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Last Updated 07/25/10
WB6YNM
My Callsign
Packet Radio is Still Alive
XPWare for Windows is now FREEWARE.
You can go to
http://www.glaswerks.com/xpware/
and download the program and the .exe file to register it free. The new version, XPWIN 1.3.2 is the new XPWIN.EXE that can be copied over the same file name after you have installed XPWIN 1.2.8b. Not sure how long KF7XP will keep the web page up.
Get it while you can. This is the only Packet software that I have found that
works well with Windows XP and Windows 95/98SE.
Note: There
is a glitch in XPWare for Windows. If you run a KPC-3 or KPC-3P and have
firmware so you can activate a K-Net node, XPWare crashes. It works fine as long
as no K-Net node is activated. Also, XPWare for Windows puts the XPWIN.INI file
is in the C:\WINDOWS folder
Packet Net every Sunday at 8:00PM on 145.050 MHz in Central California.
If you get a chance please check in using the unproto mode. It is easy to do. Set the KaNode you hear best as the first node in the string. Then add KaNodes to the string that hear each other. There is a table below that shows which nodes hear each other. Here is what I use from Bethel Island:
Unproto Al via KTUO,WOODY,KLIVE,KBERR,KRDG
I can be heard from Modesto to Redding.
Here is a sample text if you volunteer to be Net Control:
QST QST QST Sunday Night Packet Net. Note: After Roll Call, be sure and ask for a volunteer for next week's Net Control. Helpful Hint For KPC-3 Users: |
Central California Packet Net Roster 7/25/10 Stations that Answered Roll Call (x) Roll call is as follows: >>----> Past Net Control Stations) WB6AGR Joe in Modesto x (Net Control 7/25/10) WA6VPJ Dan in Rancho Cordova KJ6M John in Millbrae K6JAC Jack in Woodland WB6YNM Al on Bethel Island x (Net Control 8/1/10) K6JRO John in Modesto x KI6NCU Matt in Tuolumne AE6LA Ken in Arnold x W2WRX Carl in Ceres x N3CKF Joe in Fremont x KI6SEJ Scott in Freemont x KJ6ART Spencer in Turlock >>----> Stations Answering Recent Roll Call AL7LS Bruce in Las Vegas, NV N6WXO Jim in Gardenerville, NV N6QDY David in El Dorado Hills K6WLS Ken in Woodland KI6UDZ Bob in Foster City x KG6SJT Greg in Davis N6PAA Ron in Walnut Grove x KI6ART John in Arnold x KI6KGN Trevor in Fremont N6IHT Mike in Mountain View x WA7OEF Chuck in West San Jose KD6NNA Jesse in Union City KF6ANX Todd in Livermore K6IXA Grady in Atwater x KF6IDK Ken in Merced KF6FPU Gary in Livermore KE6KYI Grayson in Groveland WB6OVH Gordy in Fair Oaks KI6UKZ Bruce in Berkeley N6WBL Jason in Rancho Cordova W6KGO Carl in Hayward x KG6YHH Doc in Meadow Vista KG6CFQ Paul in Placerville K6RDJ Darren in Turlock KG6JXZ Pat in Turlock KL0AF Kevin in Pittsburg KF6DQU John in Rough & Ready K6KQR Tom in Modesto W6BJD Bill in Rancho Cordova AF6UJ Pat in Atwater W6TUK John in Foster City x KG6BAJ Bill in Nevada City KI6YQW Pat in ? x 15 Stations Answered Roll Call Any Late, Missed, or New Checking In? >>----> Stations that have checked in at least once. KI6TZF Mike in Hayword KG4GWB Jack in Yuba City KC6QLV Tim in Hayword KE6ZNQ Dale in Lodi KG6SJG Dale in ? KI6YQW Pat in Modesto K6RF Hal in Oakdale K6RZR Brian in Redding K6KGO Steve at Lake Almanor K6KSS Steve in Redding K6MAB Miriam in Copperopolis K6THM Tom in Modesto K6WEB Peter in Foster City KB6PNT Dave in Mt Aukum KB6RTO Brett in Oakdale KB6TR Terry in Oroville KB6USJ Mike in Copperopolis KC6WIE Bud in Woodland KD6NIG Josh in Stockton KF6DQU John in Rough & Ready KF6FIR Ed in Modesto KG6FEY Preston in Copperopolis KG6FFK Chuck in Meadow Vista KG6GNI Bill in Woodland KG6KPR Wayne in Oakdale KI6CDH Dan in Roseville KI6JJW Steve in El Sobrante KI6KQR Tom in Modesto KI6PDZ Erika in Woodland N6KLB Rick in Woodland N6YP Frank in Woodside ND6S Ray in Sutter Creek NI6Z Carl in Tuolumne NV6V Andy in Arnold W6ION Ione in Woodland WS6P Sam in West Point K3UG Barry in Copperopolis WY6E Steggy in Tracy |
|
Different Node Types - Network Node (K-Net) and a KaNode. IMPORTANT: Most KPC-3 or KPC-3P TNC's that have a K-Net node also have a KaNode running in the
same TNC at the same time. They must have different names, for example these are both in the BERRY KPC-3P TNC. Note: The easiest way to determine if
a Node is a K-Net or KaNode is
Naming convention: In most cases we have been making the name of the KaNode node start with the letter (K) followed by the first 3 or 4 letters of the K-Net node name.
-------------Connected Communications------------- Example: I typed the word Test WB6YNM>AL,KTUO,KBERR,WOODY,KLIVE: <UI>:{F0} Example: The word (testing) was sent Unproto. WB6YNM>AL,KTUO,KCORN,WOODY,KBERR: <UI>:{F0} The first line shows my
callsign, name and the KaNode string. The next two lines show that KTUO repeated the message. The next two lines show that KBERR repeated the message. I did not hear the message from WOODY to KBERR but it existed. |
Table for Selecting a Working Relay String of KaNodes
| KTUO | KMOC | KBERR | KBANN | WOODY | KCORN | BULN | K6JAC-7 | KPLUM | KLIVE | KRDG | KBETH | |
| KTUO | - | G | G | G | G | G | ||||||
| KMOC | G | - | G | G | G | G | G | |||||
| KBERR | G | G | - | G | G | G | G | G | G | G | G | G |
| KBANN | G | - | G | G | G | G | ||||||
| WOODY | G | G | G | - | G | G | G | |||||
| KCORN | G | G | - | M | G | |||||||
| BULN | G | G | G | G | M | G | ||||||
| K6JAC-7 | G | - | ||||||||||
| KPLUM | G | G | M | - | M | |||||||
| KLIVE | G | G | G | M | - | G | ||||||
| KRDG | G | G | G | - | ||||||||
| KBETH | G | G | G | G | G | G | M | G | - |
G =Good Path
M=Medium Quality Path
Blank=Poor or No Path
Example: Suppose KTUO is strong at your location. Then you would select a KaNode
string: KTUO, to either KBERR or WOODY.
So a good string starting with KTUO would be: KTUO,WOODY,KBERR,KCORN and
this would be heard from
Modesto all the way to Redding.
Nevada-Sierra County
A.R.E.S. Ham Radio Forum. There is a Packet Radio thread.
The Packet Stations operate full time as nodes and digipeaters so that they can relay messages for other Ham operators who wish to use them and need the signal relay capability to reach a distant station. More than one station can be used to relay messages and may be linked in a relay chain.
FREQUENCIES.... Packet radio operates on the 2 Meters band or Very High Frequency (VHF) at a 145.05 MHz, 145.03 MHz, 144.91 MHz & 144.93 MHz frequencies, and are similar to the internet, but primarily text and at a much slower transfer rate of 1200 baud. Both my Home and Cabin stations also have High Frequency (HF) transceivers that operate on the 3 to 30 MHz Ham bands on Phone and Morse Code.
Contact
Information for K-Net Packet Stations on 145.050 MHz
and the Nodes in Central California:
Station MBX Network Node KaNode Location Call Call Node Call Call =========================================================================== WB6YNM WB6YNM-1 KBETH Bethel Island Base Sta WA6QPU-4 WBOX KTRAC Tracy WB6YNM MBOX MOC WB6YNM-11 KMOC Moccasin Peak--------------------------------------------------------------------------- K6JAC-6 BBOX BERRY K6JAC-4 KBERR Berryessa Peak --------------------------------------------------------------------------- N6QDY-9 QDY05 PLACE N6QDY-5 SWANS Placerville --------------------------------------------------------------------------- W6PJD W6PJD-1 ELDOR W6PJD-3 SSPGS El Dorado County --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WD6EZC WD6EZC-1 PINOLE WD6EZC-5 CC4CC Pinole --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KD6NIG KD6NIG-1 STCK KD6NIG-5 SSTCK South Stockton --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KG6KPR KG6KPR-1 ESCL KG6KPR-5 ESCLN Escalon --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KG6WOO KG6WOO-4 PLUMAS KG6WOO-5 KPLUM Quincy --------------------------------------------------------------------------- W6JEX W6JEX-4 CORN W6JEX-5 KCORN Corning --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K6RDJ-9 BUBOX BULL K6RDJ-5 KBULL Mt Bullion --------------------------------------------------------------------------- K6TUO-4 TBBS TUO K6TUO-5 KTUO Calaveras County --------------------------------------------------------------------------- N6ZX N6ZX-1 WBAY N6ZX-5 WOODY Woodside, CA --------------------------------------------------------------------------- W2WRX W2WRX-1 CERES W2WRX-5 KCERE Ceres, CA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
WR6C SBOX SUGAR WR6C-5 KSUG NE of Sacramento @ 2100'--------------------------------------------------------------------------- KI6NCU KI6NCU-1 PONDER KI6NCU-5 KPOND Tuolumne, CA --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KF6FPU-4 LBOX LIVER KF6FPU-5 KLIVE East of Livermore --------------------------------------------------------------------------- KF6DQU-3 JOHN-1 BANNER KF6DQU-9 KBANN Banner Peak -------------------------------------end-----------------------------------
Give Packet Radio a try.... A PC or Laptop, TNC, and a 2m HT and you can enjoy the fun of Packet Radio.
Connecting to your Packet Radio station from the Internet
It is possible to read your packet MBX from anywhere in the world that you can connect to the Internet. First, you will need the PuTTY.exe program. It works very much like the Telnet.exe program that comes with Windows, and it does not have the buffer over run problem that Telnet.exe has. Here is where you can download PuTTY.exe. It is about 350 Kb in size. Download PuTTY.exe here. Download Site Here. Once you have the file, double click on PuTTY.exe and it will fire up a screen. If you want to connect to your packet station in the Bay Area of California, put wh6io.dyndns.org in the Host Name Blank and click on Open button. It will ask you for your ID, which is your callsign. Your password will be your first name. Then connect with C BENCA. From there you can connect to any of the packet stations on 145.050 Mhz. For example suppose you wanted to connect to BERRY. The command is C AX3 BERRY. Once connected to BERRY, you can connect to any node in the node table listed at BERRY and connect to that node that will connect to your MBX. Or, you can connect to a station for a kbd-kbd QSO. Here is a hidden feature, or at least if was hidden from me. If you want to send message that contains a long file, copy it to the clipboard. Then type in the address you want to send it to. Type in the Subject. When you get the Enter Message response, merely RIGHT CLICK on the cursor in the PuTTY window and Voila it pastes in the message.

Here is a screen shot of connecting to gvcity.ampr.org.
When you run it, click on Open.
Network Nodes on 145.05 144.93 144.91 MHz
| Packet Net
Work Nodes in Central California Node Route Tables as of 4/6/2009 The listings show most of the nodes one can connect to. |
||
| BERRY:K6JAC-4} Routes: 1 WA6YNG-1 193 3! 1 KF6DQU-4 192 13! 1 KG6KPR-5 192 5! 1 KG6WOO-5 192 4! 1 KD6NIG-5 192 2! 1 K6TUO-5 193 13! 1 WD6EZC-5 192 4! 1 KF6DQU-8 192 8! 1 KG6BAJ-2 180 5! 1 W6JEX-5 192 6! 1 N6ZX-5 192 4! 1 K7WWA-8 190 3! 1 K7WWA-6 190 2! 1 W2WRX-5 192 1! 1 N1OES-4 180 13! 1 N7LPT-1 160 5! 1 WG6D-8 192 2! 1 W7TA-4 121 0! 1 WR6C-5 192 10! 1 W6PJD-3 0 0! 1 KI6NCU-5 180 1! 1 W6HMT-7 192 1! 1 WA6QPU-8 193 7! 1 KF6FPU-5 192 2! 1 WH6IO-7 120 0 1 WA6TOW-1 120 1 |
WBAY:N6ZX-5} Routes: 1 WA6QPU-8 192 0! 1 WH6IO-7 192 0! 1 K6JAC-4 194 31! 1 KG6BAJ-2 140 0! 1 K6TUO-5 192 7! 1 KI6NCU-5 190 0! 1 KD6NIG-5 0 0! 1 KG6KPR-5 190 5! 1 K7WWA-6 0 0! 1 N7LPT-1 0 0! 1 KG6WOO-5 0 0! 1 WG6D-8 0 0! 1 K7WWA-8 0 0! 1 W6PJD-3 0 0! 1 WR6C-5 192 15! 1 W2WRX-5 0 0! 1 WD6EZC-5 192 7! 1 KI6UKZ-5 192 0! 1 KF6DQU-4 192 12! |
|
| RDG:WA6YNG-1} Routes: 0 BERRY:K6JAC-4 190 32 0 SUGAR:WR6C-5 190 22 0 ROUGH:KF6DQU-4 190 19 0 WOLF:N1OES-4 190 20 0 CAHTO:K7WWA-8 190 4 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 190 1 0 CORN:W6JEX-5 190 22 |
CAHTO:K7WWA-8} Routes: 0 KA6ROM-1 192 0 ! 0 SKUNK:K7WWA-6 192 4 ! 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 192 10 ! 0 KA6ROM-2 192 0 ! 0 KA6ROM-3 192 0 ! 0 KB6ZJS-2 192 0 ! 0 K6TAM-1 192 0 ! 0 BERRY:K6JAC-4 192 18 ! 0 BANNER:KF6DQU-8 192 8 0 TRACY:WA6QPU-5 192 3 |
SKUNK:K7WWA-6} Routes: 0 CAHTO:K7WWA-8 192 5 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 192 10 0 BERRY:K6JAC-4 192 18 |
| FOT:KB6ZJS-2} Routes: 0 EKA:KA6ROM-2 10 1 0 KLMTH:KA6ROM-3 10 1 0 GBV:KA6ROM-1 10 1 0 CAHTO:K7WWA-8 10 1 |
YRGTN:N7LPT-1 Routes: 0 LASSEN:K6LRC-1 192 5 0 RNO:W7TA-4 192 5 0 TRACY:WA6QPU-5 192 20 0 PVNPK:N7PLQ-1 192 3 |
YREKA:KJ6RA-3} Routes: 0 KENO:K7DDI-2 192 31 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 192 31 0 KLMTH:KA6ROM-3 192 6 |
| RNO:W7TA-4} Routes: 0 LASSEN:K6LRC-1 192 4 0 YRGTN:N7LPT-1 192 4 0 BENCA:WH6IO-7 192 1 |
LASSEN:KJ6MD-2} Routes: 0 ALM:K6LRC-2 100 1 0 PLUMAS:KG6WOO-5 100 1 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 100 1 0 RNO:W7TA-4 100 1 0 YRGTN:N7LPT-1 100 1 |
PVNPK:N7PLQ-1} Routes: 0 LASSEN:K6LRC-1 192 1 0 RNO:W7TA-4 192 3 0 YRGTN:N7LPT-1 192 3 |
| CAM05:WG6D-8} Routes: 1 K6JAC-4 144 35 1 WH6IO-7 144 1 1 W6JEX-5 144 24 0 WG6D-6 255 9 1 W6PJD-3 144 1 1 WR6C-5 144 19 1 KG6KPR-5 144 7 1 N7LPT-1 144 16 1 W2WRX-5 144 3 1 KD6NIG-5 144 1 1 W6HMT-7 144 1 1 N6ZX-5 144 4 1 WA6YNG-1 144 2 1 WD6EZC-5 144 9 1 WA6QPU-8 144 11 |
BANNER:KF6DQU-9} Routes: 1 WH6IO-7 192 1! 1 WD6EZC-5 0 0! 1 N1OES-4 192 14! 1 W6JEX-5 192 17! 1 K6JAC-4 192 21! 1 WA6QPU-8 0 0! 1 KF6DQU-4 192 12! 1 WR6C-5 192 17! 1 KG6BAJ-2 192 5! 1 WA6YNG-1 192 3! 1 KG6KPR-5 0 0! 1 KG6WOO-5 192 1! 1 N6ZX-5 0 0! 1 KF6FPU-5 0 0! |
ESCL:KG6KPR-5} Routes: 1 WH6IO-7 120 1 1 N6QDY-5 0 0! 1 KF6DQU-8 0 0! 1 KD6NIG-5 192 1! 1 WA6QPU-8 192 10! 1 K6JAC-4 192 30! 1 N6ZX-5 190 4! 1 W6PJD-3 0 0! 1 K7WWA-6 80 0! 1 WA6TOW-1 0 0! 1 WG6D-8 192 2! 1 W6JEX-5 0 0! 1 W2WRX-5 190 1! 1 N7LPT-1 120 0! 1 KF6FPU-5 192 2! 1 KG6WOO-5 0 0! 1 WR6C-5 192 14! 1 K6TUO-5 192 10! |
| TUO:K6TUO-5} Routes: 1 WA6YNG-1 0 1! 1 KI6NCU-5 192 19! 1 N6ZX-5 192 23! 1 WR6C-5 192 25! 1 K6JAC-4 192 23! 1 WH6IO-7 192 20! 1 W2WRX-5 192 1! 1 KD6NIG-5 192 4! 1 KG6KPR-5 192 7! 1 WA6QPU-8 192 8! 1 N1OES-4 0 0! 1 W6JEX-5 0 0! 1 W6PJD-3 0 0! 1 K7WWA-8 0 0! 1 K7WWA-6 0 0! 1 WD6EZC-5 0 0! 1 WA6TOW-1 120 1 |
CERES:W2WRX-5} Routes: 1 WA6QPU-8 192 10! 1 K6TUO-5 191 13! 1 KG6KPR-5 190 9! 1 WG6D-8 0 0! 1 KI6NCU-5 190 4! 1 K6JAC-4 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-5 0 0! 1 W6JEX-5 0 0! |
PONDER:KI6NCU-5} Routes: 1 WH6IO-7 192 1! 1 KG6KPR-5 192 9! 1 W2WRX-5 192 1! 1 WA6QPU-8 194 9! 1 N6ZX-5 192 0! 1 KD6NIG-5 192 2! 1 K6JAC-4 192 31! 1 K6TUO-5 190 7! 1 KF6FPU-5 120 1 |
| B | Y | Y |
| PINOLE:WD6EZC-5} Routes: 1 N1OES-4 0 0! 1 WH6IO-7 192 1! 1 K6JAC-4 192 30! 1 W6PJD-3 180 0! 1 WA6TOW-1 120 1 1 WG6D-8 192 1! 1 N6ZX-5 192 7! 1 WA6YNG-1 0 0! 1 KG6WOO-5 0 0! 1 KG6BAJ-2 0 0! 1 KF6DQU-8 192 12! 1 N6QDY-5 0 0! 1 K7WWA-8 0 0! 1 K7WWA-6 0 0! 1 KG6KPR-5 0 0! 1 KF6DQU-4 192 14! 1 W6HMT-7 120 1 |
ROUGH:KF6DQU-4} Routes: 0 BENCA:WH6IO-7 146 1 0 WBAY:N6ZX-5 192 12 ! 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 192 4 ! 0 WOLF:N1OES-4 192 22 ! 0 BANNER:KF6DQU-8 192 18 ! 0 PINOLE:WD6EZC-5 192 6 ! 0 CORN:W6JEX-5 192 28 ! 0 BERRY:K6JAC-4 192 32 ! 0 PAC:WA6TOW-1 0 0 ! 0 LIVER:KF6FPU-5 0 0 ! 0 SKUNK:K7WWA-6 0 0 ! 0 ESCL:KG6KPR-5 0 0 ! 0 SUGAR:WR6C-5 0 0 ! 0 GVCITY:KG6BAJ-2 146 5 |
LIVER:KF6FPU-5} Routes: 1 K6JAC-4 192 30! 1 WA6QPU-8 192 11! 1 W6HMT-7 0 0! 1 WR6C-5 192 16! 1 W2WRX-5 192 0! 1 KI6NCU-5 192 4! 1 N6ZX-5 192 8! 1 WH6IO-7 0 0! 1 W6PJD-3 160 0! 1 WA6TOW-1 0 0! 1 K6TUO-5 192 0! 1 KF6DQU-4 0 0! |
| HANEY:WB6YZF-7} Routes: 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 10 1 0 KENO:KK7VO-2 10 2 0 LASSEN:K6LRC-1 10 1 |
KLMTH:KA6ROM-3} Routes: 0 EKA:KA6ROM-2 100 1 0 FOT:KF6SYK-2 100 1 0 GBV:KA6ROM-1 100 1 0 CAHTO:K7WWA-8 100 1 0 YREKA:KJ6RA-3 100 1 |
YREKA:KJ6RA-3} Routes: 0 KLMTH:KA6ROM-3 192 5 0 KENO:KK7VO-2 192 7 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 192 19 |
| CORN:W6JEX-5} Routes: 1 K6LRC-2 180 1! 1 WA6YNG-1 192 3! 1 KG6WOO-5 192 4! 1 W6HMT-7 192 0! 1 K6JAC-4 194 24! 1 KF6DQU-8 192 11! 1 K6LRC-1 160 1! 1 WA6QPU-8 160 4! 1 WG6D-8 192 2! 1 KG6KPR-5 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-5 0 0! > 1 WR6C-5 192 14! 1 KG6BAJ-2 0 0! 1 W6PJD-3 192 3! 1 KF6DQU-4 192 14! 1 K6JKC-5 0 0! 1 K6TUO-5 0 0! 1 N1OES-4 192 15! |
PONDER:KI6NCU-5} Routes: 1 WH6IO-7 192 1! 1 WA6QPU-8 0 0! 1 K6TUO-5 192 8! 1 K6JAC-4 192 18! 1 WA6QPU-5 192 5! 1 KD6NIG-5 0 0! |
ALM:K6LRC-2} Routes: 0 PLUMAS:KG6WOO-5 100 1 0 LASSEN:K6LRC-1 100 1 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 100 1 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 100 1 0 CORN:W6JEX-5 100 1 |
| ELDOR:W6PJD-3} Routes: 1 N6ZX-5 0 0! 1 WH6IO-7 120 1 1 K6TUO-5 192 12! 1 KD6NIG-5 0 0! 1 WA6YNG-1 0 0! 1 KG6BAJ-4 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-8 192 10! 1 WR6C-5 192 18 1 W6HMT-7 192 1! 1 KG6KPR-5 0 0! 1 KG6WOO-5 0 0! 1 W6JEX-5 192 18! 1 KF6DQU-8 192 6! 1 WG6D-8 192 3! 1 K6JAC-4 0 0! 1 KG6BAJ-2 0 0! |
ESCL:KG6KPR-5} Routes: 1 WA6QPU-5 192 4! 1 N6QDY-5 80 0! 1 K6UCB-2 192 12! 1 KD6NIG-5 192 4! 1 W6HMT-7 0 0! 1 K6JAC-4 192 15! 1 WH6IO-7 0 0! 1 W6PJD-3 0 0! 1 K7WWA-6 80 0! 1 WA6TOW-1 0 0! 1 WG6D-8 0 0! 1 W6JEX-5 0 0! |
KENO:KK7VO-2} Routes: 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 100 1 1 KLMT:KK7VO-3 255 2 0 LKVW:KE7QP-9 100 1 0 HANEY:WB6YZF-7 100 1 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 100 1 0 CORN:W6JEX-5 100 1 |
| LKVW:KE7QP-9} Routes: 0 KENO:KK7VO-2 100 2 0 MODOC:K6JKC-5 100 1 |
WOLF:N1OES-4} Routes: 1 W6JEX-5 190 21 1 N7LPT-1 0 0! 1 KG6BAJ-2 190 7 1 KF6DQU-8 190 19 1 WA6YNG-1 190 14 1 KG6KPR-5 0 0! 1 KA6ROM-1 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-10 0 0! 1 K6JAC-4 190 21 1 KG6WOO-5 0 0! 1 WG6D-8 0 0! 1 WD6EZC-5 0 0! 1 WH6IO-7 0 0! 1 K6LRC-1 190 1 1 W6PJD-3 190 2 1 K7WWA-8 0 0! 1 K7WWA-6 0 0! 1 N6QDY-5 190 1 1 WA6QPU-5 190 1 |
SUGAR:WR6C-5} Routes: 1 KG6BAJ-2 192 20! 1 WH6IO-7 160 1! 1 W6HMT-7 192 1! 1 N6ZX-5 192 7! 1 WA6YNG-1 160 6! 1 KG6WOO-5 160 1! 1 WD6EZC-5 192 0! 1 WA6QPU-8 192 3! 1 W6PJD-3 192 7! 1 N7LPT-1 160 4! 1 KG6KPR-5 192 2! 1 WG6D-8 192 2! 1 K6JAC-4 192 18! 1 K6TUO-5 160 3! 1 KD6NIG-5 0 0! 1 W6JEX-5 192 13! 1 KF6FPU-5 192 1! 1 WA6TOW-1 0 0! 1 KF6DQU-9 192 14! 1 KF6DQU-4 192 0! 1 N6QDY-7 120 1 1 N1OES-4 120 0 |
| KG6BAJ-2:GVCITY} Routes: Port Callsign Qty Nod 1 N1OES-4 225 22! 1 KF6DQU-8 220 20! 1 W6JEX-5 0 0! 1 K6JAC-4 190 9! 1 WA6QPU-5 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-10 0 0! 1 N7LPT-1 120 3! 1 WD6EZC-5 0 0! 1 WH6IO-7 0 0! 3 WA7V-8 70 2! > 4 WH6IO-8 50 2! x 5 VK4TRS-4 50 1! 5 VK4TRS-6 0 0! > 6 N9ZZK-5 50 1! x 7 VE2PKT-4 50 1! > 7 VE2PKT-5 50 3! 8 N7OO-15 50 1! x 9 VE2RXY-4 50 1! > 10 ZL2BAU-3 50 2! 11 AA6HF-4 50 1! > 12 K2CAN-3 50 2! > 13 VK7HDM-7 50 1! > 14 N9PMO-2 50 2! > 15 W1NGL-2 50 3! > 16 KD4GCA-5 50 7! |
PPLUMAS:KG6WOO-5} Routes: 1 N1OES-4 192 19! 1 K6JAC-4 192 31! 1 K6LRC-2 161 1! 1 K6LRC-1 161 1! 1 WG6D-8 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-8 0 0! 1 W6JEX-5 192 20! 1 WD6EZC-5 0 0! 1 KG6KPR-5 0 0! 1 WA6TOW-1 0 0! 1 KG6BAJ-2 0 0! 1 WA6QPU-5 0 0! 1 KD6NIG-5 0 0! 1 WA6YNG-1 160 1! 1 W6PJD-3 0 0! 1 K6JKC-5 160 1! 1 WH6IO-7 0 0! 1 N7PLQ-1 0 0! 1 N6ZX-5 0 0! 1 W7TA-4 0 0! 1 K7WWA-8 0 0! 1 KJ6RA-3 0 0! 1 KF6DQU-8 0 0! 1 WB6YZF-7 0 0! 1 WR6C-5 120 1 1 KF6DQU-4 120 0 |
MODOC:K6JKC-5} Routes: 0 KJ6MD-2 192 0 ! 0 RDG:WA6YNG-1 192 28 ! 0 K7DDI-2 192 0 ! 0 KJ6RA-2 192 0 ! 0 LASSEN:K6LRC-1 100 1 0 HANEY:WB6YZF-7 100 1 0 LKVW:KE7QP-9 100 1 0 KENO:KK7VO-2 100 2 0 ALM:K6LRC-2 100 1 |
| KLMT:KK7VO-3} Routes: 1 KENO:KK7VO-2 255 6 0 KFALLS:KE7BYT-1 100 1 |
JOCO:WB6YQP-2} Rts: Grants
Pass OR 0 MFR 192 1 0 K7DDI-3 192 1 |
MFR:KA0DFN-1} Routes: Medford, OR 0 JOCO:WB6YQP-2 192 4 0 KLMT:K7DDI-3 192 5 |
BENCA:WH6IO-7 Routes :
[JNOS-1.11f-BFHIM$]
You have 0 messages.
Area: wb6ynm (#0) >
Routes :
Neighbour Port Qual Obs Dest Tries Retries Perc Irtt
BERRY:K6JAC-4 ax3 222 5 26 0 0 0 %
ELDOR:W6PJD-3 ax3 222 5 5 0 0 0 %
PONDER:KI6NCU-5 ax3 222 5 16 38 5 88 %
CAM05:WG6D-8 ax3 222 6 14 51 2 96 %
TUO:K6TUO-5 ax3 222 5 16 0 0 0 %
IPBEN:WH6IO-8 (BPQ) ip1 222 5 17 5329 2 99 % 3
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||
If you can connect to any single node on the list, then in theory, you can connect to any other node on the list.
Here is an explanation of what is listed in the table.
What the numbers mean:
BERRY:K6JAC-4} Routes:
1 K6TAM-1 192 1!
1 WA6YNG-1 196 16!
1 N6QDY-5 190 3!
1 K7WWA-8 193 13!
1 KG6POM-5 120 1!
1 W7TA-4 0 0!
The port number that is used to connect to the destination node. (Most nodes are a single port.)
The quality of the connection to the destination node. Quality
>192 is exceptionally good. Good quality is
192. Poor quality is <120.
The zero quality means that the node can be
heard, but cannot be connected to reliably.
The number of additional nodes that can be connected from that destination node.
The ! means that the quality numbers have been manually locked in.
Here is an
example of a connect to the DELTA node and the information you can obtain
about what other nodes that DELTA knows how to connect to and the order in
which DELTA will attempt a connect to another node. The Bold blue print is
a command that you would type. The small type is an explanation of what
the DELTA response means.
C DELTA
R
DELTA:WA6QPU-10} Routes:
1 WA6QPU-5 192 4!
1 KG6KPR-5 190 2!
1 KD6NIG-5 190 2!
> 1 K6JAC-4 192 15!
1 W6PJD-3 192 7!
1 W6HMT-7 190 1!
1 W6DHN-2 192 8!
1 WH6IO-7 192 1!
1 K6UCB-2 190 0!
1 WG6D-8 190 2!
1 KG6BAJ-2 0 0!
1 KG6BAJ-4 0 0!
1 WA6YNG-1 0 0!
1 WD6EZC-5 0 0!
1 KG6WOO-5 0 0!
1 W6JEX-5 0 0!
1 K6LRC-2 0 0!
1 N6QDY-5 0 0!
1 K7WWA-6 0 0!
1 K7WWA-8 0 0!
1 N7LPT-1 0 0!
When you issue the R command the DELTA node
responds with all of the routes to other nodes that it has listed. The high
quality routes (192) are good solid paths with very few retries. The routes with
the (190) quality are good paths, but not preferred for distant nodes. The
">" means that the route to BERRY:K6JAC-4 is currently connected.
N
DELTA:WA6QPU-10} Nodes:
AUKUM:W6HMT-7 BENCA:WH6IO-7 BERRY:K6JAC-4 CAHTO:K7WWA-8
CAM05:WG6D-8 CAM91:WG6D-6 CORN:W6JEX-5
ELDOR:W6PJD-3
ESCL:KG6KPR-5 GTN:W6DHN-2 GVCITY:KG6BAJ-2 PINOLE:WD6EZC-5
PLACE:N6QDY-5 PLUMAS:KG6WOO-5 RDG:WA6YNG-1 SKUNK:K7WWA-6
STCK:KD6NIG-5 TRACY:WA6QPU-5 WOLF:KG6BAJ-4 YRGTN:N7LPT-1
When you issue the N command you will
receive a list of all the nodes that DELTA knows how to connect to. Some are
neighbor nodes and can be connected to directly. Some are distant nodes and will
need one or more other nodes to assist in the connect.
N BERRY
Routes to BERRY:K6JAC-4
>192 4 1 K6JAC-4
145 2 1 WA6QPU-5
144 4 1 W6DHN-2
When you issue the N BERRY command you will
be informed on how DELTA will attempt to connect to BERRY. Note that the route
to BERRY is already active. The first attempt will be a direct connect to BERRY.
It that route fails, then the next attempt will be through TRACY:WA6QPU-5. DELTA
will connect to TRACY and then ask TRACY to connect to BERRY. If that fails the
next attempt will be made through GTN:W6DHN-2.
N CORN
Routes to CORN:W6JEX-5
144 4 1 W6DHN-2
144 4 1 K6JAC-4
When you issue the N CORN command you will
be informed that an intermediate node is necessary to connect to CORN. DELTA
will first connect to GTN:W6DHN-2 and ask GTN to connect to CORN. If that route
fails, then BERRY:K6JAC-4 will be connected to and asked to connect to CORN.
N STCK
Routes to STCK:KD6NIG-5
190 4 1 KD6NIG-5
143 3 1 KG6KPR-5
137 4 1 K6JAC-4

We are members of the Berryessa Amateur Radio Klub, BARK![]()
Roll Call every Tuesday night at 18:30 on 146.970- PL123.0
&
Western Public Service System, WPSS![]()
Roll Call every night at 18:30 on 3.952 MHz
Varmint Al's Ham Radio Stations..
WB6YNM/R WB6YNM-1/MBX BETHEL/N
Bethel Island, CA Elevation sea level
Island No. CA-17R--Contra Costa County--CM98--
DELTA:WB6YNM-2 Network Node using a KPC-3+
running K-Net 8.3N Firmware on
145.05 MHz serving
the East Bay and San Joaquin Valley
Solar powered station 3+ amp charge (bright sun) into 2 large RV batteries
VHF KPC-3, IC-281H 50 watts, Diamond F23 vertical antenna 7.8 dB gain
HF Kenwood TS-50S 50 watts, trapped 160/80/40 meter dipole & 10/15/20 meter beam
KaGOLD software, V9 when the computer is on (AC power for the computer)
All three stations can be operated with only battery power using my laptop computer.
BERRY:K6JAC-4 Network
Node Using K-Net Firmware on 145.05 MHz serving the Sacramento Valley.
It is part of the BARK radio club's installation and run by Jack K6JAC.
Runs on the 12V battery backup system with a KPC-3+, Kenwood TM 261A 50 watt,
Diamond F23J vertical 7.8 dB gain antenna.
Located on Berryessa Peak at ~3000 ft. The TNC also includes the VINE KaNode for
testing purposes.
Controlled remotely by Jack
K6JAC and Al WB6YNM.
TRACY:WA6QPU-5 Network Node Using K-Net Firmware on 145.05 MHz serving
the San Joaquin Valley from Sacramento south to Modesto.
Stand-alone Solar Power 1.12 amp charge in (bright sun) to a Marine/RV battery
The Diamond F23A vertical 7.8dB gain antenna is mounted on a 40' Rhon mast at 2850'
elevation on Wallace Ridge.
TNC also includes the HOWL KaNode for
testing purposes.
The KPC-3 TNC into an ADI AT-201 Hand-Held Transceiver 5 watts to a 30 watt amplifier into the
Diamond antenna.
Both the Cabin and TRACY/N stations remotely controlled from Bethel Island
CABIN PACKET STATION.. San Joaquin County--CM97--
WB6YNM-6/R WB6YNM-4/MBX on 145.05
MHz 24 hr/day
Cabin is below Wallace Ridge 20 miles South of Livermore at 2700 ft.
Solar powered station 0.60 amp charge (bright sun) to RV battery
KPC-3, IC-2AT into a Ringo Ranger ARX-2B vertical 7dB gain
PORTABLE PACKET OPERATION.... Portable operation while Hunting/Fishing
using the truck radio.
WB6YNM-7/R KPC-3, Kenwood TM-621A 50 watts, Larson 5/8 wave vertical
Toshiba T1000SE running KaGOLD or a Laptop 486/66 computer.
How to Recover a KPC-3 or KPC-3P from a Hard Reset.
XPWare for Windows and the KPC-3 or KPC-3P
When XPWare is setup for a Kantronics TNC it will not find the TNC after a Hard Reset.
It needs to be in the Dumb Terminal Mode.
1. With the KPC-3 off or disconnected launch XPWare for Windows. Wait while
XPWare checks all the various baud rates and finally enters the
Terminal Mode. There might be a faster way to get to the Terminal Mode but I don’t know about it.
2. Once in the Terminal Mode Click on Setup at the top of the screen and select
TNC Type.
Select Dumb Terminal and Take an OK. Shut down XPWare.
3. Turn on the KPC-3 or KPC-3P and launch XPWare for Windows. It will print junk across the screen and when you see
PRESS (*) TO SET BAUD RATE
Enter a * and hit return.
4. It will ask you for your callsign. Enter your CALLSIGN and hit return.
5. Repeat item 2. above but select Kantronics/Dovetronix and take an OK and shut down
XPWare for Windows.
6. Launch XPWare for Windows for a third time and it should find your KPC-3.
7. The KPC-3 will come up in the INTFACE NEWUSER mode and will
only accept primitive commands. Change INTFACE TERMINAL to allow
all commands.
8. If you have the TNC parameters saved to a text file give it a name like MYPRAM.PAR and put it in the
C:\XPWIN folder. You can then load the parameters into your TNC from the
MYPRAM.PAR file. Here is how to do it.
9. Launch XPWare for Windows and click on TNC at the top of the screen. Select
Load Parameter File. You will see the list of all the .PAR files in the
C:\XPWIN folder. Select MYPRAM.PAR and take an OK. Voila! All of your parameters will be loaded into your TNC.
KPC-3 Pit-falls or Traps you can fall
into...
Trap 1.... Turn NDWILD = OFF when you have a KaNode with your
Callsign-SSID, for example
WB6YNM-7. The TNC will think that a connect request with your Callsign and any SSID is trying to
connect to your KaNode. The only SSID's that your KaNode will ignore are Callsigns that are actually the Callsigns
programmed in your TNC. See Trap 4. The problem can be completely avoided by
giving your KaNode a named callsign such as KBETH for example.
Trap 2.... Your Station Callsign owns the MBX in your TNC. Changing the Callsign
of the TNC when the mailbox has old messages addressed to the original call, causes mailbox ownership problems.
Delete all old MBX messages in storage before you change the Station Callsign.
Trap 3.... Use 1200 baud for RS-232 ports when stacking nodes like BERRY-BERRY3. Using the
RS-232 ports, two or more KPC-3's may be stacked on different frequencies and they will not transmit at the same
time is ABAUD = 1200. The RS-232 port becomes
another receiving and transmitting channel and if you use 9600 baud, interference can occur.
TNC A transmits a signal over the air and also through the RS-232 port. If the RS-232 port is
running at 9600 baud, TNC B gets an end of frame before TNC A finishes transmitting over the air.
TNC B will think it is clear to send before TNC A finished.
Trap 4.... When you use a Callsign with an SSID as your base Callsign, remember that any node you connect to will
usually use your
Callsign with this SSID minus 1. Since the new SSID will be one less than your station's SSID, don't have that SSID used in your TNC
or any other TNC on the same frequency. Strange problems will occur if you have this kind of SSID conflict.
Give Packet Radio a try.... A PC or Laptop, TNC, and a 2m HT and you can enjoy the fun of Packet Radio.
SHERMAN TANK OF LAPTOPS....
The Toshiba T1000SE Laptop computer. These are the Sherman Tanks of old
Laptop computes. They are perfect for portable packet. They appear on eBay
for auction form $10 to $20+ and are well worth it! If you grew up with DOS, it
will bring back fond memories of the Good Old Days. The Toshiba T1000SE's model
number is PA8003U. They use a 7.2 Volt battery pack PA8812U and the AC adapter
is PA8713U or the AC adapter PA8706U is a little larger, but will also
work. If you are really lucky, and can find a 2Mb memory card PA8312U, then you
can create a 3Mb Hard Ram Drive and run just about any DOS based terminal
program from the Ram Drive on them. Here are the specifications on the Toshiba
T1000SE. If anyone has more
information on the new price of a Toshiba T1000SE Laptop when they
were first introduced, I would sure like the information so I could post it
here.
Norm (NO7RM), another ham radio operator, purchased a new Toshiba T1000SE from Whole Earth Access in the San Jose, Calif. area on March 22, 1991 for $1029.29. He also purchased the three position battery charger and a spare battery for $271.78. Norm says that these may have been discount prices.
You wanted to know the original market price of the computer. I got mine on 7/17/90 for $1,285.93, brand new, of course. --- Mike O'Connor
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Toshiba T1000SE Features
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Here is a list of the files that are on the T1000SE's ROM:
Autoexec.bat Graphics.com
Assign.com Keyb.com
Ansi.sys Keyboard.sys
Backup.com Label.com
Biosver.com Mode.com
Chad.com More.com
Chkdsk.com Nlsfunc.exe
Command.com Now.com
Config.sys Print.com
Country.sys Restore.com
Debug.com Select.com
Diskcopy.com Setup10.com
Edlin.com Sys.com
Emm.sys Test10.exe
Fdisk.com Xcopy.exe
Format.com
EXPERIENCE WITH THE T1000SE.... I run the Setup10.com program and set aside 380K of ram for the Hard Ram Drive and then format it with the format d: command. The T1000SE allows you to copy the autoexec.bat file over to the Hard Ram Drive D:\ and customize it. When it boots up, it looks to see if there is an autoexec.bat file on the D: drive and uses it. I was able to find my old Norton Utilities 3.1 floppies (on a 5-1/4" floppy) and copy them over to a 3-1/2" floppy so I can use them on the T1000SE. They work great. One thing I have found out is that inside the computer there is a 3/8" dia by 8" long 6V Sub battery that is usually dead. Its only function is to provide power when you change batteries so you won't lose your Ram Drive. If you leave the 12V power supply plugged in and switch batteries with he computer tuned off, it seems to preserve the Ram Drive. The dead Sub battery will drain the main battery when the compute is not in use because it appear as a dead short. I just remove the Sub battery and the computer works fine and the main battery lasts much longer. I have yet to find a Toshiba T1000XE (with a 20Mb HD and no floppy) or a T1000LE (with a 20Mb HD and a 1.44Mb floppy) that works. These two models are not worth the expense or trouble in my view.
SOFTWARE TO GET STARTED ON PACKET.... If you get a Toshiba T1000SE and want to operate 2m Packet Ham Radio with it, here are four files that will get you on the air with a KPC-3 and a 2m transceiver:
pacfast.exe The smallest packet terminal program I have found and it is very
easy to use. F1 gives you info on all of the commands.
go1.bat A batch file that starts pacfast running at 9600
baud on com 1 (default setting for the T1000SE).
ted.com The tiny text editor for use on old DOS systems. It
works very well and is less than 1K.
scan.com A tiny program <1K for reading text files. To
view a text file, merely type SCAN name and use the arrow keys and Page Up and Page Down
keys. Esc to exit.
![]()
TOSHIBA T1000.... Before I found out about the Toshiba T1000SE, I was using a Toshiba T1000 for portable packet. Here is the story of the T1000. For old time DOS users, it will bring back old DOS memories. There was is Toshiba T1000 Web Page. If you have a Toshiba T1000 it is worth checking out.
You aren't going to believe this. I bought a $10 1987 vintage
Toshiba T1000 laptop at the Livermore Ham Swap Meet. The Ni-Cad
batteries were 0 Volts and completely dead and looked like a dead
short. The first process was to hit the battery pack with 12V and
give them a good jolt. Well, then I put a 9V charger on the T1000
for about 4 hours. When I turned it on, it signed on and booted
from ROM. It is running DOS 2.11 (a very primitive DOS, not quite
stone age, but more like the bronze age).
Then I looked for some terminal program and it has none. No BASIC
either. It does have a old 720Kb floppy drive. So I got out my
QRZ CD and found the simplest and smallest packet terminal
program on the CD. It is PACFAST.EXE. I tried out the program on
my Pentium and it worked OK. Not a lot of commands, but it would
talk to my KPC-3 TNC.
I found an old style 720Kb floppy and formatted it on the T1000.
It worked and took a long time to format. Then I wrote the
PACFAST.EXE program on the floppy from my 450MHz Pentium II
using DOS commands in a DOS window. The new Win98 software is
downward compatible to correctly write the old style floppies.
Good news.
I hooked power to a spare KPC-3 I have and hooked a serial cable
from the TNC to COM1 on the T1000. Now the big test. I put the
floppy in the T1000 and did a CD A: command and got the A> prompt
and then executed the PACFAST.EXE com1 9600N81 program with the
attached commands and it worked! The KPC-3 signed on and I
entered the disp command and it listed the TNC command display
list. I have to admit that I have been working on this all day,
but it was fun to get success.
One of the big reasons for success today is that I found the
Unofficial Toshiba T1000 web page (no longer exists) on the Internet.
But you can get a view of it here: WayBackView. It had
the T1000 Quick Reference guide and many other very helpful
information files about the T1000. I also got DOS 3.30 for the Toshiba
from the web site. It was a disk image and not a boot disk, but
using VERSION and my 486 laptop running DOS 6.22 I was able
to make a boot disk for DOS 3.30 and now the Toshiba will run
my KaGOLD software for packet radio.
Once you connect to a Network Node
and you see a Node listed in the Node Table, for example RNO,
that indicates that you can merely type C RNO and you should be
connected to RNO in a few seconds. It does not matter which
frequency you are on. The Network will automatically select the
best Route. Also, the Node Tables are updated every few hours. If
a Node has not responded within a certain length of time,
approximately 4 hours, it will be dropped from the Node Table.
Here is an example. Say, you are on 145.03 and you connect to
BUTTE. You look in the Node Table and you see RDG listed, which
you know is on 145.05 and you want to connect to it. You merely
type C RDG. The BUTTE node will connect to BERRY3 which will
connect to BERRY (through the 2 foot long RS-232 cable) and then
BERRY will connect to RDG. It is that easy. It is usually better
to let the Network select the Route instead of making each
connect manually.
The Route command at a Node will show you the Route Table which
is a list of Nodes that can be connected to directly and the
quality of the connection. A quality number of 192 is a good
quality connection. Sometimes one Node hears another distant Node
on rare occasions but cannot make a reliable connection. Such
Routes will also appear, but with a low or zero quality in the
Route Table. This prevents the Nodes from attempting an
unreliable connection and forces the use of a less direct, but
high quality connection.
Finally, BERRY, BERRY3, DELTA, and TRACY have a Help Command.
With a Help H, or (H H) command you get even more help
information. Also each of the four nodes has a 50K Mail Box for
short personal messages. If yours or your ham contact's station
does not have a Mail Box or he doesn't leave his TNC on all the
time. You can put short messages to other stations in the Node's
Mail Box. You can activate it by using the BBS command and it
then works like any other packet Mail Box. Old messages will be
deleted after a few weeks or a month to save space. You can also
send Bulletin Messages to the Mail Box for all to read. Just like
this one.
All four nodes are controlled remotely by K6JAC, Jack in
Woodland and WB6YNM, Al on Bethel Island.
Network Node Terms, A Short Course:
NODE - The term node refers to a network node such as a G8BPQ,
X1-J, K-Net, or NET/ROM type node. Non-network nodes such as KA-Node,
conference bridges, and digipeaters do not apply to this concept
of operation.
USER - A user is either a real, live person using a TNC to
connect to and use a node, or a server (BBS) that is basically
doing the same thing under computer control.
NEIGHBOR NODE - A neighbor node is a node that DELTA (for example) can
connect to "directly", without using an intermediate node. Note
that digipeater operation is allowed (2 max.). This means that a
node can be "out of range", but can still be considered a
neighbor since the connect path does not use any other nodes. All
known neighbor nodes ARE displayed with the ROUTES command.
DISTANT NODE - A distant node is a node that is too far away from
DELTA to connect to "directly", requiring the use of one or more
network nodes to reach. Distant nodes will NOT be displayed with
the ROUTES command.
DESTINATION NODE - A destination node is a node that DELTA
knows how to connect to - either directly (i.e. neighbor node),
or, in the case of a distant node, by using one or more
intermediate network nodes. All known destination nodes (neighbor
nodes and distant nodes) are displayed with the NODES command.
NODES AUTOMATICALLY LISTED
All neighbor nodes are destination nodes, but all destination
nodes are not necessarily neighbors. Destination nodes will
automatically appear in the nodes table by virtue of the node's
monitoring of neighbor node's broadcasts. A neighbor node will
automatically be listed in the nodes table and routes table.
Neighbor node broadcasts also contain information about other
nodes that DELTA may or may not be able to hear "directly".
These distant nodes will also be listed in the nodes table if
they pass the criteria for being listed (MINQUAL), and if there
is sufficient room for them to be listed (NETDEST)
Note: This information is the way it was about 6 years ago:
See below, the Neighbor Nodes to DELTA are: LAKOES, NAPA, PAC, & TRACY
(Quality 195). The second number is the number of nodes it has listed.
Nodes that DELTA can connect to directly sometimes are: DONNER, RDG,
LPRC2, MONO1, SNS, SIMEON, SKUNK, SWEET, YRGTN (Quality 91). All the
rest are Distant Nodes. The Node table and Routs will change with
changing conditions.
N (Node command sent to DELTA)
DELTA:WB6YNM-2} Nodes:
ALM:KB6EVD-1 CAHTO:K7WWA-8 CRANCH:WA6RWM-6 DONNER:W7TA-5
EKA:KA6ROM-2 FOT:KB6ZJS-2 GBV:KA6ROM-1 KENO:K7DDI-2
KLMTH:KA6ROM-3 LAKOES:KA7HQS-10 LPRC2:K6TAM-2 MODOC:K6JKC-5
NAPA:N6GBU-10 PAC:WA6TOW-1 RDG:KR6EY-1 RNO:W7TA-4
SHASTA:KJ6RA-2 SKUNK:K7WWA-6 SNS:K6JE-3 STOREY:KD6JUG-2
TRACY:WA6QPU-5 YREKA:KJ6RA-3 YRGTN:N7LPT-1
R (Route command sent to DELTA)
DELTA:WB6YNM-2} Routes:
1 KA7HQS-10 195 14!
> 1 N6GBU-10 195 17!
1 WA6TOW-1 195 13!
1 WA6QPU-5 195 12!
1 KR6EY-1 91 0!
1 N6LYF-10 0 0!
1 K6TAM-2 0 0!
1 KB6EVD-1 91 0!
1 W7TA-5 91 1!
1 KB6MDG-1 91 0!
1 K7WWA-6 192 2
1 W7TA-10 91 0!
1 K7WWA-8 91 0!
1 N7LPT-1 91 0!
1 K6JE-3 91 0!
The > means that this route is/was in use recently.
ROUTE TO A DISTANT NODE: If for example, you want to see what route
will be taken to a distant node that DELTA can not connect to directly,
you can enter the N RNO (assuming you want to connect to RNO). Here is
what you will see. This info tells you that the first choice will be to
connect to NAPA:N6GBU-10 and hand over the connect request to NAPA. Then
NAPA will take over from there. If NAPA fails, then LAKOES:KA7HQS-10 will
take over etc. If none of the routes succeeds, you will get a failure reply.
N RNO (Command sent to DELTA)
Routes to RNO:W7TA-4
113 4 1 N6GBU-10
112 5 1 KA7HQS-10
110 4 1 WA6TOW-1
SUGGESTED USAGE:
Let's assume you want to talk to a distant station that can hear some
distant node, for example MODOC. And let's assume you can hear BERRY.
After you connect to BERRY, look in the NODE list. If MODOC is listed,
then enter the command C MODOC. This will allow the network to
automatically select the best route from BERRY to MODOC. This will
usually work much better than doing your own node hopping, selecting
the intermediate nodes between BERRY and MODOC. Give it a try.
USER COMMANDS at BERRY & TUO:
BYE causes this node to disconnect you
BBS [/S] causes internal connect to BBS
CONNECT [[port] call|alias [/S]] to host or another node or enduser
CQ [UI text] puts you in CQ mode
CQBC enables UI broadcasting for CQ command
INFO Information about the station location etc.
LINKS Status of level 2 links
HELP List of commands available
HELP HELP List of commands with one line explanation of each
MHEARD [LONG|SHORT] Displays list of callsigns heard
NODES [{* | alias | call}]
PORTS Displays message about radio port
ROUTES Displays neighbors
STATS Displays L3 and L4 information
USERS Displays users connected to node
SYSOP allows login of authorized sysop
MANUAL SYSOP NODE & ROUTE COMMANDS I Use:
ADDNODE [alias:]call port neighbor [via digi1[,digi2]] qual [obscnt]
ADDROUTE port call [via digi1[,digi2]] quality [!]
DELNODE [alias:]call port neighbor [via digi1[,digi2]]
DELROUTE port call [via digi1[,digi2]] qual
K-NET SETTINGS & CURRENT VALUES I have set:
CTEXT TEXT Text sent to someone connecting to NETALIAS (usually blank)
INFO TEXT Text up to 128 characters sent in response to INFO command
IDINT 90 Number of minutes between node id (0-255)
L3TTL 25 Max # of L3 hops (0-255)
L4DELAY 5 Level 4 acknowledge delay in seconds (1-60)
L4LIMIT 900 No activity timeout in seconds (0-65535)
L4N2 4 Level 4 retry count (1-127)
L4T1 120 Level 4 retry timer in seconds (5-600)
L4WINDOW 4 Max # of unacked packets for each circuit (1-127)
MINQUAL 120 Minimum quality in order to add to Nodes table
NODESINT 90 Number of minutes between node broadcasts (0-255)
OBSINIT 4 Initial L4 obsolescence value (1-127)
OBSMIN 3 Minimum obsolescence count in order to broadcast (1-127)
QUALITY 255/120 Port quality
NET SETTINGS & MEMORY ALLOCATION:
NETcall WB6YNM-2 WA6QPU-5 The station's callsign
NETAlias DELTA TRACY The Node's Name
NETBuffs 40 40 Number of buffers for node info
NETCIrcs 8 8 Number of Network Circuits available
NETDests 60 40 Maximun # of destination nodes
NETLinks 15 15 Maximun # of uplinks, downlinks, & crosslinks
NETRoute 30 25 Maximun # of routes to neighbor nodes (32 Max possible)
NETUsers 8 8 Maximun # of uplinks & downlinks from the node
Following is an old list of California, Nevada & Oregon Net Work nodes on 145.05 that handle
packet KBD-KBD traffic. The list is each packet station's response to the Info command. This list
is about 4 years old.
AUKUM:W6HMT-7} RUNNING IC-28H MFJ-1270 -- ANT. 80 FT. OVER LOOKING RIVER PINES, PYLMOUTH BIH:W6IY-1 VH=13.4 VL=13.2 T=49 I=00.0 R=42735 BIH:W6IY-1 Bye Connect Heard Info Nodes Routes Users BENCA:WH6IO-7} JNOS version 1.11f (80386) Welcome to a BBS for the East Bay area, operated by Bob, WH6IO. This system runs a version of the WG7J/N5KNX JNOS Tcp/Ip program. It provides both 'regular' BBS/mbox services and many tcp/ip services. This BBS is sanctioned to operate as a part of the East Bay LAN by the Northern California Packet Association (NCPA) and the packet Sysops of Northern California (PSNC). This station forwards ax.25 traffic to N4ZIJ, WA6ZTY, WB7AWL, KJ6EO, WA6EWV W8AKF, AA6HF, N8DA AND IW7CHV. Internet traffic is forwarded into the net direct. The internet hostname of this system is benicia.ampr.org. BERRY:K6JAC-4} On 3000' Berryessa Peak serving the Sacramento Valley 145.05 MHz
CAHTO:K7WWA-8} ERRS North Coast Packet System 145.050 Keyboard Node Serving Mendocino & Southern Humboldt Counties from 4200' on Cahto Peak Courtest of K7WWA
DIA:K6UCB-2} 145.05 MHz - Mt Diablo - Keyboard Only PLEASE !! FOT:KB6ZJS-2} LOCATED NORTH FORTUNA-COURTESY OF KB6ZJS 145.01
MLODE:W6ABC-9} This node is located in Placerville, Ca. Any questions please email N6QDY. MODOC:K6JKC-5} LIKELY MTN. EL 7377, LARC, (CDF-VIP)(LMU) KEYBOARD TRAFFIC ONLY NO BBS TRAFFIC
PLACE:N6QDY-5}
{145.05} NET NODE in Placerville, Ca. @ 3100' elevation.
RDG:KR6EY-1} From 18 Miles West of Redding
On Shasta Bally at 6200 Ft. - 145.05 MHz
With a Motorola Micor 60 watt radio on battery and float supply.
RNO:W7TA-4} -*- -*- Keyboard Packet Node Reno Nevada 145.05 Mhz -*- -*-
YUBA03:N6CDF-5}
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Good Node Hopping. TTUL...73...<Al>...SK
Note: TTUL...73...(Al)...SK is Ham Radio jargon for: TTUL... = Talk To U Later... 73... = Best Regards... (Al)... is me... SK = End of Message in Morse code. (I have "TTUL...73...(Al)...SK" programmed into my "AnyKey" keyboard and it is only 1 key stroke).

Here, WB6YNM (aka Varmint Al) is operating QRP using an HW-8 running 5 watts on battery power. The batteries are charged with a tiny solar panel. This was on a backpacking trip to 11,500 ft. Sky Blue Lake about 15 miles south west of Mt. Whitney. A 40m dipole was strung between rocks. There are no trees at this elevation. WA6QPU checks out the operation as she looks up from her book.
FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN HAM RADIO.... Here is a message that Bob sent to Tom that explains getting into Amateur Radio very well.
Hi Tom,
My name is Bob and I'm a friend of Varmint Al (Al Harral) and he sent me your message requesting some information on getting your license again. I recently (in the last 6 months) got back into amateur radio after being off for over 30 years. There is no grandfather clause giving you credit for holding a novice license at one time, so you will have to take all the tests over again. There's many different levels of licenses that give you different options on what type of radio or bands or what you prefer to do (rag chew, local repeaters, DX (talking over the world), teletype, moon bounce, etc.).
When Al urged me to get my license again I ordered some books from the ARRL website and started studying. This website will give you info on where the tests are being held locally (and there are some in your area) and the name of the head examiner who can give you further info on dates, times, and possibly a local amateur radio club having meetings in your area.
The starting license now is the (no Morse code) "Technician" license. All that is required is for you to take the "Novice" and "Technician" written tests which has approx. 30 questions each, mainly rules and regulations. You can miss up to 5 or 7 questions and still pass the test. You can buy a Technician Test book and pass the tests within 2 weeks of studying it. This license allows you to talk (or work) the VHF/UHF frequencies which is mainly local repeaters and gives you access to talk to many hams throughout the bay area and N. Calif.
If you can still remember some code, or like CW, after you take the above test, (or at the same test meeting) you can take a Morse code test. The starting level is at 5wpm. If you have a tech license and pass the 5wpm you are upgraded to the "Tech Plus" license This upgrade allow you to use Morse code (cw) or voice (on the 10 meter band) in HF frequency bands. The HF bands are where you can talk all over the world. With the technician plus license you get small sections on the HF bands to work. But it's a start. And after the Tech Plus license, there's the General Class License, then the Advanced, and then the top, Amateur Extra Class. Each of these gives a little more bands to work then the other. Each of these require (right now) increasingly difficult written tests, and
5 wpm Morse code exams.
I'd really recommend you get your Tech. Plus license since the FCC has announced that they will restructure the license classes next year, and that the Tech Plus licenses will be no more and anyone holding them will be upgraded automatically once the restructuring starts. Here is more info.
AA9PW Amateur Exam practice pages.
Hope this helps a little, great fun talking all over the world. Here are some websites that will help you. One has the complete test pools and you can practice taking the tests right on the net. When you get so that you are passing the tech license tests and only missing 3-5 questions, call your local examiner and take the test. The ARRL web site gives a lot of info on locations and such. Also search for Amateur Radio licenses, and if you wish, Morse code, and a lot will pop up. Each one of these sites have references to go to a lot of others that will help you.
Good luck, and see you on the air. Bob WB6SZC
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