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Fourpak Packet Radio Group

BPQ Node User Commands

The following commands are available on G8BPQ type network nodes:

BBS BYE CONNECT INFO LINKS MHEARD
NODES PORTS ROUTES STATS USERS

In most cases only the first letter of the command need be entered.

BBS If this command is enabled, it connects you to the mailbox associated with the node. It must be entered in full.

BYE Disconnects you from the node.

CONNECT Connects you to another node or another user.

To connect to another known node simply enter C  NODECALL or C  NODEALIAS, and the system will do the rest, selecting the best route from its nodes and routes tables. If the target node is not recognised, you will be asked to enter a port number, and the node will attempt to connect to the target on that port.

To connect to a normal station (i.e. not a node) you will usually need to specify a port number, e.g. C  3  G6YAK
Digi's can be specified, e.g. C  3  G6YAK  V  G8NTU  G8EPR

If you specify a port number when trying to connect to a "known" node it will be ignored, and the node will make its own choice of port. There is one exception to this rule: If you want to force a "level 2" connection to an adjacent node, specify the port number and use the alias, adding an SSID, for example: C  3  QUINTN-1

C  NODECALL  S   (stay) will return you to this node, instead of disconnecting you when your session on the distant node is terminated.

INFO Sends you some information about the node, e.g. where it is located, who runs it etc. In some cases a brief command summary may also be provided.

LINKS Lists the currently active sessions, both user access and inter-node. It is mainly of interest to sysops, and shows the callsigns being used at both ends of the link plus some other data.

KIDDER:G8PZT} Links:
G4FPV G8PZT S=5 P=5 T=3 V=2
GB7WV-12 G8PZT S=5 P=8 T=3 V=2
G1TYV KIDDER S=5 P=1 T=1 V=2
S is the link state (2 = connecting, 4 = disconnecting, 5 = connected)
P is the port.
T is the link type (1 = uplink, 2 = downlink, 3 = internode)
V is the AX25 version.

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MHEARD If enabled, this command lists the most recently heard stations on the specified port. You must enter the first two characters of this command. Example: MH 3 gives a heard list for port 3. NODES Used by itself, this command will list all the other network nodes (but not KA nodes) known to the node. The lists can be very long, so please use the command sparingly. By entering N NODECALL or N NODEALIAS you can display the preferred route to the specified node, and up to two alternative routes. Example: N MLVN The response looks like this: KIDDER:G8PZT} Routes to: MLVN:G4FPV RTT=29 FR=311 B 1 > 150 5 5 G4FPV 60 5 4 G4FPV 0 4 2 G1DKI-7 RTT stands for Round Trip Time and is a running average of the time taken to get a response from that node. FR indicates the number of frames sent to that node. B is present only if the other node is a BPQ type, and the number following the B is the number of "hops" to that node. A chevron > in the left-most column indicates the currently active route. The first number shows the overall path quality to the target node, the second is the "obsolescence count", and the third number is the port designator. The obsolescence count is a measure of how recently the route was heard about or used. It is usually reset to 5 upon hearing a nodes broadcast from the neighbour node, and decrements by one every time this node makes a node broadcast (typically once per hour). If it drops below 4 the route is considered to be obsolete. If the requested nodecall or alias is not known to the node, an error message results. Entering N T will list the round trip times and frame counts for all nodes which have non-zero figures. PORTS Lists the available ports. ROUTES Lists the neighbouring nodes which can be heard directly. KIDDER:G8PZT} Routes: > 7 GB7PZT 250 1! > 8 GB7WV-12 150 28! > 2 G1DKI-7 150 60! > 5 G4FPV 150 113! 9 GB7GH 150 0! 4 G4FPV 60 55! For each neighbour node the display shows (left to right) the port number, the neighbour's callsign, the route quality, and the number of nodes accessible through that neighbour. A chevron > in the left-most column indicates a route which is in use, and an exclamation mark ! in the right-most column indicates that the data has been "locked in" by the sysop. Entering R R will give additional information: KIDDER:G8PZT} Routes: > 7 GB7PZT 250 1! 120636 0 0% 0 0 21:17 0 > 8 GB7WV-12 150 28! 28470 1055 3% 0 0 21:07 0 > 2 G1DKI-7 150 60! 25623 1132 4% 0 0 21:29 0 > 5 G4FPV 150 113! 74301 24600 33% 0 0 21:25 0 9 GB7GH 150 0! 0 0 * 0 0 00:00 > 4 G4FPV 60 55! 701 1127 161% 0 0 21:23 1 The additional fields are (left to right) the number of information frames sent, the number of information frames re-sent, the retry rate, which is the ratio of the two preceding figures (or * if both are zero), the non-standard maxframe value, a non-standard frack, and the time a nodes broadcast was last heard from the neighbour. The last figure is only present if the link is active, and is the number of frames queued for transmission on that route. STATS Returns a lot of information about the performance of the node. It is mainly of use only to the node sysop, and is outside the scope of this brief guide. USERS Shows who is using the node. Displays only those circuits which originate and/or terminate at the node. "Through" connections are not shown. KIDDER:G8PZT} G8BPQ Packet Switch V4.07a (110) Uplink 3(G7LKA-2) <--> Circuit(KDRBBS:GB7PZT G7LKA-2) Circuit(KDRBBS:GB7PZT GB7PZT) <~~> Circuit(GLOS:GB7GH GB7PZT) Host38(GB7PZT) Established circuits are shown by <--> and circuits being set up are shown thus: <~~> The header line shows the BPQ version and the number of free buffers. HOST is an internal port, UPLINK is a connection from a normal user (i.e. not another node) to the node, and DOWNLINK is a connection from the node to a normal user.

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