by Charles Brabham N5PVL
General Info:
The following shows how I set up routing to local Non-FlexNet neighbors, and includes a few tips as well. This builds from the setup described in "FlexNet/BPQ Serial Link Info". Here's the basic setup described there, along with screen shots of what the "P"(Parameters) and "L"(Links) commands show for it.
MY N5PVL 0 3 <--- Mycall with SSIDs 0-3 MO 0 19200d <--- Port 0, 19200 bd FullDup (Serial Link) P T 0 0 <--- Port 0, TXD 0 P S 0 0 <--- Port 0, SSID -0 MO 1 1200 <--- Port 1, 1200 bd (BayPak) P T 35 1 <--- Port 1, TXD 350 ms. P S 2 1 <--- Port 1, SSID -2 MO 2 1200 <--- Port 2, 1200 bd (BayPak) P T 35 2 <--- Port 2, TXD 350 ms. P S 3 2 <--- Port 2, SSID -3 L 0 N5PVL-0 @ <--- Link Non-FlexNet neighbor on Port 0 ( BBS ) L 0 N5PVL-2 @ <--- Link Non-FlexNet neighbor on Port 0 ( BPQ switch )
And here are the results of the P and L commands for the basic setup:
=>p po id td qso usr tifr rifr tkby rkby qty mode links ssids time 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 19200d N5PVL 0-0 4 @ 0 N5PVL 2-2 2 @ 1 2 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1200 2 3 35 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1200 15 -- 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 y =>l N5PVL 0-0 4 P 0 @ N5PVL 2-2 2 P 0 @ =>
Notice how N5PVL and N5PVL-2 were Linked with the "@" character following? This denotes a "backbone" link to a Non-FlexNet neighbor. If there is no activity on that Link, then every four minutes or so, the FlexNet node checks the Link quality with a quick connect/disconnect. This is not recommended on busy user frequencies, only "backbone" radio links or RS-232/Ethernet links as I have used in my setup.
There are other ways to Link up to your neighbors though, without the Link checks, ect. For this, the "$" character is used. Before actually setting up a link with "$" though, consider adding something like the following for your setup first:
L 1 144910 $ L 2 145010 $
What I've done here is to "Link" two bogus six-character "callsigns" ( 144910 and 145010 ) to Port 1 and Port 2. What this does is to show the frequencies for those ports in the PORTS and LINKS lists. It is important, if you wish to do this, that you do it before assigning any other "$" Links. The first one assigned stays in line with the Port number, and later ones follow, as with N5PVL-0 and N5PVL-2 below.
=>p po id td qso usr tifr rifr tkby rkby qty mode links ssids time 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 19200d N5PVL 0-0 4 @ 0 N5PVL 2-2 2 @ 1 2 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1200 144910 2 3 35 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1200 145010 15 -- 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 y =>l N5PVL 0-0 4 P 0 @ N5PVL 2-2 2 P 0 @ 144910 P 1 145010 P 2 =>
Now, to actually use "$" to set up a link to a nearby NetRom type neighbor. In my case, I set it up for the local TexNet node, using it's connect alias, "TEXNET".
The normal way to connect from the FlexNet node N5PVL-3 to TexNet would be this:
C TEXNET 1
...where you have to know the port number for the TexNet frequency. ( Port 1 )
Now to Link in TexNet:
L 1 TEXNET $
And here are the Ports and Links after assigning TEXNET:
(Notice how TEXNET now goes below 144910)
=>p po id td qso usr tifr rifr tkby rkby qty mode links ssids time 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 19200d N5PVL 0-0 3 @ 0 N5PVL 2-2 2 @ 1 2 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1200 144910 1 TEXNET 2 3 35 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1200 145010 15 -- 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 y => =>l N5PVL 0-0 3 P 0 @ N5PVL 2-2 2 P 0 @ 144910 P 1 145010 P 2 TEXNET P 1 =>
And a quick connect to TexNet, using the new Link assignment: ( No port number needed )
=>c texnet
*** connected to TEXNET
WB5CVR-0 at SHERMAN Virtual connection 02 at 11:14:59 on 05/24/98
*** Welcome to TEXNET v1.72 Copyright 1995 TPRS ***
Network CMD ?
b
*** reconnected to N5PVL-3
=>
An interesting feature of this is that Users on any port can now digi through N5PVL-3 FlexNet "direct" to TexNet:
C TEXNET V N5PVL-3
Whatever port they request the digi from, it is routed to the correct port and the connection is made transparently.
There is an excellent ROSE network in my area, and I have found it is possible to set up transparent links to any destination available through the local ROSE net.
As an example, I will show how I set up an "$" link to WB5CQU's IPCQU ( A JNOS station ). The usual ROSE connect string for IPCQU is:
C IPCQU V WB5CQU-4,817105
Or, from N5PVL-3 FlexNet ( Port number 2 must be indicated as first "digi". )
C IPCQU 2 WB5CQU-4 817105
Here are the commands entered to set up this more complex link:
L 2 WB5CQU-4 $ L WB5CQU-4 817105 $ L 817105 IPCQU $
Now the P and L commands show:
=>p
po id td qso usr tifr rifr tkby rkby qty mode links ssids time
0 0 0 3 1 23 16 2 0 100 19200d N5PVL 0-0 3 @
0 N5PVL 2-2 3 @
1 2 35 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 1200 144910
1 TEXNET
2 3 35 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1200 145010
2 WB5CQU-4
15 -- 0 1 2 31 25 2 0 100 y
via WB5CQU-4 817105
via 817105 IPCQU
=>
=>l
N5PVL 0-0 3 P 0 @
N5PVL 2-2 3 P 0 @
144910 P 1
145010 P 2
TEXNET P 1
WB5CQU-4 P 2
817105 via WB5CQU-4
IPCQU via 817105
=>
And here I connect to IPCQU from N5PVL-3, using the new link:
( No Port number or ROSE addressing needed. )
=>c ipcqu link setup... *** connected to IPCQU Call being Setup Call Complete to IPCQU-0 @ 3100817105 [JNOS-1.11b-IHM$] You have 0 messages. IPCQU:WB5CQU-13 Area: n5pvl (#0) > b Thank you Charles, for calling wb5cqu.ampr.org JNOS. *** Call Clearing *** 0000 3100817105 Remote Station cleared connection *** reconnected to N5PVL-3 =>
Users can now digi through N5PVL-3 FlexNet "direct" to IPCQU, without having to know the ROSE connect info:
C IPCQU v N5PVL-3
Good Luck, Have Fun, and let me know how it goes!
-- I really do appreciate your corrections, comments, and suggestions! Thank you!
This article is under construction
Please send comments, suggestions to:
Charles Brabham N5PVL