Date: Sat, 7 Aug 93 04:30:01 PDT
From: Advanced Amateur Radio Networking Group <tcp-group@ucsd.edu>
Errors-To: TCP-Group-Errors@UCSD.Edu
Reply-To: TCP-Group@UCSD.Edu
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Subject: TCP-Group Digest V93 #201
To: tcp-group-digest
TCP-Group Digest Sat, 7 Aug 93 Volume 93 : Issue 201
Today's Topics:
Fw: NOS LPD 1.3
KISS problems
Kiss Works Fine!
Radio's on 9600
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We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there.
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Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1993 09:07:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Erik Olson" <erik@marge.phys.washington.edu>
Subject: Fw: NOS LPD 1.3
To: tcp-group@ucsd.edu
Happy happy! Joy joy! The new NOS-based LPD is here. Check it out folks:
From: dave@computone.com (David Johnson)
Fri, 6 Aug 1993 10:16:04 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: NOS LPD 1.3
NOS LPD user:
Release 1.3 of NOS LPD is now available on computone.com in pub/other/lpd.
The previous release is in pub/other/lpd/1.2.
I haven't released a new version of NOS LPD for about a year, but during that
time I have made many changes and Erik Olson has contributed a significant
portion of those changes and fixes including the port to NOS 9305.
Thanks to my everyday use and feedback (some via code changes) from other
NOS LPD users, I think you will find Release 1.3 to be very useful.
Major changes in 1.3:
1. LPR now handles filename wildcards.
2. LPR will now spool jobs to a UNIX LPD using the -S server option.
3. LPD now handles more than 20 jobs per queue without hanging.
4. Added support for receiving files which have the filesize
specified as 0. This is handy for print redirectors under
DOS, but does not handle files which contain embedded NULLs.
5. Added different security modes.
6. Replaced previous LPT.PS text-to-PostScript translator with
C-based translator based on pstext 1.3. Very flexible.
7. Banner now uses new-line translations (from printcap ty entry)
just as standard jobs; now prints properly on HP LJ III.
Filter can also be configured (printcap entry of) to be any
filter including text_ps so that banners can be printed on
PostScript jobs.
8. Text filter now properly expands tabs when ty=tabs.
9. PostScript filters now check for leading ^D before doing '%!'
postscript file identification.
10. Accounting information for literal jobs now contain the number of
characters output rather than pages.
11. Printing can now be redirected to any arbitrary file or device.
This allows running NOS LPD on top of MS Lan Manager or other
network software to redirect UNIX requests to the DOS LAN
software.
12. Handling of ^X type control characters in printcap strings
now works.
13. Pauses may now be specified before the file and job trailers.
14. Finally, all this is now running under NOS 9305.
There were many other changes which may be found in changes.log.
Please let me know if you have any problems.
Also, if you are receiving this message but wish to be removed from the
NOS LPD user's mailing list, let me know.
Good luck,
dave
---
olson@phys.washington.edu Erik Olson, at home
dba erik@marge.phys.washington.edu
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Date: Fri, 6 Aug 93 15:15:44 BST
From: A.D.S.Benham@bnr.co.uk
Subject: KISS problems
To: TCP-Group@UCSD.Edu
> I am tired of all the flack about using the "Keep It Simple
>Stupid" (KISS) software. If you own a tnc-1 or tnc-2 or a mfj tnc
>then you either replace the existing e-prom with a kiss e-prom. Or
>if you bought the mfj in the last 2 years or so just set the tnc
>to the kiss mode. If you own a Kam just switch it to kiss. If you
>own any other kind of tnc, read the book.
>
> I use my Kam in the kiss mode daily since it's connected to
>my G8BPQ switch that way. I have a Pac-Com Tiny tnc I use when
>traveling and it has a kiss e-prom made from a file in the
>collection sent with the BPQ switch. All my tcp/ip and hf packet
>and all other things I have done with a kiss mode tnc work fine.
>I'm at a loss to understand why anyone has any problems.
Try a Pac-Comm TNC-220 then! I have 3 different ROMs for it:
Pac-Comm 1.1.6C3, which totally locks up (with the STA and CON LEDs on all the
time) if a signal is received off-air whilst it is initialising in KISS mode.
Kind of makes it hard to power up the station or recover from power cuts without
manual intervention.
Pac-Comm 1.1.6D4, which has the same problem, PLUS the fact that it ignores the
state of the radio DCD and happily transmits over the top of other traffic
(it apparently thinks it's always in full duplex mode) (this problem is also
present in 1.1.6D4 for TNC-2 clones).
G8BPQ "220KISS". This is much kinder on the radio channel, as it never transmits!
It receives just fine, and the STA LED flashes when data is sent to the TNC-
just the data never goes any further.
There's probably little wrong with the KISS specification. But buggy software
does cause problems, honest. We've managed to get rid of most of the Pac-Comm
1.1.6D4 code in Tiny-2s, TNC-220s, G0BSX TNCs etc locally, and there are far fewer
collisions on the channels.
73,
Andrew Benham
--------------------------------------------------------------------
adsb@bnr.co.uk BNR Europe Ltd, London Road, Harlow, Essex CM17 9NA
adsb@bnr.ca +44 279 402372 Fax: +44 279 402029
Home: g8fsl@g8fsl.ampr.org [44.131.19.195] G8FSL@GB7HSN
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 06 Aug 93 20:44:26 UTC
From: n8fow@wsu.n8fow.ampr.org
Subject: Kiss Works Fine!
To: klarsen@centaur.arl.army.mil
Karl,
I believe that you just havn't noticed this problem because you just
didn't catch what the actual problem is. There is no handshaking between
your tnc and the computer (Ok, application) when running KISS mode. I bet
the odds are just about 100% that your station exhibits the exact same
problems, but you probably havn't noticed it. You may watch your screen
retry once in a while to a station, but your transmitter never even
transmitted. I used to run a BBS (MSYS and then FBB) and used KISS tnc's.
Even ran BPQ on the FBB and I still run it on 1 of my NOS systems, and
they all will do the same thing due to the software not knowing that the
tnc has not transmitted. Now if you live in an area with maybe a dozen
people on packet, then you have very little to worry about. I'm in the
Detroit area where a very quiet secluded frequency might only have about
50 or so people on it, a busy one has hundreds.
As Phil mentioned, NOS has backoff timers that can help a bit with
this problem. I believe KISS was only used kinda as a quick hack anyways
and wasn't expected to be around as long as it has. G8BPQ implemented
polling in KISS and also checksum (to correct errors on the serial port)
to prevent the above problem, but I have no idea if any tnc's even have
support for them. KISS probably shouldn't even be used, but if it does, and
I'm sure it'll be with us for a while, it might be a good idea to implement
the polled mode or some kind of handshaking. NOS source is the most likely
candidate right now due to the source being out there and KISS originated
from I believe NET.
73, Ron Michigan AMPRNet (TCP/IP)
AMPRNet : n8fow@n8fow.ampr.org
n8fow@wsu1.n8fow.ampr.org
Internet : ron@chaos.eng.wayne.edu
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 05:32:27 UTC
From: ve3mmn@ve3mmn.ampr.org
Subject: Radio's on 9600
To: tcpgroup@ucsd.edu
Hi guys. I have just subscribed to this newsgroup and have been following
the hardware discussions regarding radios on 9600 baud and have a few items
to add.
First, it has been my experience that most Motorola MICOR base stations use
direct FM modulated exciters regardless of whether they are DVP transmitters
or not, and the good thing is that they are interchangable with the phase
modulated exciters found in MICOR mobiles - I'm referring to VHF of course.
The UHF base stations also use the same exciter board but have an upstream
high-level active tripler to generate a signal at UHF. Also it should be
theoretically possible to use a phase-modulated exciter with a direct-FM
channel element to generate FSK with a PM exciter.
Secondly, a local ham up this way tipped me off to modifications to MAXAR-80
radio's to wideband the IF strip, so I got the parts needed and went to find
out how it is done. Guess what, the mod works fine! It bascially consists
of replacing the multi-pole IF filter in the radio with a much simpler (less
group delay) IF filter section with two poles on either side of the IF amp
in the radio. The filters that are used are available from A & A engineering,
they are 30 KHz wide 10.7 MHz crystal filters and are about $12 apiece. When
the radio was aligned using a sweeper and the IF test point in the radio,
using somewhat qualitative measurements seemed to indicate that the radio had
a completely flat IF passband of about 27 KHz (3 dB points even wider). When
I say flat, I mean you could use it for a *ruler* :-)
Apparently these filters are used in a WEFAX receiver that A & A sells. The
ham who tipped me off on this mod is using them for 9600 baud packet and is
able to run about 5 KHz deviation on the modulation without problems. I
would almost think with that much bandwidth available you may even be able to
squeeze even higher speed out of these radios. Besides, they are cheaper than
D(rifty)4-10's and put out more power too :-)
You can put a lot more Maxar's on a fixed size shelf than you could Micors.
I have not seen this modification done with VHF Maxar-80's (or Moxy's, Maxars,
or anything similar) but would think that this modification would be applicable
across this whole family of Motorola radios.
73 de Dave VE3MMN
ve3mmn@ve3mmn.ampr.org [44.135.84.196]
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End of TCP-Group Digest V93 #201
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