1 <!doctype linuxdoc system>
5 <!-- Title information -->
7 <title>The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.47</title>
8 <author>Ian Maude, G0VGS, (ianmaude@btinternet.com)</author>
9 <date>version 1.47</date>
12 A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
15 <!-- Table of contents -->
18 <!-- Begin the document -->
23 Starting with version 1.13 there is simple hop control available on a per
24 node basis. Also it is possible to isolate a network completely so that you
25 get all the benefits of being on that network, but can't pass on information
26 from it to any other networks you may be connected to (or vice versa).
28 <sect1>Basic hop control
31 In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the file
32 that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default hops on the
33 various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to alter the hops for.
34 You may be happy with the default settings of course, but this powerful tool
35 can help to protect and improve the network. The file will look something
40 # hop table construction
45 # default hopcount to use
48 # some variable hop counts based on message type
59 # the per node hop control thingy
91 Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and contains a
92 series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot. The figures here
93 are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of how the file works.
96 You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is running.
97 If you alter the file during runtime, the command <em>load/hops</em> will
98 bring your changes into effect.
100 <sect1>Isolating networks
103 It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node using the
104 <em>set/isolate <node_call></em> command.
107 The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from another
108 nodes connected to your node. Your node will appear on and otherwise behave
109 normally on every network to which you are connected, but data from an isolated
110 network will not cross onto any other network or vice versa. However all the
111 spot, announce and WWV traffic and personal messages will still be handled
112 locally (because you are a real node on all connected networks), that is locally
113 connected users will appear on all networks and will be able to access and
114 receive information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will
115 be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a gateway for
116 another network, he can still still send a talk/announce etc message via your
117 node and it will be routed across.
120 The only limitation currently is that non-private messages cannot be passed down
121 isolated links regardless of whether they are generated locally. This will change
122 when the bulletin routing facility is added.
125 If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive all
126 information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass any information
127 back to the isolated node. There are times when you would like to forward only
128 spots across a link (maybe during a contest for example). To do this, isolate
129 the node in the normal way and put in a filter in the /spider/filter/spots
130 directory to override the isolate. This filter can be very simple and consists
131 of just one line ....
135 [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 3] # The last figure (3) is the hop count
140 There is a lot more on filtering in the next section.
142 <sect>Filtering (Old Style upto v1.44)
145 Filters can be set for spots, announcements and WWV. You will find the
146 directories for these under /spider/filter. You will find some examples in
147 the directories with the suffix <em>.issue</em>. There are two types of
148 filter, one for incoming information and one for outgoing information.
149 Outgoing filters are in the form <em>CALLSIGN.pl</em> and incoming filters
150 are in the form <em>in_CALLSIGN.pl</em>. Filters can be set for both nodes
154 All filters work in basically the same way. There are several elements
155 delimited by commas. There can be many lines in the filter and they are
156 read from the top by the program. When writing a filter you need to think
157 carefully about just what you want to achieve. You are either going to write
158 a filter to <em>accept</em> or to <em>reject</em>. Think of a filter as
159 having 2 main elements. For a reject filter, you would have a line or multiple
160 lines rejecting the things you do not wish to receive and then a default line
161 accepting everything else that is not included in the filter. Likewise, for an
162 accept filter, you would have a line or multiple lines accepting the things you
163 wish to receive and a default line rejecting everthing else.
166 In the example below, a user requires a filter that would only return SSB spots
167 posted in Europe on the HF bands. This is achieved by first rejecting the CW
168 section of each HF band and rejecting all of VHF, UHF etc based on frequency.
169 Secondly, a filter rule is set based on CQ zones to only accept spots posted in
170 Europe. Lastly, a default filter rule is set to reject anything outside the filter.
174 [ 0, 0, 'r', # reject all CW spots
184 30000.0, 49000000000.0,
186 [ 1, 11, 'n', [ 14, 15, 16, 20, 33, ], 15 ], #accept EU
187 [ 0, 0, 'd', 0, 1 ], # 1 = want, 'd' = everything else
192 The actual elements of each filter are described more fully in the following
198 The elements of the Spot filter are ....
201 [action, field_no, sort, possible_values, hops]
205 There are 3 elements here to look at. Firstly, the action element. This is
206 very simple and only 2 possible states exist, accept (1) or drop (0).
209 The second element is the field_no. There are 13 possiblities to choose from
215 2 = date in unix format
218 5 = spotted dxcc country
219 6 = spotter's dxcc country
225 12 = callsign of the channel on which the spot has appeared
229 The third element tells us what to expect in the fourth element. There are
233 n - numeric list of numbers e.g. [ 1,2,3 ]
234 r - ranges of pairs of numbers e.g. between 2 and 4 or 10 to 17 - [ 2,4, 10,17 ]
235 a - an alphanumeric regex
240 The fifth element is simply the hops to set in this filter. This would only
241 be used if the filter was for a node of course and overrides the hop count in
245 So, let's look at an example spot filter. It does not matter in the example
246 who the filter is to be used for. So, what do we need in the filter? We need
247 to filter the spots the user/node requires and also set a default rule for
248 anything else outside the filter. Below is a simple filter that stops spots
249 arriving from outside Europe.
251 <tscreen><verb>$in = [
252 [ 0, 4, 'a', '^(K|N|A|W|VE|VA|J)'], # 0 = drop, 'a' = alphanumeric
253 [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 1 ], # 1 = want, 'd' = everything else
258 So the filter is wrapped in between a pair of square brackets. This tells
259 Spider to look in between these limits. Then each line is contained within
260 its own square brackets and ends with a comma. Lets look carefully at the first
261 line. The first element is 0 (drop). Therefore anything we put on this line
262 will not be accepted. The next element is 4. This means we are filtering by
263 the spotter. The third element is the letter "a" which tells the program to
264 expect an alphanumeric expression in the fourth element. The fourth element
265 is a list of letters separated by the pipe symbol.
268 What this line does is tell the program to drop any spots posted by anyone in
269 the USA, Canada or Japan.
272 The second line is the default rule for anything else. The "d" tells us this
273 and the line simply reads... accept anything else.
276 You can add as many lines as you need to complete the filter but if there are
277 several lines of the same type it is neater to enclose them all as one line.
278 An example of this is where specific bands are set. We could write this like
282 [ 0,0,'r',[1800.0, 2000.0], 1],
283 [ 0,0,'r',[10100.0, 10150.0], 1],
284 [ 0,0,'r',[14000.0, 14350.0], 1],
285 [ 0,0,'r',[18000.0, 18200.0], 1],
289 But the line below achieves the same thing and is more efficient ....
294 1800.0, 2000.0, # top band
295 10100.0, 10150.0, # WARC
296 14000.0, 14350.0, # 20m
297 18000.0, 18200.0, # WARC
307 # This is an example announce or filter allowing only West EU announces
309 # The element list is:-
310 # 0 - callsign of announcer
311 # 1 - destination * = all, <callsign> = routed to the node
313 # 3 - * - sysop, <some text> - special list eg 6MUK, ' ', normal announce
315 # 5 - 0 - announce, 1 - wx
316 # 6 - channel callsign (the interface from which this spot came)
319 [ 1, 0, 'a', '^(P[ABCDE]|DK0WCY|G|M|2|EI|F|ON)' ],
324 In this example, only the prefixes listed will be allowed. It is possible to
325 be quite specific. The Dutch prefix "P" is followed by several secondary
326 identifiers which are allowed. So, in the example, "PA" or "PE" would be ok
327 but not "PG". It is even possible to allow information from a single callsign.
328 In the example this is DK0WCY, to allow the posting of his Aurora Beacon.
335 # This is an example WWV filter
337 # The element list is:-
338 # 0 - nominal unix date of spot (ie the day + hour:13)
346 # 8 - incoming interface callsign
348 # this one doesn't filter, it just sets the hop count to 6 and is
349 # used mainly just to override any isolation from WWV coming from
359 It should be noted that the filter will start to be used only once a user/node
360 has logged out and back in again.
362 I am not going to spend any more time on these filters now as they will become
363 more "comprehensive" in the near future.
365 <sect>Filtering (New Style v1.45 and later)
367 <sect1>General filter rules
370 Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From
371 v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just
372 about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of
373 DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do
374 anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update.
377 There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These
378 are <em>accept</em>, <em>reject</em> and <em>clear</em>. First we will look
379 generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the
380 DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
383 In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which can have
384 up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
391 where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are filters
392 for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each different
393 accept or reject command reference for more details.
395 There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
402 There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
405 and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
412 For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same
413 principles to all types of filter.
415 <sect1>Types of filter
418 There are two main types of filter, <em>accept</em> or <em>reject</em>. You
419 can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
420 and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject
421 filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10
422 lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the
423 action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
427 If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter
428 will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter,
429 then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped.
430 For example if you have a single line <em>accept</em> filter ...
433 accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
436 then you will <em>ONLY</em> get VHF spots <em>from</em> or <em>to</em> CQ zones
440 If you set a reject filter like this ...
443 reject/spots on hf/cw
446 Then you will get everything <em>EXCEPT</em> HF CW spots. You could make this
447 single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA
448 and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in
449 CW, then you could say ...
452 reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
455 But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
458 accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
461 which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other
462 until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you
463 wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
464 don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing!
467 You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own
468 understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
471 reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
472 reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
475 What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF
476 which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
479 This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if
480 you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available.
481 This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it
482 more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example.
485 You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look
486 at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We
487 are saying reject spots that are VHF or above <em>APART</em> from those in
488 zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did
489 not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it
490 logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ...
493 (on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
496 The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are
497 here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'.
499 As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than
500 simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want
501 to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or
502 one line. For example ...
505 reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
508 would redefine our earlier example, or
514 To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
520 <sect1>Filter options
523 You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the
524 various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
526 <sect1>Default filters
529 Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects. This can
530 be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be followed, even
531 if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set specifically. Default
532 rules can be set for nodes and users. They can be set for spots, announces,
533 WWV and WCY. They can also be used for hops. An example might look like
537 accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
538 set/hops node_default spot 50
541 This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV and WCY.
542 This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific filter is written to
543 override it for a particular node. You can also set a user_default should
544 you require. It is important to note that default filters should be
545 considered to be "connected". By this I mean that should you override the
546 default filter for spots, you need to add a rule for the hops for spots also.
548 <sect1>Advanced filtering
551 Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment.
554 The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
555 can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
560 acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
563 Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This will
564 automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have said <em>reject all
565 HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all others at HF. Also
566 accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by operators in the zones
567 14, 15 and 16</em>. Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and
568 an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot.
571 It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the default
572 for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'. In the example
573 what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non hf/cw spot is passed
574 to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line
575 lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
580 <sect1>Filtering Mail
583 In the /spider/msg directory you will find a file called badmsg.pl.issue. Rename
584 this to badmsg.pl and edit the file. The original looks something like this ....
588 # the list of regexes for messages that we won't store having
589 # received them (bear in mind that we must receive them fully before
593 # The format of each line is as follows
595 # type source pattern
596 # P/B/F T/F/O/S regex
598 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
599 # source: T - to field, F - from field, O - origin, S - subject
600 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
602 # Currently only type B and P msgs are affected by this code.
604 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
605 # causes the action to be taken.
607 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
608 # for the action specified
626 I think this is fairly self explanatory. It is simply a list of subject
627 headers that we do not want to pass on to either the users of the cluster or
628 the other cluster nodes that we are linked to. This is usually because of
629 rules and regulations pertaining to items for sale etc in a particular country.
631 <sect1>Filtering DX callouts (Depricated)
634 <bf><it>From version 1.47, this method is replaced by the command set/baddx</it></bf>
637 In the same way as mail, there are some types of spot we do not wish to pass on
638 to users or linked cluster nodes. In the /spider/data directory you will find
639 a file called baddx.pl.issue. Rename this to baddx.pl and edit the file. The
640 original looks like this ....
644 # the list of dx spot addresses that we don't store and don't pass on
665 Again, this is simply a list of names we do not want to see in the spotted
666 field of a DX callout.
669 <sect1>Filtering words from text fields in Announce, Talk and DX spots
672 Create a file in /spider/data called <em>badwords</em>. The format is quite
673 simple. Lines beginning with # are ignored so comments can be added. An
674 example file is below ...
677 # Below is a list of words we do not wish to see on the cluster
678 grunge grunged grunging
679 splodge splodger splodging
684 Multiple words can be used on the same line as shown. Obviously these
685 are just examples :-)
688 You can reload the file from the cluster prompt as sysop with load/badwords.
693 DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports both
694 personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands to ensure
695 that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send mail almost
696 immediately, assuming that the target is on line. However, only one
697 mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a mail message is already
698 being sent or recieved, then the new message will be queued until it has
701 The cluster mail is automatically deleted after 30 days unless the sysop
702 sets the "keep" flag using the <em>msg</em> command.
707 Personal mail is sent using the <em>sp</em> command. This is actually the
708 default method of sending mail and so a simple <em>s</em> for send will do.
709 A full list of the send commands and options is in the <em>command set</em>
710 section, so I will not duplicate them here.
715 Bulletin mail is sent by using the <em>sb</em> command. This is one of the
716 most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a bulletin
717 mail with <em>s</em> or <em>sp</em> instead of <em>sb</em> and of course
718 the message never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop
719 by using the <em>msg</em> command.
721 <P>Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file.
726 DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed
727 in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there
728 is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however,
729 to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is
730 pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK
731 ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg.
732 At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it
733 to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements.
734 The format is below ...
738 # this is an example message forwarding file for the system
740 # The format of each line is as follows
742 # type to/from/at pattern action destinations
743 # P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
745 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
746 # to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
747 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
748 # action: I - ignore, F - forward
749 # destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
751 # if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
753 # Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
755 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
756 # causes the action to be taken.
758 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
759 # for the action specified
761 # If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
762 # pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
763 # it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
764 # you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
765 # on first connection)
771 'B', 'T', 'LOCAL', 'F', [ qw(GB7MBC) ],
772 'B', 'T', 'ALL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
773 'B', 'T', 'UK', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
774 'B', 'T', 'QSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
775 'B', 'T', 'QSLINF', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
776 'B', 'T', 'DX', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
777 'B', 'T', 'DXINFO', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
778 'B', 'T', 'DXNEWS', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
779 'B', 'T', 'DXQSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
780 'B', 'T', 'SYSOP', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
781 'B', 'T', '50MHZ', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
785 Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you wish
786 that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to "UK" will
787 only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
790 To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
793 <sect1>The msg command
796 The <em>msg</em> command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the
797 sysop. It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other
798 changes to manage the cluster mail.
800 Here is a full list of the various options ...
803 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
804 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
805 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
806 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
807 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
808 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
809 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
810 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
811 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
812 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waiting time for this message
813 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
814 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
815 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
816 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
819 These commands are simply typed from within the cluster as the sysop user.
821 <sect1>Message status
824 You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the command
825 <em>stat/msg</em>. This will give you additional information on the
826 message number including which nodes have received it, which node it
827 was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of
831 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
834 Msg Time: 26-Jan-2001 1302Z
838 Subject: AMSAT 2line KEPS 01025.AMSAT
840 Got it Nodes: GB7BAA, GB7ADX
844 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
847 <sect1>Filtering mail
850 This is described in the section on <em>Other filters</em> so I will not
853 <sect1>Distribution lists
856 Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
857 mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
858 sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called <em>distro</em>. You
859 put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
860 SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
863 qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
864 GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
865 GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
868 Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this list.
873 Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the sysop
874 of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS and pushes
875 any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from Spider to the BBS,
876 the interface is one-way.
879 Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary mail.
880 Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by using the
881 Forward.pl file very carefully.
886 Spider allows the creation of local or remote databases. It supports
887 chained databases, allowing several different databases to be scanned
888 with one simple command. Importing of databases is limited at present
889 to the standard AK1A databases such as OBLAST and the DB0SDX QSL
890 database but will expand with time.
892 <sect1>Creating databases
895 Creating a database could not be more simple. All the commands are
896 sent from the cluster prompt as the <em>sysop</em> user.
898 To create a database you use the command <em>dbcreate</em>. It can
899 be used in 3 different ways like so ..
905 To simply create a database locally, you just tell the command the
906 name of the database. This does not create the actual database, it
907 simply defines it to say that it exists.
910 dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>...]
913 This creates a chained database entry. The first database will be
914 scanned, then the second, the third etc...
917 dbcreate <name> remote <name>
920 This creates a remote entry. the first name field is the database
921 name at the remote node, then the remote switch, then the actual
922 node_call of the remote node, for example...
925 dbcreate buckmaster remote gb7dxc
928 Remote databases cannot be chained, however, the last database in a
929 chain can be a remote database.
931 <sect1>Importing databases
934 The only databases that Spider can currently import are the standard
935 AK1A databases such as OBLAST or the DB0SDX qsl and address database.
936 This will be added to with time.
938 To import such a database, first put the file somewhere useful like /tmp
939 and then issue the following command ...
942 dbimport oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
945 This will update the existing local oblast database or create it if
948 <sect1>Checking available databases
951 Once a database is created, you will want to check that it has been
952 added. To do this use the <em>dbavail</em> command. This will
953 output the available databases. For example ...
957 DB Name Location Chain
961 G0VGS de GB7MBC 3-Feb-2001 1925Z >
964 <sect1>Looking up databases
967 To look for information in a defined database, simply use the <em>dbshow</em>
968 command, for example ...
971 dbshow buckmaster G0YLM
974 will show the information for the callsign G0YLM from the buckmaster
975 database if it exists. To make things more standard for the users
976 you can add an entry in the Aliases file so that it looks like a standard
977 <em>show</em> command like this ...
980 '^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
983 Now you can simply use show/buckmaster or an abreviation.
985 <sect1>Removing databases
988 To delete an existing database you use the <em>dbremove</em> command.
995 would remove the oblast database and its associated datafile from the
996 system. There are no warnings or recovery possible from this command.
997 If you remove a database it ceases to exist and would have to be created
998 from scratch if you still required it.
1000 <sect>Information, files and useful programs
1005 One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
1006 information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner
1007 that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day"
1008 or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd
1009 and edit it to say whatever you want. It is purely a text file and will be
1010 sent automatically to anyone logging in to the cluster.
1012 <sect1>Downtime message
1015 If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but
1016 the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them
1017 of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called
1018 "offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish.
1019 This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when
1020 DXSpider is not actually running.
1022 <sect1>Other text messages
1025 You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file
1026 name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users.
1027 To set this up, make a directory under /spider called <em>packclus</em>.
1028 Under this directory you can create files called <em>news</em> or <em>newuser</em>
1029 for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can
1030 be listed by the user with the command ....
1036 They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
1042 If the file they want to read is called <em>news</em>. You could also set
1043 an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type <em>news</em>
1046 You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or
1047 nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins
1048 such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user.
1049 To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called
1050 <em>bulletin</em>. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These
1051 can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the <em>show/files</em>
1052 command with an extension for the bulletin directory you have just created,
1060 An example would look like this ....
1064 bulletin DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
1067 You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a
1068 file called <em>news</em> and a directory called <em>bulletin</em>. You can
1069 also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file <em>news</em>,
1070 you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to whether the
1071 file has been updated since you last read it. To read the file called
1072 <em>news</em> you would simply issue the command ....
1078 To look what is in the bulletin directory you issue the command ....
1082 opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1083 opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1084 opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1085 opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1086 opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1087 opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1088 opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1089 opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1090 opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1091 opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1092 opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1093 opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1094 opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1095 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
1098 You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....
1101 type bulletin/opdx391
1102 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
1103 The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
1107 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
1108 Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
1109 Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
1110 Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
1111 Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
1112 & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
1113 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
1116 The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
1118 <sect1>The Aliases file
1121 You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to
1122 /spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file. You will see something like this ...
1128 # provide some standard aliases for commands for terminally
1129 # helpless ak1a user (helpless in the sense that they never
1130 # read nor understand help files)
1132 # This file is automagically reloaded if its modification time is
1133 # later than the one stored in CmdAlias.pm
1135 # PLEASE make this file consistant with reality! (the patterns MUST
1136 # match the filenames!)
1138 # Don't alter this file, copy it into the local_cmd tree and modify it.
1139 # This file will be replaced everytime I issue a new release.
1141 # You only need to put aliases in here for commands that don't work as
1142 # you desire naturally, e.g sh/dx on its own just works as you expect
1143 # so you need not add it as an alias.
1151 '^\?', 'apropos', 'apropos',
1154 '^ann.*/full', 'announce full', 'announce',
1155 '^ann.*/sysop', 'announce sysop', 'announce',
1156 '^ann.*/(.*)$', 'announce $1', 'announce',
1163 '^del', 'kill', 'kill',
1164 '^del\w*/fu', 'kill full', 'kill',
1165 '^di\w*/a\w*', 'directory all', 'directory',
1166 '^di\w*/b\w*', 'directory bulletins', 'directory',
1167 '^di\w*/n\w*', 'directory new', 'directory',
1168 '^di\w*/o\w*', 'directory own', 'directory',
1169 '^di\w*/s\w*', 'directory subject', 'directory',
1170 '^di\w*/t\w*', 'directory to', 'directory',
1171 '^di\w*/f\w*', 'directory from', 'directory',
1172 '^di\w*/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
1189 '^l$', 'directory', 'directory',
1190 '^ll$', 'directory', 'directory',
1191 '^ll/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
1196 '^news', 'type news', 'type',
1206 '^r$', 'read', 'read',
1207 '^rcmd/(\S+)', 'rcmd $1', 'rcmd',
1210 '^s/p$', 'send', 'send',
1211 '^sb$', 'send noprivate', 'send',
1212 '^set/home$', 'set/homenode', 'set/homenode',
1213 '^set/nobe', 'unset/beep', 'unset/beep',
1214 '^set/nohe', 'unset/here', 'unset/here',
1215 '^set/noan', 'unset/announce', 'unset/announce',
1216 '^set/nodx', 'unset/dx', 'unset/dx',
1217 '^set/nota', 'unset/talk', 'unset/talk',
1218 '^set/noww', 'unset/wwv', 'unset/wwv',
1219 '^set/nowx', 'unset/wx', 'unset/wx',
1220 '^sh$', 'show', 'show',
1221 '^sh\w*/buck', 'dbshow buck', 'dbshow',
1222 '^sh\w*/bu', 'show/files bulletins', 'show/files',
1223 '^sh\w*/c/n', 'show/configuration nodes', 'show/configuration',
1224 '^sh\w*/c$', 'show/configuration', 'show/configuration',
1225 '^sh\w*/com', 'dbavail', 'dbavail',
1226 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/dx $1-$2', 'show/dx',
1227 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)', 'show/dx $1', 'show/dx',
1228 '^sh\w*/dx/d(\d+)', 'show/dx from $1', 'show/dx',
1229 '^sh\w*/email', 'dbshow email', 'dbshow',
1230 '^sh\w*/hftest', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
1231 '^sh\w*/vhftest', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
1232 '^sh\w*/qsl', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
1233 '^sh\w*/tnc', 'who', 'who',
1234 '^sh\w*/up', 'show/cluster', 'show/cluster',
1235 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1-$2', 'show/wwv',
1236 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1', 'show/wwv',
1237 '^sp$', 'send', 'send',
1241 '^ta$', 'talk', 'talk',
1242 '^t$', 'talk', 'talk',
1249 '^wx/full', 'wx full', 'wx',
1250 '^wx/sysop', 'wx sysop', 'wx',
1261 You can create aliases for commands at will. Beware though, these may not
1262 always turn out as you think. Care is needed and you need to test the
1263 results once you have set an alias.
1268 In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop.
1269 This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots,
1270 announces etc. To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.
1273 To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the
1274 file with your favourite editor.
1276 <sect1>Updating kepler data
1279 Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order for
1280 this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly. In
1281 general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail.
1282 Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a
1283 file. You do this with the <em>export</em> command from the cluster prompt
1284 as the sysop. For example ...
1287 export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
1290 would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the
1291 /spider/perl directory.
1293 Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in
1294 the perl directory called <em>convkeps.pl</em>. All we need to do now is
1295 convert the file like so ...
1298 ./convkeps.pl keps.in
1301 Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
1307 That is it! the kepler data has been updated.
1309 <sect1>The QRZ callbook
1312 The command <em>sh/qrz</em> will only work once you have followed a few
1313 simple steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com.
1314 Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the file
1315 /spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match your user
1316 ID and password. You also at this point need to set $allow=1 to complete
1317 the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the proprieter of
1318 <htmlurl url="http://www.qrz.com" name="qrz.com"> for allowing this access.
1323 CVS stands for "Concurrent Versions System" and the CVS for DXSpider is held
1324 at <htmlurl url="http://www.sourceforge.net" name="Sourceforge">. This means
1325 that it is possible to update your DXSpider installation to the latest
1326 sources by using a few simple commands.
1329 THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!!! ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A TEST
1330 INSTALLATION OR ARE WILLING TO HAVE YOUR CLUSTER CRASH ON YOU!!!
1331 THIS MUST BE CONSIDERED AT LEAST BETA TESTING AND MAYBE EVEN ALPHA!!
1332 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
1335 DID I MENTION..... ONLY DO THIS IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE
1339 I am of course assuming that you have a machine with both DXSpider and
1340 Internet access running.
1343 BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER STARTING WITH THIS MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR
1344 ENTIRE SPIDER TREE!!
1347 Assuming you are connected to the Internet, you need to login to the
1348 CVS repository and then update your Spider source. There are several
1349 steps which are listed below ...
1352 First login as the user <em>sysop</em>. Next you need to connect to the CVS
1353 repository. You do this with the command below ...
1356 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider login
1359 You will get a password prompt. Simply hit return here and your machine should
1360 return to a normal linux prompt.
1363 What happens next depends on whether you have an existing installation that
1364 you want to update with the latest and greatest or whether you just want
1365 to see what is there and/or run it on a new machine for testing.
1367 If you are installing Spider from CVS then change directory to /home/sysop
1369 If you are wanting to update Spider then cd to /tmp
1372 The next step will create a brand new 'spider' directory in your current
1376 cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider co spider
1379 This command is all on one line.
1382 Hopefully your screen should show you downloading files. The -z3 simply compresses
1383 the download to improve speed.
1384 When this has finished, you will have exactly the same as if you had untarred a full
1385 tarball PLUS some extra directories and files that CVS needs to do the magic that
1389 Now if you are doing a new installation, that's it. Carry on as if you have
1390 just downloaded and untarred the lastest tarball.
1393 If you want to upgrade your current installation then do this ...
1396 tar cvfz /tmp/s.tgz spider
1398 tar xvfzp /tmp/s.tgz
1401 This is assuming you downloaded to the /tmp directory of course.
1404 NOTE: the 'p' on the end of the 'xvfz' is IMPORTANT! It keeps the permissions
1405 correct. YOU WERE LOGGED IN AS THE USER SYSOP WEREN'T YOU?????
1407 Remember to recompile the C client (cd /spider/src; make)
1410 At this point the files have been upgraded. You can (usually) restart the cluster
1411 in your own time. However, if you attempt to use any new commands or features
1412 expect it to be fatal! At least your cluster will have been restarted then so it
1413 will be too late to worry about it!
1416 Now the magic part! From now on when you want to update, simply connect to the
1417 Internet and then, as the user <em>sysop</em> ...
1424 and your files will be updated. As above, remember to recompile the "C" client
1425 if it has been updated (CVS will tell you) and restart if any of the perl scripts
1426 have been altered or added, again, CVS will tell you.
1429 You will find any changes documented in the /spider/Changes file.
1431 <sect>The DXSpider command set
1434 Below is a complete list of commands available from the cluster prompt.
1435 Most maintenance tasks are automatic but there are some commands that are useful
1436 for a sysop. These are listed below in alphabetical order. The number in
1437 brackets following the command name is the permissions level needed to use
1440 <sect1>accept/announce (0)
1444 <bf>accept/announce [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an accept filter
1449 Create an 'accept this announce' line for a filter.
1451 An accept filter line means that if the announce matches this filter it is
1452 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
1453 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
1455 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
1458 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
1459 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
1461 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
1462 origin_itu <numbers>
1463 origin_zone <numbers>
1468 wx 1 filter WX announces
1469 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
1476 acc/ann 2 by_zone 14,15,16
1477 (this could be all on one line: acc/ann dest 6MUK or by_zone 14,15,16)
1486 This filter would only allow announces that were posted buy UK stations.
1487 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
1493 but this probably for advanced users...
1495 <sect1>accept/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
1499 <bf>accept/announce <call> [input] [0-9]<pattern></bf> Announce filter sysop version
1503 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
1504 default for nodes and users eg:-
1508 accept/ann input node_default by G,M,2
1509 accept/ann user_default by G,M,2
1512 <sect1>accept/spots (0)
1516 <bf>accept/announce [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an accept filter
1521 Create an 'accept this spot' line for a filter.
1524 An accept filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
1525 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
1526 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
1528 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
1531 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
1532 on <range> same as 'freq'
1533 call <prefixes> eg: G,PA,HB9
1534 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
1536 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
1547 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
1548 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
1549 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
1550 this is more efficient than saying simply: freq HF (but don't get
1551 too hung up about that)
1557 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
1560 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything, eg:
1566 but this probably for advanced users...
1568 <sect1>accept/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
1572 <bf>accept/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf> Spot filter sysop version
1576 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
1577 default for nodes and users eg:-
1580 accept/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
1581 accept/spot node_default all
1582 set/hops node_default 10
1584 accept/spot user_default by G,M,2
1587 <sect1>accept/wcy (0)
1591 <bf>accept/wcy [0-9] <pattern></bf> set an accept WCY filter
1595 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
1596 filter on the following fields:-
1599 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
1601 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
1602 origin_itu <numbers>
1603 origin_zone <numbers>
1611 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place and
1612 you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want them).
1614 This command is really provided for future use.
1616 See HELP FILTER for information.
1618 <sect1>accept/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
1622 <bf>accept/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
1623 WCY filter sysop version
1627 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
1628 default for nodes and users eg:-
1631 accept/wcy node_default all
1632 set/hops node_default 10
1635 <sect1>accept/wwv (0)
1639 <bf>accept/wwv [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an accept WWV filter
1643 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
1644 filter on the following fields:-
1647 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
1649 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
1650 origin_itu <numbers>
1651 origin_zone <numbers>
1661 accept/wwv by_zone 4
1664 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV broadcasts
1665 by stations in the US).
1667 See HELP FILTER for information.
1669 <sect1>accept/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
1673 <bf>accept/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
1674 WWV filter sysop version
1678 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
1679 default for nodes and users eg:-
1682 accept/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
1683 accept/wwv node_default all
1684 set/hops node_default 10
1686 accept/wwv user_default by W,K
1693 <bf>announce <text></bf> Send an announcement to local users
1697 Send an announcement to LOCAL users only, where <text> is the text
1698 of the announcement you wish to broadcast
1700 <sect1>announce full (0)
1704 <bf>announce full <text></bf> Send an announcement cluster wide
1708 This command will send your announcement across the whole cluster
1712 <sect1>announce sysop (5)
1716 <bf>announce sysop <text></bf>
1720 Send an announcement to Sysops only
1726 <bf>apropos <string></bf> Search the help database
1730 Search the help database for <string> (it isn't case sensitive),
1731 and print the names of all the commands that may be relevant.
1737 <bf>bye</bf> Exit from the cluster
1741 This will disconnect you from the cluster
1747 <bf>catchup <node_call> All|[<msgno> ...]</bf>
1748 Mark a message as sent
1752 When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another node
1753 is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new partner
1754 node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl file, all
1755 outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them. This may well
1756 be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by using these
1761 catchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
1764 and to undo what you have just done:-
1767 uncatchup GB7DJK all
1768 uncatchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
1771 which will arrange for them to be forward candidates again.
1773 Order is not important.
1775 <sect1>clear/spots (0)
1779 <bf>clear/spots [1|all]</bf> Clear a spot filter line
1783 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a spot filter or to
1784 remove the whole filter.
1786 If you have a filter:-
1790 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
1799 you will be left with:-
1802 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
1811 the filter will be completely removed.
1818 <bf>connect <callsign></bf> Start a connection to another DX Cluster
1822 Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to the
1823 DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process which will
1824 use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the 'chat' exchange
1825 necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the cluster <callsign>.
1831 <bf>dbavail</bf> Show a list of all the databases in the system
1835 The title says it all really, this command lists all the databases defined
1836 in the system. It is also aliased to SHOW/COMMAND.
1842 <bf>dbcreate <name></bf> Create a database entry<newline>
1843 <bf>dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>..]</bf> Create a
1844 chained database entry<newline>
1845 <bf>dbcreate <name> remote <node></bf> Create a remote database
1850 DBCREATE allows you to define a database in the system. It doesn't actually
1851 create anything, just defines it.
1853 The databases that are created are simple DB_File hash databases, they are
1854 therefore already 'indexed'.
1856 You can define a local database with the first form of the command eg:
1860 You can also chain databases with the addition of the 'chain' keyword.
1861 This will search each database one after the other. A typical example
1864 DBCREATE sdx_qsl chain sql_ad
1866 No checking is done to see if the any of the chained databases exist, in
1867 fact it is usually better to do the above statement first then do each of
1868 the chained databases.
1870 Databases can exist offsite. To define a database that lives on another
1873 DBCREATE buckmaster remote gb7dxc
1875 Remote databases cannot be chained; however, the last database in a
1876 a chain can be a remote database eg:
1878 DBCREATE qsl chain gb7dxc
1880 To see what databases have been defined do:
1882 DBAVAIL (or it will have been aliased to SHOW/COMMAND)
1884 It would be normal for you to add an entry into your local Aliases file
1885 to allow people to use the 'SHOW/<dbname>' style syntax. So you would
1886 need to add a line like:-
1892 '^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
1902 to work as they may be used to.
1904 See DBIMPORT for the importing of existing AK1A format data to databases.
1905 See DBSHOW for generic database enquiry
1911 <bf>dbimport <dbname></bf> Import AK1A data into a database
1915 If you want to import or update data in bulk to a database you can use
1916 this command. It will either create or update entries into an existing
1917 database. For example:-
1919 DBIMPORT oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
1921 will import the standard OBLAST database that comes with AK1A into the
1922 oblast database held locally.
1928 <bf>dbremove <dbname></bf> Delete a database
1932 DBREMOVE will completely remove a database entry and also delete any data
1933 file that is associated with it.
1935 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
1941 will remove the oblast database from the system and it will also remove
1942 the associated datafile.
1946 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
1948 You have been warned.
1954 <bf>dbshow <dbname> <key></bf> Display an entry, if it exists,
1959 This is the generic user interface to the database to the database system.
1960 It is expected that the sysop will add an entry to the local Aliases file
1961 so that users can use the more familiar AK1A style of enquiry such as:
1967 but if he hasn't and the database really does exist (use DBAVAIL or
1968 SHOW/COMMAND to find out) you can do the same thing with:
1979 <bf>debug</bf> Set the cluster program into debug mode
1983 Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the cluster
1990 It will interrupt the cluster just after the debug command has finished.
1992 <sect1>directory (0)
1996 <bf>directory</bf> List messages<newline>
1997 <bf>directory all</bf> List all messages<newline>
1998 <bf>directory own</bf> List your own messages<newline>
1999 <bf>directory new</bf> List all new messages<newline>
2000 <bf>directory to <call></bf> List all messages to <call><newline>
2001 <bf>directory from <call></bf> List all messages from <call><newline>
2002 <bf>directory subject <string></bf> List all messages with <string>
2004 <bf>directory <nn></bf> List last <nn> messages<newline>
2005 <bf>directory <from>-<to></bf> List messages <from> message <to> message <newline>
2009 List the messages in the messages directory.
2011 If there is a 'p' one space after the message number then it is a
2012 personal message. If there is a '-' between the message number and the
2013 'p' then this indicates that the message has been read.
2015 You can use shell escape characters such as '*' and '?' in the <call>
2018 You can combine some of the various directory commands together eg:-
2023 DIR SUBJECT IOTA 200-250
2026 You can abbreviate all the commands to one letter and use ak1a syntax:-
2034 <sect1>directory (extended for sysops) (5)
2037 Works just like the user command except that sysops can see ALL messages.
2039 <sect1>disconnect (8)
2043 <bf>disconnect <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Disconnect a user or node
2047 Disconnect any <call> connected locally
2053 <bf>dx [by <call>] <freq> <call> <remarks></bf> Send a DX spot
2057 This is how you send a DX Spot to other users. You can, in fact, now
2058 enter the <freq> and the <call> either way round.
2066 will all give the same result. You can add some remarks to the end
2067 of the command and they will be added to the spot.
2070 DX FR0G 144600 this is a test
2073 You can credit someone else by saying:-
2076 DX by G1TLH FR0G 144.600 he isn't on the cluster
2079 The <freq> is compared against the available bands set up in the
2080 cluster. See SHOW/BANDS for more information.
2086 <bf>export <msgno> <filename></bf> Export a message to a file
2090 Export a message to a file. This command can only be executed on a local
2091 console with a fully privileged user. The file produced will be in a form
2092 ready to be imported back into the cluster by placing it in the import
2093 directory (/spider/msg/import).
2095 This command cannot overwrite an existing file. This is to provide some
2096 measure of security. Any files written will owned by the same user as the
2097 main cluster, otherwise you can put the new files anywhere the cluster can
2098 access. For example:-
2102 <sect1>export_users (9)
2106 <bf>export_users [<filename>]</bf> Export the users database to ascii
2110 Export the users database to a file in ascii format. If no filename
2111 is given then it will export the file to /spider/data/user_asc.
2113 If the file already exists it will be renamed to <filename>.o. In fact
2114 up to 5 generations of the file can be kept each one with an extra 'o' on the
2117 BE WARNED: this will write to any file you have write access to. No check is
2118 made on the filename (if any) that you specify.
2120 <sect1>forward/latlong (8)
2124 <bf>forward/latlong <node_call></bf> Send latitude and longitude
2125 information to another cluster
2129 This command sends all the latitude and longitude information that your
2130 cluster is holding against callsigns. One advantage of recieving this
2131 information is that more locator information is held by you. This
2132 means that more locators are given on the DX line assuming you have
2133 <em>set/dxgrid</em> enabled. This could be a LOT of information though, so
2134 it is not recommended on slow links.
2136 <sect1>forward/opername (1)
2140 <bf>forward/opername <call></bf> Send out information on this <call>
2145 This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
2146 be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH, Location
2147 and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is available.
2153 <bf>help <cmd></bf> Get help on a command
2157 All commands can be abbreviated, so SHOW/DX can be abbreviated
2158 to SH/DX, ANNOUNCE can be shortened to AN and so on.
2160 Look at the APROPOS <string> command which will search the help database
2161 for the <string> you specify and give you a list of likely commands
2162 to look at with HELP.
2168 <bf>init <node call></bf> Re-initialise a link to an AK1A compatible node
2172 This command attempts to re-initialise a link to a (usually) AK1A node
2173 that has got confused, usually by a protocol loop of some kind. It may
2174 work - but you usually will be better off simply disconnecting it (or
2175 better, if it is a real AK1A node, doing an RCMD <node> DISC/F <your
2178 Best of luck - you will need it.
2184 <bf>kill <msgno> [<msgno> ..]</bf> Delete a message
2185 from the local system
2189 Delete a message from the local system. You will only be able to
2190 delete messages that you have originated or been sent (unless you are
2197 <bf>kill <msgno> [<msgno> ...]</bf> Remove or erase a message from
2199 <bf>kill from <call></bf> Remove all messages from a callsign<newline>
2200 <bf>kill to <call></bf> Remove all messages to a callsign<newline>
2204 You can get rid of any message to or originating from your callsign using
2205 this command. You can remove more than one message at a time.
2207 As a sysop you can kill any message on the system.
2209 <sect1>kill full (5)
2213 <bf>kill full <msgno> [<msgno>]</bf> Delete a message from the
2218 Delete a message (usually a 'bulletin') from the whole cluster system.
2220 This uses the subject field, so any messages that have exactly the same subject
2221 will be deleted. Beware!
2227 <bf>links</bf> Show which nodes are physically connected
2231 This is a quick listing that shows which links are connected and
2232 some information about them. See WHO for a list of all connections.
2235 <sect1>load/aliases (9)
2239 <bf>load/aliases</bf> Reload the command alias table
2243 Reload the /spider/cmd/Aliases file after you have editted it. You will need to
2244 do this if you change this file whilst the cluster is running in order for the
2245 changes to take effect.
2248 <sect1>load/baddx (9)
2252 <bf>load/baddx</bf> Reload the bad DX table
2256 Reload the /spider/data/baddx.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
2257 the cluster is running. This table contains the DX Calls that, if spotted,
2258 will not be passed on. FR0G and TEST are classic examples.
2260 <sect1>load/badmsg (9)
2264 <bf>load/badmsg</bf> Reload the bad message table
2268 Reload the /spider/msg/badmsg.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
2269 the cluster is running. This table contains a number of perl regular
2270 expressions which are searched for in the fields targetted of each message.
2271 If any of them match then that message is immediately deleted on receipt.
2273 <sect1>load/badwords (9)
2277 <bf>load/badwords</bf> Reload the badwords file
2281 Reload the /spider/data/badwords file if you have changed it manually whilst
2282 the cluster is running. This file contains a list of words which, if found
2283 on certain text portions of PC protocol, will cause those protocol frames
2284 to be rejected. It will all put out a message if any of these words are
2285 used on the announce, dx and talk commands. The words can be one or
2286 more on a line, lines starting with '#' are ignored.
2288 <sect1>load/bands (9)
2292 <bf>load/bands</bf> Reload the band limits table
2296 Reload the /spider/data/bands.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
2297 the cluster is running.
2299 <sect1>load/cmd_cache (9)
2303 <bf>load/cmd_cache</bf> Reload the automatic command cache
2307 Normally, if you change a command file in the cmd or local_cmd tree it will
2308 automatially be picked up by the cluster program. Sometimes it can get confused
2309 if you are doing a lot of moving commands about or delete a command in the
2310 local_cmd tree and want to use the normal one again. Execute this command to
2311 reset everything back to the state it was just after a cluster restart.
2313 <sect1>load/forward (9)
2317 <bf>load/forward</bf> Reload the msg forwarding routing table
2320 Reload the /spider/msg/forward.pl file if you have changed it
2321 manually whilst the cluster is running.
2323 <sect1>load/messages (9)
2327 <bf>load/messages</bf> Reload the system messages file
2331 If you change the /spider/perl/Messages file (usually whilst fiddling/writing ne
2332 commands) you can have them take effect during a cluster session by executing this
2333 command. You need to do this if get something like :-
2335 unknown message 'xxxx' in lang 'en'
2337 <sect1>load/prefixes (9)
2341 <bf>load/prefixes</bf> Reload the prefix table
2345 Reload the /spider/data/prefix_data.pl file if you have changed it manually
2346 whilst the cluster is running.
2352 <bf>merge <node> [<no spots>/<no wwv>]</bf> Ask for the
2353 latest spots and WWV
2357 MERGE allows you to bring your spot and wwv database up to date. By default
2358 it will request the last 10 spots and 5 WWVs from the node you select. The
2359 node must be connected locally.
2361 You can request any number of spots or wwv and although they will be appended
2362 to your databases they will not duplicate any that have recently been added
2363 (the last 2 days for spots and last month for WWV data).
2369 <bf>msg <cmd> <msgno> [data ...]</bf> Alter various message
2374 Alter message parameters like To, From, Subject, whether private or bulletin
2375 or return receipt (RR) is required or whether to keep this message from timing
2379 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
2380 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
2381 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
2382 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
2383 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
2384 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
2385 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
2386 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
2387 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
2388 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waitting time for this message
2389 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
2390 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
2391 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
2392 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
2395 You can look at the status of a message by using:-
2397 STAT/MSG <msgno>
2399 This will display more information on the message than DIR does.
2405 <bf>pc <call> <text></bf> Send text (eg PC Protocol) to <call>
2409 Send some arbitrary text to a locally connected callsign. No processing is done on
2410 the text. This command allows you to send PC Protocol to unstick things if problems
2411 arise (messages get stuck etc). eg:-
2413 pc gb7djk PC33^GB7TLH^GB7DJK^400^
2415 You can also use in the same way as a talk command to a connected user but
2416 without any processing, added of "from <blah> to <blah>" or whatever.
2418 pc G1TLH Try doing that properly!!!
2424 <bf>ping <node></bf> Check the link quality between nodes
2428 his command allows you to send a frame to another cluster node on
2429 the network and get a return frame. The time it takes to do this
2430 is a good indication of the quality of the link. The actual time
2431 it takes is output to the console in seconds.
2432 Any visible cluster node can be PINGed.
2439 <bf>rcmd <node call> <cmd></bf> Send a command to another DX cluster
2443 This command allows you to send nearly any command to another DX Cluster
2444 node that is connected to the system.
2446 Whether you get any output is dependant on a) whether the other system knows
2447 that the node callsign of this cluster is in fact a node b) whether the
2448 other system is allowing RCMDs from this node and c) whether you have
2449 permission to send this command at all.
2455 <bf>read</bf> Read the next unread personal message addressed to you<newline>
2456 <bf>read <msgno></bf> Read the specified message<newline>
2460 You can read any messages that are sent as 'non-personal' and also any
2461 message either sent by or sent to your callsign.
2464 <sect1>read (extended for sysops) (5)
2468 <bf>read <msgno></bf> Read a message on the system
2472 As a sysop you may read any message on the system
2474 <sect1>reject/announce
2478 <bf>reject/announce [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject filter
2483 Create an 'reject this announce' line for a filter.
2485 An reject filter line means that if the announce matches this filter it is
2486 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
2487 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
2489 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2492 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2493 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2495 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2496 origin_itu <numbers>
2497 origin_zone <numbers>
2502 wx 1 filter WX announces
2503 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
2509 rej/ann by_zone 14,15,16 and not by G,M,2
2512 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
2518 but this probably for advanced users...
2520 <sect1>reject/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
2524 <bf>reject/announce <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf> Announce filter sysop version
2528 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2529 default for nodes and users eg:-
2533 reject/ann input node_default by G,M,2
2534 reject/ann user_default by G,M,2
2537 <sect1>reject/spots (0)
2541 <bf>reject/spots [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject filter
2546 Create a 'reject this spot' line for a filter.
2548 A reject filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
2549 dumped (not passed on). See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
2550 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
2552 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2555 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
2556 on <range> same as 'freq'
2557 call <prefixes> eg: G,PA,HB9
2558 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2560 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2570 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
2571 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
2572 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
2573 this is more efficient than saying simply: on HF (but don't get
2574 too hung up about that)
2580 rej/spot 2 on vhf and not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2583 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
2589 but this probably for advanced users...
2591 <sect1>reject/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
2595 <bf>reject/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
2596 Reject spot filter sysop version
2600 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2601 default for nodes and users eg:-
2604 reject/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
2605 reject/spot node_default all
2606 set/hops node_default 10
2608 reject/spot user_default by G,M,2
2611 <sect1>reject/wcy (0)
2615 <bf>reject/wcy [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject WCY filter
2619 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
2620 filter on the following fields:-
2623 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2625 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2626 origin_itu <numbers>
2627 origin_zone <numbers>
2634 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place and
2635 you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want them).
2637 This command is really provided for future use.
2639 See HELP FILTER for information.
2641 <sect1>reject/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
2645 <bf>reject/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
2646 WCY reject filter sysop version
2650 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2651 default for nodes and users eg:-
2653 reject/wcy gb7djk all
2655 <sect1>reject/wwv (0)
2659 <bf>reject/wwv [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject WWV filter
2663 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
2664 filter on the following fields:-
2667 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2669 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2670 origin_itu <numbers>
2671 origin_zone <numbers>
2681 reject/wwv by_zone 14,15,16
2684 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV broadcasts
2685 by stations in the US).
2687 See HELP FILTER for information.
2689 <sect1>reject/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
2693 <bf>reject/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
2694 WWV reject filter sysop version
2697 <P>This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2698 default for nodes and users eg:-
2701 reject/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
2702 reject/wwv node_default all
2704 reject/wwv user_default by W
2711 <bf>reply</bf> Reply (privately) to the last message that you have read<newline>
2712 <bf>reply <msgno></bf> Reply (privately) to the specified message<newline>
2713 <bf>reply B <msgno></bf> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified message<newline>
2714 <bf>reply NOPrivate <msgno></bf> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified
2716 <bf>reply RR <msgno></bf> Reply to the specified message with read
2721 You can reply to a message and the subject will automatically have
2722 "Re:" inserted in front of it, if it isn't already present.
2724 You can also use all the extra qualifiers such as RR, PRIVATE,
2725 NOPRIVATE, B that you can use with the SEND command (see SEND
2726 for further details)
2732 <bf>send <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Send a message to
2733 one or more callsigns<newline>
2734 <bf>send RR <call></bf> Send a message and ask for a read receipt<newline>
2735 <bf>send COPY <msgno> <call></bf> Send a copy of a message
2737 <bf>send PRIVATE <call></bf> Send a personal message<newline>
2738 <bf>send NOPRIVATE <call></bf> Send a message to all stations<newline>
2742 All the SEND commands will create a message which will be sent either to
2743 an individual callsign or to one of the 'bulletin' addresses.
2745 SEND <call> on its own acts as though you had typed SEND PRIVATE, that is
2746 it will mark the message as personal and send it to the cluster node that
2747 that callsign is connected to.
2749 You can have more than one callsign in all of the SEND commands.
2751 You can have multiple qualifiers so that you can have for example:-
2754 SEND RR COPY 123 PRIVATE G1TLH G0RDI
2757 which should send a copy of message 123 to G1TLH and G0RDI and you will
2758 receive a read receipt when they have read the message.
2760 SB is an alias for SEND NOPRIVATE (or send a bulletin in BBS speak)
2761 SP is an alias for SEND PRIVATE
2763 <sect1>set/address (0)
2767 <bf>set/address <your_address></bf> Record your postal address
2771 Literally, record your address details on the cluster.
2773 <sect1>set/announce (0)
2777 <bf>set/announce</bf> Allow announce messages
2781 Allow announce messages to arrive at your terminal.
2783 <sect1>set/arcluster (5)
2787 <bf>set/arcluster <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
2788 the node_call an AR-Cluster type node
2792 Set the node_call as an AR-Cluster type node
2794 <sect1>set/baddx (8)
2798 <bf>set/baddx <call></bf> Stop words we do not wish to see in the callsign field
2799 of a dx spot being propagated
2803 Setting a word as 'baddx' will prevent spots with that word in the callsign
2804 field of a DX spot from going any further. They will not be displayed and they
2805 will not be sent onto other nodes.
2807 The word must be wriiten in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
2810 set/baddx FORSALE VIDEO FR0G
2813 To allow a word again, use the following command ...
2819 <sect1>set/badnode (6)
2823 <bf>set/badnode <node_call></bf> Stop spots from this node_call
2828 Setting a callsign as a 'badnode' will prevent spots from that node
2829 going any further. They will not be displayed and they will not be
2830 sent onto other nodes.
2832 The call can be a full or partial call (or a prefix), eg:-
2838 will stop anything from K1TTT (including any SSID's)
2844 will allow spots from him again.
2846 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by FILTERing.
2848 <sect1>set/badspotter (8)
2852 <bf>set/badspotter <call></bf> Stop spots from this callsign being propagated
2856 Setting a callsign as a 'badspotter' will prevent spots from this callsign
2857 going any further. They will not be displayed and they will not be
2858 sent onto other nodes.
2860 The call must be written in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
2863 set/badspotter VE2STN
2866 will stop anything from VE2STN. If you want SSIDs as well then you must
2867 enter them specifically.
2870 unset/badspotter VE2STN
2873 will allow spots from him again.
2875 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by FILTERing.
2881 <bf>set/beep</bf> Add beeps to terminal messages
2885 Add a beep to DX and other terminal messages.
2891 <bf>set/clx <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
2892 the node_call a CLX type node
2896 Set the node_call as a CLX type node
2898 <sect1>set/debug (9)
2902 <bf>set/debug <name></bf> Add a debug level to the debug set
2906 You can choose to log several different levels. The levels are
2914 You can show what levels you are logging with the <em>show/debug</em>
2917 You can remove a debug level with unset/debug <name>
2923 <bf>set/dx</bf>Allow DX messages to arrive at your terminal
2927 You can stop DX messages with the <em>unset/dx</em> command
2929 <sect1>set/dxgrid (0)
2933 <bf>set/dxgrid</bf>Allow grid squares on the end of DX messages
2937 Some logging programs do not like the additional information at
2938 the end of a DX spot. If this is the case, use the <em>unset/dxgrid</em>
2939 command to remove the grid squares.
2941 <sect1>set/dxnet (5)
2945 <bf>set/dxnet <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
2946 the node_call a DXNet type node
2950 Set the node_call as a DXNet type node
2956 <bf>set/echo</bf> Make the cluster echo your input
2960 If you are connected via a telnet session, different implimentations
2961 of telnet handle echo differently depending on whether you are
2962 connected via port 23 or some other port. You can use this command
2963 to change the setting appropriately.
2965 You can remove the echo with the <em>unset/echo</em> command
2967 The setting is stored in your user profile.
2969 YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE THIS COMMAND IF YOU ARE CONNECTED VIA AX25.
2975 <bf>set/here</bf> Set the here flag
2979 Let others on the cluster know you are here by only displaying your
2980 callsign. If you are away from your terminal you can use the <em>unset/here</em>
2981 command to let people know you are away. This simply puts brackets
2982 around your callsign to indicate you are not available.
2984 <sect1>set/homenode (0)
2988 <bf>set/homenode <node_call></bf> Set your home cluster
2992 Tell the cluster system where you normally connect to. Any Messages sent
2993 to you will normally find their way there should you not be connected.
3004 <bf>set/hops <node_call> ann|spots|wwv|wcy <n></bf>
3009 Set the hop count for a particular type of broadcast for a node.
3011 This command allows you to set up special hop counts for a node
3012 for currently: announce, spots, wwv and wcy broadcasts.
3016 set/hops gb7djk ann 10
3017 set/hops gb7mbc spots 20
3020 Set SHOW/HOPS for information on what is already set. This command
3021 creates a filter and works in conjunction with the filter system.
3023 <sect1>set/isolate (9)
3027 <bf>set/isolate <node call></bf> Isolate a node from the rest of the network
3031 Connect a node to your system in such a way that you are a full protocol
3032 member of its network and can see all spots on it, but nothing either leaks
3033 out from it nor goes back into from the rest of the nodes connected to you.
3035 You can potentially connect several nodes in this way.
3037 You can see which nodes are isolated with the show/isolate (1) command.
3039 You can remove the isolation with the command unset/isolate.
3041 <sect1>set/language (0)
3045 <bf>set/language <language></bf> Set the language you wish to use
3049 You can select the language that you want the cluster to use. Currently
3050 the languages available are <em>en</em> (English) and <em>nl</em> (Dutch).
3052 <sect1>set/location (0)
3056 <bf>set/location <lat and long></bf> Set your latitude and longitude
3060 You can set your latitude and longitude manually or alternatively use the
3061 <em>set/qra</em> command which will do the conversion for you.
3064 set/location 54 04 N 2 02 E
3068 <sect1>set/sys_location (9)
3072 <bf>set/sys_location <lat & long></bf> Set your cluster latitude and longitude
3076 In order to get accurate headings and such like you must tell the system
3077 what your latitude and longitude is. If you have not yet done a SET/QRA
3078 then this command will set your QRA locator for you. For example:-
3081 SET/LOCATION 52 22 N 0 57 E
3084 <sect1>set/logininfo (0)
3088 <bf>set/logininfo</bf> Show logins and logouts of nodes and users
3092 Show users and nodes when they log in and out of the local cluster. You
3093 can stop these messages by using the <em>unset/logininfo</em> command.
3096 <sect1>set/lockout (9)
3100 <bf>set/lockout <call></bf> Stop a callsign connecting to the cluster
3104 You can show who is locked out with the <em>show/lockout</em> command.
3105 To allow the user to connect again, use the <em>unset/lockout</em> command.
3111 <bf>set/name <your_name></bf> Set your name
3115 Tell the cluster what your name is, eg:-
3125 <bf>set/node <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Make the callsign an AK1A cluster
3129 Tell the system that the call(s) are to be treated as AK1A cluster and
3130 fed PC Protocol rather normal user commands.
3132 From version 1.41 you can also set the following types of cluster
3141 To see what your nodes are set to, use the <em>show/nodes</em> command.
3143 <sect1>set/obscount (9)
3147 <bf>set/obscount <count> <node call></bf> Set the 'pump-up'
3148 obsolescence counter
3152 From version 1.35 onwards neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular intervals (see
3153 SET/PINGINTERVAL), usually 300 seconds or 5 minutes. There is a 'pump-up'
3154 counter which is decremented on every outgoing ping and then reset to
3155 the 'obscount' value on every incoming ping. The default value of this
3158 What this means is that a neighbouring node will be pinged twice at
3159 (default) 300 second intervals and if no reply has been heard just before
3160 what would be the third attempt, that node is disconnected.
3162 If a ping is heard then the obscount is reset to the full value. Using
3163 default values, if a node has not responded to a ping within 15 minutes,
3170 <bf>set/page <n></bf> Set the number of lines per page
3174 Tell the system how many lines you wish on a page when the number of lines
3175 of output from a command is more than this. The default is 20. Setting it
3176 explicitly to 0 will disable paging.
3183 The setting is stored in your user profile.
3186 <sect1>set/password (9)
3190 <bf>set/password <callsign> <string></bf> Set a users password
3194 The password for a user can only be set by a full sysop. The string
3195 can contain any characters but any spaces are removed (you can type in
3196 spaces - but they won't appear in the password). You can see the
3197 result with STAT/USER. The password is the usual 30 character baycom
3200 <sect1>set/pinginterval (9)
3204 <bf>set/pinginterval <time> <node call></bf> Set the ping time
3205 to neighbouring nodes
3209 As from version 1.35 all neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular intervals
3210 in order to determine the rolling quality of the link and, in future, to
3211 affect routing decisions. The default interval is 300 secs or 5 minutes.
3213 You can use this command to set a different interval. Please don't.
3215 But if you do the value you enter is treated as minutes up 60 and seconds
3216 for numbers greater than that.
3218 This is used also to help determine when a link is down at the far end
3219 (as certain cluster software doesn't always notice), see SET/OBSCOUNT
3220 for more information.
3222 <sect1>set/privilege (9)
3226 <bf>set/privilege <n> <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Set the
3227 privilege level on a call
3231 Set the privilege level on a callsign. The privilege levels that pertain
3232 to commands are as default:-
3236 1 - allow remote nodes normal user RCMDs
3237 5 - various privileged commands (including shutdown, but not disc-
3238 connect), the normal level for another node.
3239 8 - more privileged commands (including disconnect)
3240 9 - local sysop privilege. DO NOT SET ANY REMOTE USER OR NODE TO THIS
3244 If you are a sysop and you come in as a normal user on a remote connection
3245 your privilege will automatically be set to 0.
3247 <sect1>set/spider (5)
3251 <bf>set/spider <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
3252 the node_call a DXSpider type node
3256 Set the node_call as a DXSpider type node
3258 <sect1>set/sys_qra (9)
3262 <bf>set/sys_qra <locator></bf> Set your cluster QRA locator
3269 <bf>set/qra <locator></bf> Set your QRA locator
3273 Tell the system what your QRA (or Maidenhead) locator is. If you have not
3274 done a SET/LOCATION then your latitude and longitude will be set roughly
3275 correctly (assuming your locator is correct ;-). For example:-
3285 <bf>set/qth <your QTH></bf> Set your QTH
3289 Tell the system where your are. For example:-
3292 set/qth East Dereham, Norfolk
3299 <bf>set/talk</bf> Allow talk messages to be seen at your console
3303 Allow talk messages to arrive at your console. You can switch off
3304 talks with the <em>unset/talk</em> command.
3310 <bf>set/wcy</bf> Allow WCY messages to be seen at your console
3314 Allow WCY information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
3315 WCY messages with the <em>unset/wcy</em> command.
3321 <bf>set/wwv</bf> Allow WWV messages to be seen at your console
3325 Allow WWV information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
3326 WWV messages with the <em>unset/wwv</em> command.
3332 <bf>set/wx</bf> Allow WX messages to be seen at your console
3336 Allow WX information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
3337 WX messages with the <em>unset/wx</em> command.
3339 <sect1>show/baddx (1)
3343 <bf>show/baddx</bf>Show all the bad dx calls in the system
3347 Display all the bad dx callsigns in the system, see SET/BADDX
3348 for more information.
3350 <sect1>show/badnode (6)
3354 <bf>show/badnode</bf> Show all the bad nodes in the system
3358 Display all the bad node callsigns in the system, see SET/BADNODE
3359 for more information.
3361 <sect1>show/badspotter (1)
3365 <bf>show/badspotter</bf> Show all the bad spotters in the system
3369 Display all the bad spotter's callsigns in the system, see SET/BADSPOTTER
3370 for more information.
3372 <sect1>show/configuration (0)
3376 <bf>show/configuration [<node>]</bf> Show all visible nodes and their users
3380 This command allows you to see all the users that can be seen
3381 and the nodes to which they are connected. With the optional <em>node</em>,
3382 you can specify a particular node to look at.
3384 This command is normally abbreviated to: sh/c
3386 BE WARNED: the list that is returned can be VERY long
3388 <sect1>show/configuration/node (0)
3392 <bf>show/configuration/node</bf> Show all the nodes connected
3396 Show all the nodes connected locally and the nodes they have connected.
3398 <sect1>show/connect (1)
3402 <bf>show/connect</bf> Show all the active connections
3406 This command shows information on all the active connections known to
3407 the node. This command gives slightly more information than WHO.
3409 <sect1>show/date (0)
3413 <bf>show/date [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show
3418 This is very nearly the same as SHOW/TIME, the only difference the format
3419 of the date string if no arguments are given.
3421 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the local
3422 time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some prefixes
3423 then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not including DST) at
3424 the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
3426 <sect1>show/debug (9)
3430 <bf>show/debug</bf> Show what levels of debug you are logging
3434 The levels can be set with <em>set/debug</em>
3440 <bf>show/dx [options]</bf> interrogate the spot database
3444 If you just type SHOW/DX you will get the last so many spots
3445 (sysop configurable, but usually 10).
3447 In addition you can add any number of these options in very nearly
3448 any order to the basic SHOW/DX command, they are:-
3451 on <band> - eg 160m 20m 2m 23cm 6mm
3452 on <region> - eg hf vhf uhf shf (see SHOW/BANDS)
3454 <number> - the number of spots you want
3455 <from>-<to> - <from> spot no <to> spot no in
3458 <prefix> - for a spotted callsign beginning with <prefix>
3459 *<suffix> - for a spotted callsign ending in <suffix>
3460 *<string>* - for a spotted callsign containing <string>
3462 day <number> - starting <number> days ago
3463 day <from>-<to> - <from> days <to> days ago
3465 info <text> - any spots containing <text> in the info or remarks
3467 by <call> - any spots spotted by <call> (spotter <call>
3470 qsl - this automatically looks for any qsl info on the call
3471 held in the spot database.
3473 iota [<iota>] - If the iota island number is missing it will
3474 look for the string iota and anything which looks like
3475 an iota island number. If you specify then it will look
3478 qra [<locator>] - this will look for the specific locator if
3479 you specify one or else anything that looks like a locator.
3486 SH/DX on 20m info iota
3487 SH/DX 9a on vhf day 30
3494 <sect1>show/dxcc (0)
3498 <bf>show/dxcc <prefix></bf> Interrogate the spot database by country
3502 This command takes the <prefix> (which can be a full or partial
3503 callsign if desired), looks up which internal country number it is
3504 and then displays all the spots as per SH/DX for that country.
3506 The options for SHOW/DX also apply to this command.
3511 SH/DXCC W on 20m info iota
3514 <sect1>show/files (0)
3518 <bf>show/files [<filearea> [<string>]]</bf> List
3519 the contents of a filearea
3523 SHOW/FILES on its own will show you a list of the various fileareas
3524 available on the system. To see the contents of a particular file
3528 SH/FILES <filearea>
3531 where <filearea> is the name of the filearea you want to see the
3534 You can also use shell globbing characters like '*' and '?' in a
3535 string to see a selection of files in a filearea eg:-
3538 SH/FILES bulletins arld*
3541 See also TYPE - to see the contents of a file.
3543 <sect1>show/filter (0)
3547 <bf>show/filter</bf> Show the filters you have set
3551 Show the contents of all the filters that are set by you. This command
3552 displays all the filters set - for all the various categories.
3554 <sect1>show/filter (extended for sysops) (5)
3558 <bf>show/filter <callsign></bf> Show the filters set by <callsign>
3562 A sysop can look at any filters that have been set.
3564 <sect1>show/hops (8)
3568 <bf>show/hops <node_call> [ann|spots|wcy|wwv|]</bf> Show the hop
3573 This command shows the hop counts set up for a node. You can specify
3574 which category you want to see. If you leave the category out then
3575 all the categories will be listed.
3577 <sect1>show/isolate (1)
3581 <bf>show/isolate</bf> Show a list of isolated nodes
3585 Show which nodes are currently set to be isolated.
3587 <sect1>show/lockout (9)
3591 <bf>show/lockout</bf> Show a list of excluded callsigns
3595 Show a list of callsigns that have been excluded (locked out) of the
3596 cluster locally with the <em>set/lockout</em> command
3602 <bf>show/log [<callsign>]</bf> Show excerpts from the system log
3606 This command outputs a short section of the system log. On its own
3607 it will output a general logfile. With the optional callsign it will
3608 show output from the log associated with that callsign.
3610 <sect1>show/moon (0)
3614 <bf>show/moon [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show moon
3619 Show the Moon rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or callsigns,
3620 together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun currently at those
3623 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times for
3624 your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or SET/QRA),
3625 together with the current azimuth and elevation.
3627 In addition, it will show the gain or loss dB relative to the nominal
3628 distance of 385,000Km due to the ellipsoidal nature of the orbit.
3630 If all else fails it will show the Moonrise and set times for the node
3631 that you are connected to.
3644 <bf>show/muf <prefix> [<hours>][long]</bf> Show
3645 the likely propagation to <prefix>
3649 This command allow you to estimate the likelihood of you contacting
3650 a station with the prefix you have specified. The output assumes a modest
3651 power of 20dBW and receiver sensitivity of -123dBm (about 0.15muV/10dB SINAD)
3653 The result predicts the most likely operating frequencies and signal
3654 levels for high frequency (shortwave) radio propagation paths on
3655 specified days of the year and hours of the day. It is most useful for
3656 paths between 250 km and 6000 km, but can be used with reduced accuracy
3657 for paths shorter or longer than this.
3659 The command uses a routine MINIMUF 3.5 developed by the U.S. Navy and
3660 used to predict the MUF given the predicted flux, day of the year,
3661 hour of the day and geographic coordinates of the transmitter and
3662 receiver. This routine is reasonably accurate for the purposes here,
3663 with a claimed RMS error of 3.8 MHz, but much smaller and less complex
3664 than the programs used by major shortwave broadcasting organizations,
3665 such as the Voice of America.
3667 The command will display some header information detailing its
3668 assumptions, together with the locations, latitude and longitudes and
3669 bearings. It will then show UTC (UT), local time at the other end
3670 (LT), calculate the MUFs, Sun zenith angle at the midpoint of the path
3671 (Zen) and the likely signal strengths. Then for each frequency for which
3672 the system thinks there is a likelihood of a circuit it prints a value.
3674 The value is currently a likely S meter reading based on the conventional
3675 6dB / S point scale. If the value has a '+' appended it means that it is
3676 1/2 an S point stronger. If the value is preceeded by an 'm' it means that
3677 there is likely to be much fading and by an 's' that the signal is likely
3680 By default SHOW/MUF will show the next two hours worth of data. You
3681 can specify anything up to 24 hours worth of data by appending the no of
3682 hours required after the prefix. For example:-
3691 RxSens: -123 dBM SFI: 159 R: 193 Month: 10 Day: 21
3692 Power : 20 dBW Distance: 6283 km Delay: 22.4 ms
3693 Location Lat / Long Azim
3694 East Dereham, Norfolk 52 41 N 0 57 E 47
3695 United-States-W 43 0 N 87 54 W 299
3696 UT LT MUF Zen 1.8 3.5 7.0 10.1 14.0 18.1 21.0 24.9 28.0 50.0
3697 18 23 11.5 -35 mS0+ mS2 S3
3698 19 0 11.2 -41 mS0+ mS2 S3
3701 indicating that you will have weak, fading circuits on top band and
3702 80m but usable signals on 40m (about S3).
3710 will get you the above display, but with the next 24 hours worth of
3718 Gives you an estimate of the long path propagation characterics. It
3719 should be noted that the figures will probably not be very useful, nor
3720 terrible accurate, but it is included for completeness.
3722 <sect1>show/node (1)
3726 <bf>show/node [<node_call> ...]</bf> Show the type and version
3731 Show the type and version (if connected) of the nodes specified on the
3732 command line. If no callsigns are specified then a sorted list of all
3733 the non-user callsigns known to the system will be displayed.
3735 <sect1>show/prefix (0)
3739 <bf>show/prefix <callsign></bf> Interrogate the prefix database
3743 This command takes the <callsign> (which can be a full or partial
3744 callsign or a prefix), looks up which internal country number
3745 it is and then displays all the relevant prefixes for that country
3746 together with the internal country no, the CQ and ITU regions.
3751 <sect1>show/program (5)
3755 <bf>show/program</bf> Show the locations of all the included program modules
3759 Show the name and location where every program module was load from. This
3760 is useful for checking where you think you have loaded a .pm file from.
3766 <bf>show/qra <locator> [<locator>]</bf> Show the distance
3767 between locators<newline>
3768 <bf>show/qra <lat> <long></bf> Convert latitude and longitude to
3773 This is a multipurpose command that allows you either to calculate the
3774 distance and bearing between two locators or (if only one locator is
3775 given on the command line) the distance and beraing from your station
3776 to the locator. For example:-
3783 The first example will show the distance and bearing to the locator from
3784 yourself, the second example will calculate the distance and bearing from
3785 the first locator to the second. You can use 4 or 6 character locators.
3787 It is also possible to convert a latitude and longitude to a locator by
3788 using this command with a latitude and longitude as an argument, for
3792 SH/QRA 52 41 N 0 58 E
3799 <bf>show/qrz <callsign></bf> Show any callbook details on a callsign
3803 This command queries the QRZ callbook server on the internet
3804 and returns any information available for that callsign. This service
3805 is provided for users of this software by http://www.qrz.com
3807 <sect1>show/route (0)
3811 <bf>show/route <callsign></bf> Show the route to <callsign>
3815 This command allows you to see to which node the callsigns specified are
3816 connected. It is a sort of inverse sh/config.
3822 <sect1>show/satellite (0)
3826 <bf>show/satellite <name> [<hours> <interval>]</bf>
3827 Show satellite tracking data
3831 Show the tracking data from your location to the satellite of your choice
3832 from now on for the next few hours.
3834 If you use this command without a satellite name it will display a list
3835 of all the satellites known currently to the system.
3837 If you give a name then you can obtain tracking data of all the passes
3838 that start and finish 5 degrees below the horizon. As default it will
3839 give information for the next three hours for every five minute period.
3841 You can alter the number of hours and the step size, within certain
3844 Each pass in a period is separated with a row of '-----' characters
3850 SH/SAT FENGYUN1 12 2
3857 <bf>show/sun [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show
3858 sun rise and set times
3862 Show the sun rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or callsigns,
3863 together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun currently at those
3866 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times for
3867 your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or SET/QRA),
3868 together with the current azimuth and elevation.
3870 If all else fails it will show the sunrise and set times for the node
3871 that you are connected to.
3877 SH/SUN G1TLH K9CW ZS
3880 <sect1>show/time (0)
3884 <bf>show/time [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show
3889 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the local
3890 time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some prefixes
3891 then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not including DST) at
3892 the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
3898 <bf>show/wcy</bf> Show the last 10 WCY broadcasts<newline>
3899 <bf>show/wcy <n></bf> Show the last <n> WCY broadcasts
3903 Display the most recent WCY information that has been received by the system
3909 <bf>show/wwv</bf> Show the last 10 WWV broadcasts<newline>
3910 <bf>show/wwv <n></bf> Show the last <n> WWV broadcasts
3914 Display the most recent WWV information that has been received by the system
3921 <bf>shutdown</bf> Shutdown the cluster
3925 Shutdown the cluster and disconnect all the users. If you have Spider
3926 set to respawn in /etc/inittab it will of course restart.
3932 <bf>spoof <callsign> <command></bf> Run commands as another user
3936 This is a very simple yet powerful command for the sysop. It allows you to
3937 issue commands as if you were a different user. This is very useful for the
3938 kind of things that users seem to always get wrong.. like home_node for
3945 <bf>stat/db <dbname></bf> Show the status of a database
3949 Show the internal status of a database descriptor.
3951 Depending on your privilege level you will see more or less information.
3952 This command is unlikely to be of much use to anyone other than a sysop.
3954 <sect1>stat/channel (5)
3958 <bf>stat/channel <callsign></bf> Show the status of a channel on the cluster
3962 Show the internal status of the channel object either for the channel that
3963 you are on or else for the callsign that you asked for.
3965 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
3971 <bf>stat/msg <msgno></bf> Show the status of a message
3975 This command shows the internal status of a message and includes information
3976 such as to whom it has been forwarded, its size, origin etc etc.
3978 <sect1>stat/user (5)
3982 <bf>stat/user <callsign></bf> Show the full status of a user
3986 Shows the full contents of a user record including all the secret flags
3989 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
3995 <bf>sysop</bf> Regain your privileges if you login remotely
3999 The system automatically reduces your privilege level to that of a
4000 normal user if you login in remotely. This command allows you to
4001 regain your normal privilege level. It uses the normal system: five
4002 numbers are returned that are indexes into the character array that is
4003 your assigned password (see SET/PASSWORD). The indexes start from
4006 You are expected to return a string which contains the characters
4007 required in the correct order. You may intersperse those characters
4008 with others to obscure your reply for any watchers. For example (and
4009 these values are for explanation :-):
4012 password = 012345678901234567890123456789
4020 aa2bbbb0ccc5ddd7xxx3n
4025 They will all match. If there is no password you will still be offered
4026 numbers but nothing will happen when you input a string. Any match is
4033 <bf>talk <callsign></bf> Enter talk mode with <callsign><newline>
4034 <bf>talk <callsign> <text></bf> Send a text message to <callsign><newline>
4035 <bf>talk <callsign> > <node_call> [<text>]</bf>
4036 Send a text message to <callsign> via <node_call>
4040 Send a short message to any other station that is visible on the cluster
4041 system. You can send it to anyone you can see with a SHOW/CONFIGURATION
4042 command, they don't have to be connected locally.
4044 The second form of TALK is used when other cluster nodes are connected
4045 with restricted information. This usually means that they don't send
4046 the user information usually associated with logging on and off the cluster.
4048 If you know that G3JNB is likely to be present on GB7TLH, but you can only
4049 see GB7TLH in the SH/C list but with no users, then you would use the
4050 second form of the talk message.
4052 If you want to have a ragchew with someone you can leave the text message
4053 out and the system will go into 'Talk' mode. What this means is that a
4054 short message is sent to the recipient telling them that you are in a 'Talking'
4055 frame of mind and then you just type - everything you send will go to the
4056 station that you asked for.
4058 All the usual announcements, spots and so on will still come out on your
4061 If you want to do something (such as send a spot) you precede the normal
4062 command with a '/' character, eg:-
4065 /DX 14001 G1TLH What's a B class licensee doing on 20m CW?
4069 To leave talk mode type:
4079 <bf>type <filearea>/<name></bf> Look at a file in one of the fileareas
4083 Type out the contents of a file in a filearea. So, for example, in
4084 filearea 'bulletins' you want to look at file 'arld051' you would
4088 TYPE bulletins/arld051
4091 See also SHOW/FILES to see what fileareas are available and a
4098 <bf>who</bf> Show who is physically connected locally
4102 This is a quick listing that shows which callsigns are connected and
4103 what sort of connection they have
4109 <bf>wx <text></bf> Send a weather message to local users<newline>
4110 <bf>wx full <text> </bf> Send a weather message to all cluster users
4114 Weather messages can sometimes be useful if you are experiencing an extreme
4115 that may indicate enhanced conditions
4117 <sect1>wx (enhanced for sysops) (5)
4121 <bf>wx sysop <text></bf> Send a weather message to other clusters only
4125 Send a weather message only to other cluster nodes and not to general users.
projects / spider.git / blob