The user of the terminal could also join the convers. He only must enter
his text on any channel which is switched into convers mode.
Charset could be changed in convers mode too using the remote command
"//char ...".
A computer is only a machine which can handle numbers. So the computer can
also display text characters, they are also saved as numbers: each
character has a specific number for it, A is 65, B is 66, etc... This
serie was defined in the ASCII code (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange), but only for the characters from 0-127. These first 128
codes contain all the control codes and characters for English. For the
characters from 128-255, no standard has been set and so more than one is
used; each computer maker having it's own. This range contains mostly less
used graphic characters and special national characters like the German
umlauts .
In the amateur radio community, all kinds of computers are used and so all
kinds of different character sets. In order to avoid confusion and
problems, Amicom has two conversion tables which can be used before
transmitting and when receiving: