Kantronics KAM, Operation Manual

Page 1: ...KPC 1 Operations Manual Version 3 0 Aug 13 1990 RF Data Communications Specialists 1202 E 23rd Street Lawrence Kansas 66046 Order number 913 842 7745 Service number 913 842 4476 9 am noon 2 pm 5 pm Ce...

Page 2: ...dendum sheets We solic it your comments and or suggested corrections Please send to Kantroncis Inc 1202 E 23rd Street Lawrence KS 66046 Printed in the U S A Copyright 1989 by Kantronics Inc 1202 E 23r...

Page 3: ...d Slottime 14 Txdelay 14 Frack 15 Retries AX 15 Level 2 Version 1 vs Version 2 15 Flow Control 16 Software Flow Control 16 Hardware Flow Control 17 Converse Mode vs Transparent Mode 17 Getting Out of...

Page 4: ...ansmissions 32 The WEFAX Command 33 Suggestions for Writing a WEFAX Terminal Program 33 WEFAX Program Functions 33 KISS Mode 35 RTTY and ASCII Modes KAM only RTTY Theory 38 RTTY and ASCII Operation 39...

Page 5: ...many different types of computers and hundreds of terminal programs available we will not attempt to tell you how to accomplish these steps If you have problems starting either your computer or your t...

Page 6: ...it ready for your commands by sending you the prompt cmd When you first turn on your TNC out of the box or after a hard reset you may see some garbage characters on your screen The TNC is performing...

Page 7: ...Each character is made up of smaller parts called bits analogous to a dit or dah in Morse code These bits are seen as high or low voltages on the cable between the TNC and computer to make the desire...

Page 8: ...would like to customize the defaults in the TNC for your situation all you have to do is type PERM at the cmd prompt followed by a RETURN or ENTER key This command will write your customized defaults...

Page 9: ...the mode you select Optional parameters are ASCII AMTOR CW FEC RTTY NAVTEX and NONE Packet Starting the KAM in the Kiss or Host Mode is accomplished with the INTFACE command INTFACE will override PMOD...

Page 10: ...LED will illuminate when the KAM is keying the PTT line on your VHF radio RCV This LED will illuminate when you are receiving a VHF packet CON This LED will illuminate when you have a VHF Packet conne...

Page 11: ...LEDs used as operating status indicators and one for power The front panel is divided into four sections each section containing two operating status LEDs Each section is separated by a white color ba...

Page 12: ...tors which provide information as follows POWER This LED illuminates when power is applied The power ON OFF switch is located on the rear panel XMIT This LED illuminates when the TNC keys the PTT line...

Page 13: ...I O is directed See STREAMSW in the Commands Man ual STA This LED illuminates when the TNC has outgoing packets which have not been acknow ledged on the current stream Also if the CON light is OFF th...

Page 14: ...work is done In this section of the book we will discussing the fundamentals of how to get on the air and how parameters interrelate The default parameters will get most everyone on the air but by us...

Page 15: ...oing between Command and Convers Mode depending on if you want to talk to the TNC or have the TNC packetize what you type to go out on the air A Simple Connect Once you see a station you would like to...

Page 16: ...called a path Here is an example of what you might see WK5M KA5ZTX IAH LAG AUS Hi there In this example WK5M is talking to KA5ZTX using the digipeaters IAH LAG and AUS The asterisk beside IAH tells y...

Page 17: ...you type the STREAMSW charac ter and then the letter designator for the stream you want no return or enter in this case This can be done in Command or Convers Modes and the CON and STA lights on the f...

Page 18: ...ng Once the TNC detects a clear frequency it will wait SLOTTIME times 10 milliseconds Then it will generate a random number If this number is smal ler than the setting of PERSIST the TNC will transmit...

Page 19: ...fference shows up with retries so let s assume that the packet did not get through on the first attempt Let s now assume that station a sends frame number 3 to station B Station B does not receive the...

Page 20: ...cters on the TXD and RXD lines of the RS 232 cable These are the same lines used for sending regular data between the TNC and computer Soft ware flow control normally send a Ctrl S to stop data and a...

Page 21: ...u make a mistake you can backup with the delete or backspace key or kill the whole line with Ctrl X And if you really want to send one of this charac ters you can always proceed it with the PASS chara...

Page 22: ...tions on frequency In the real world there are many other stations on at the same time Now I send a packet of data to my friend in Boston and a sta tion in San Diego has data to send also He doesn t t...

Page 23: ...m mand to PBBS In order for this to operate you must also have some message in the CTEXT When this is done a user who connects to your MYCALL will be sent your CTEXT first Then when the TNC receives t...

Page 24: ...his line When the message has been ended properly the PBBS re sponds with MESSAGE SAVED ENTER COMMAND B J K KM L LM R RM S or Help You may now enter more mailbox commands The commands available in the...

Page 25: ...ollowing rules apply If the first item after the symbol begins with NTS the message will be sent as TRAFFIC using the ST command All other messages will be sent as PRIVATE with the SP command when the...

Page 26: ...KA NODE this would return you to the next previous KA NODE which had been told to Stay in the chain of KA NODES From that point you could build a path in a different direction One point to note here i...

Page 27: ...what other KA NODES are nearby You would issue the NODES command by typing N or NODES in response to the KA NODE enter command prompt You will receive a list of KA NODES which have recently been hear...

Page 28: ...hroughput Now that you are connected to N0APJ you can carry on a normal Packet QSO While everything appears normal and AX 25 compatible acknowledgments to your packets are generated by the KA NODE dir...

Page 29: ...6 15 21 In this typical display the callsign of the node is given followed by the date and time it was last heard The slant bar X X indicates that the node was heard on the opposite port from the one...

Page 30: ...d Short Long This command will cause the KA NODE to transmit its TNC MHEARD log The returned list without the short or long option will look like this KAM KPC 4 LAWKAN H 01 09 88 08 25 15 LAWKAN 1 01...

Page 31: ...88 00 04 15 VIA KSTOP KCMO KPC 1 2 or 2400 LAWKAN W0XI 01 09 88 08 25 15 VIA KSKU TOP KSKU N66046 BEACON 01 10 88 00 03 10 WK5M 3 WD0EMR 01 10 88 00 03 19 VIA W0XI TOP WD0EMR KC 01 10 88 00 04 15 VIA...

Page 32: ...n the command byte are C D or Q For the KAM only there are some other combinations used for non packet HF Mode operation These will be covered later A C command byte indicates a command that the TNC w...

Page 33: ...n clude the CONNECTED TO DISCONNECTED and FMR sent A special S block of data con sists of two FEND characters the characters S00 and another FEND character This indicates that the TNC has performed a...

Page 34: ...rames are also sent indicating a link failure or any time the KAM returns to AMTOR STANDBY This can occur when the other station breaks the link or if the link fails due the poor propagation When rece...

Page 35: ...e rate of 120 scan lines per minute on a flat bed scanner The scanner digitizes with a resolution of 96 lines or pixel per inch So the maxi mum resolution of a hand drawn synoptic chart when digitized...

Page 36: ...8080 kHz Receiving WEFAX Transmissions To receive WEFAX you need to connect an audio cable from your HF receiver to the audio input of your TNC The KPC 4 uses Port 2 and the KAM uses the VHF port for...

Page 37: ...they are being received real time 2 Be able to store them on a disk as they are being received or after you have taken a look 3 Be able to print the displayed or stored maps or charts 4 Be able to cle...

Page 38: ...you write the program and your printer can handle 600 pixel per line this is about 60 dots per inch or dpi and at least 32 lines per inch vertically then it should be capable of printing WEFAX maps an...

Page 39: ...ansmit using this method has been shown to be considerably more sophisticated than the DWAIT method used by most stan dard AX 25 Packet stations The result of using the persistence algorithm is increa...

Page 40: ...to issue to the TNC from the computer and they basically concern setup parameters These are commands needed to set TXDELAY PERSISTENCE SLOTTIME FULLDUP and finally a command to exit the KISS Mode of...

Page 41: ...Not the key board Release the ALT key Press and HOLD the ALT key Type the numbers 192 from the numeric KEYPAD Not the key board Release the ALT key Now if the terminal program you are using sent all t...

Page 42: ...is RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY CQ CQ CQ DE WK5M WK5M WK5M CQ CQ CQ DE WK5M WK5M WK5M CQ CQ CQ DE WK5M WK5M WK5M K K K The RY has been used for the synchroni...

Page 43: ...te To enter the ASCII Mode the same procedure is followed as for RTTTY operation except that the baud rate is specified by the ASCBAUD setting and you type ASCII at the cmd prompt setting The display...

Page 44: ...eturn to the command prompt cmd and thus the Pack et Mode of operation by entering the directive Ctrl C X Perhaps you would prefer to just monitor RTTY transmissions looking for someone else who may b...

Page 45: ...nt The default for the DIDDLE command is OFF This is used to allow the receiving station to tune your signal prior to you sending data since it causes both mark and space signals to be transmitted The...

Page 46: ...rom the other end If LCRTTY is also on a received space will switch to lower case characters When XMITECHO is turned on the KAM will echo the transmitted characters to your terminal at the time they a...

Page 47: ...Summary of RTTY ASCII Directives Ctrl L Send LETTERS shift character Ctrl N Send FIGURES shift character Ctrl C S Change shift 170 425 850 or MODEM Ctrl C I Toggle invert mark and space signals receiv...

Page 48: ...t is correct then it is printed If neither character was received correctly then a special character will be dis played on the terminal to replace the invalid character On the KAM the default characte...

Page 49: ...received the character and you didn t due to band conditions In this lis ten only mode you may receive characters which do not meet the 4 3 space mark ratio or char acters which do not properly decode...

Page 50: ...he Ctrl C T directive This will send a special sequence to the other station and cause a changeover to occur The KAM also supports the WRU Who aRe yoU function This function causes the other station t...

Page 51: ...smit buffer is empty Ctrl C I Invert received MARK SPACE signals Ctrl C R Return to receive mode immediately Ctrl C S Select next MARK SPACE shift Ctrl C T Enter transmit mode seize ISS status Ctrl C...

Page 52: ...dentify the station that is transmitting and consists of the letters A through Z B2 in dicates the message class A through Z Note that class A B and D messages must always be printed once B3 and B4 ar...

Page 53: ...n you type the X Before entering the NAVTEX Mode while you still have the cmd prompt you may specify which stations you wish to receive using the NAVSTA command For instance if I wish to copy AMTEX bu...

Page 54: ...ignal speed After you enter the CW command your screen will display the current transmit and receive speed 25 25 This indicates that you are set to send and receive at 25 words per minute Now tune in...

Page 55: ...s the XMITECHO command When this command is on the characters you have typed on the keyboard will be echoed to the terminal AS THEY ARE TRANSMITTED This will allow you to determine if your terminal pr...

Page 56: ...e but they operate slightly differently The Ctrl C R directive will return you to the receive mode IMMEDIATELY even if you have data in the transmit buffer which has not yet been sent On the other han...

Page 57: ...diately Ctrl C T Change to transmit mode Ctrl C U Unlock receive speed to allow tracking of incoming signal Transmit speed stays at current setting Ctrl C n Set transmit and receive speed to setting f...