1 <!doctype linuxdoc system>
5 <!-- Title information -->
7 <title>The DXSpider Installation and Administration Manual
8 <author>Ian Maude, G0VGS, (ianmaude@btinternet.com)
9 <date>Version 1.33 February 2001
11 A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
14 <!-- Table of contents -->
17 <!-- Begin the document -->
19 <sect>Installation (Original version by Iain Phillips, G0RDI)
24 This section describes the installation of DX Spider v1.35 on a
25 <htmlurl url="http://www.redhat.com" name="RedHat"> Linux Distribution.
26 I do not intend to try and cover the installation of Linux or the setup
27 of the AX25 utilities. If you need help on this then read Iains original
28 HOWTO on the <htmlurl url="http://www.dxcluster.org" name="DXSpider">
32 I am assuming a general knowledge of Linux and its commands. You should
33 know how to use <em>tar</em> and how to edit files using your favourite editor.
36 The crucial ingredient for all of this is
37 <htmlurl url="http://www.perl.org" name="Perl 5.004">. Now I know Perl 5.005
38 is out and this will almost certainly work with it, but
39 <htmlurl url="http://www.redhat.com" name="RedHat 5.1"> comes with 5.004.
40 <em>Be Warned</em>, earlier versions of
41 <htmlurl url="http://www.redhat.com" name="RedHat"> <bf>do not</bf> come
42 with 5.004 as standard, you need to
43 <htmlurl url="ftp://upgrade.redhat.com" name="upgrade">
45 <P>In addition to the standard Red Hat distribution you will require the
46 following <htmlurl url="http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html" name="CPAN"> modules: -
52 <item> Data-Dumper-2.10.tar.gz
53 <item> FreezeThaw-0.3.tar.gz
54 <item> MLDBM-2.00.tar.gz
55 <item> TimeDate-1.08.tar.gz
57 <item> Net-Telnet-3.02.tar.gz
58 <item> Curses-1.05.tar.gz
59 <item> Time-HiRes-01.20.tar.gz
65 <em>Do</em> get the latest versions of these packages and install them
66 but use the above list as the earliest versions usable.
71 I will assume that you have already downloaded the latest tarball of
72 the DXSpider software and are ready to install it. I am assuming version
73 1.35 for this section but of course you would use the latest version.
76 Login as root and create a user to run the cluster under. <bf><it>UNDER
77 NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE ROOT AS THIS USER!</it></bf>. I am going to use
78 the name <em>sysop</em>. You can call it anything you wish. Depending
79 on your security requirements you may wish to use an existing user,
80 however this is your own choice.
88 Now set a password for the user ...
93 # Retype new UNIX password:
94 passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully
97 <sect1>Installing the software
100 Now to unpack the DX Spider distribution, set symbolic links and group
101 permissions. Copy the tarball to /home/sysop and do the following.
105 # tar xvfz spider-1.35.tar.gz
106 # ln -s ~sysop/spider /spider
107 # groupadd -g 251 spider (or another number)
110 If you do not have the command <em>groupadd</em> available to you simply
111 add a line in /etc/group by hand.
114 # vi /etc/group (or your favorite editor)
117 You also need to add some others to the group, including your own callsign
118 (this will be used as an alias) and root. The finished line in /etc/group
119 should look something like this
122 spider:x:251:sysop,g0vgs,root
126 The next step is to set the permissions on the Spider directory tree and files ....
129 # chown -R sysop.spider spider
130 # find . -type d -exec chmod 2775 {} \;
131 # find . -type f -exec chmod 775 {} \;
135 This last step allows various users of the group <em>spider</em> to have
136 write access to all the directories. This is not really needed just yet
137 but will be useful when web interfaces start to appear.
140 Finally, you need to fix the permissions on the ax25_call and netrom_call
141 programs. Check where they are with the <em>locate</em> command and alter
142 the permissions with the <em>chmod</em> command like this ..
145 # chown root ax25_call netrom_call
146 # chmod 4775 ax25_call netrom_call
149 <sect1>Setting callsigns etc
152 Now login to your machine as the user you created earlier. In my case that
153 user is called <em>sysop</em>. Once logged in, issue the following commands ....
159 $ cp perl/DXVars.pm.issue local/DXVars.pm
161 $ vi DXVars.pm (or your favourite editor)
165 Using the distributed DXVars.pm as a a template, set your cluster callsign,
166 sysop callsign and other user info to suit your own environment. Note that
167 this a perl file which will be parsed and executed as part of the cluster. If
168 you get it wrong then perl will complain when you start the cluster process.
169 It is important only to alter the text of any section. Some of the lines look
170 a little odd. Take this line for example ....
173 $myemail = "ianmaude\@btinternet.com";
177 There appears to be an extra slash in there. However this has to be there
178 for the file to work so leave it in.
180 <P><bf>PLEASE USE CAPITAL LETTERS FOR CALLSIGNS</bf>
183 DON'T alter the DXVars.pm (or any other file) in /spider/perl, they are
184 overwritten with every release. Any files or commands you place in /spider/local
185 or /spider/local_cmd will automagically be used in preference to the ones in
186 /spider/perl EVEN while the cluster is running!
189 Save the new file and change directory to ../perl ....
196 Now type the following command which creates the basic user file with you as
203 <sect1>Starting up for the first time
206 We can now bring spider up for the first time and see if all is well or not!
207 It should look something like this ...
211 DXSpider DX Cluster Version 1.35
212 Copyright (c) 1998 Dirk Koopman G1TLH
214 loading band data ...
215 loading user file system ...
216 starting listener ...
217 reading existing message headers
219 orft we jolly well go ...
223 If all is well then login on another term or console as <em>sysop</em> and
224 cd to /spider/perl. Now issue the following command ...
231 This should log you into the cluster as the sysop under the alias callsign we
232 set earlier. In this case the callsign is G0VGS. The cluster callsign is set
233 in the DXVars.pm file in /spider/local. In this case we will assume that this
234 was set as GB7MBC. You should therefore see this when you login ....
237 G0VGS de GB7MBC 19-Nov-1999 2150Z >
240 If you do, congratulations! If not, look over the instructions again, you
241 have probably missed something out. You can shut spider down again with the
249 and both the cluster and the client should return to Linux prompts.
251 <sect>The Client program
254 In earlier versions of Spider, all the processes were Perl scripts. This
255 was fine but with a lot of users your computer memory would soon be used up.
256 To combat this a new client was written in "C". This client only works for
257 <em>incoming</em> connects at the moment. Before you can use it though it
258 has to be "made". CD to /spider/src and type <em>make</em>. You
259 should see the output on your screen and hopefully now have a small C program
260 called <em>client</em>. Leave it in this directory.
264 <sect1>Allowing ax25 connects from users
267 As stated previously, the aim of this document is not to tell you how to
268 configure Linux or the ax25 utilities. However, you do need to add a line
269 in your ax25d.conf to allow connections to DXSpider for your users. For
270 each interface that you wish to allow connections on, use the following format ...
273 default * * * * * * - sysop /spider/src/client client %u ax25
276 <sect1>Allowing telnet connects from users
279 Allowing telnet connections is quite simple. Firstly you need to add a line
280 in /etc/services to allow connections to a port number, like this ....
283 spdlogin 8000/tcp # spider anonymous login port
286 Then add a line in /etc/inetd.conf like this ....
289 spdlogin stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /spider/src/client login telnet
293 This needs to be added above the standard services such as ftp, telnet etc.
294 Once this is done, you need to restart inetd like this ....
301 <P>Now login as <em>sysop</em> and cd spider/perl. You can test that spider
302 is accepting telnet logins by issuing the following command ....
305 client.pl login telnet
308 You should get a login prompt and on issuing a callsign, you will be given
309 access to the cluster. Note, you will not get a password login. There seems
310 no good reason for a password prompt to be given so it is not asked for.
313 Assuming all is well, then try a telnet from your linux console ....
316 telnet localhost 8000
320 You should now get the login prompt and be able to login as before.
322 <sect1>Setting up node connects
325 In order to allow cluster node connections, spider needs to know that the
326 connecting callsign is a cluster node. This is the case whether the connect
327 is incoming or outgoing. In spider this is a simple task and can be done in
331 Later versions of Spider can distinguish different software and treat them
332 differently. For example, the WCY beacon cannot be handles by AK1A type
333 nodes as AK1A does not know what to do with PC73. There are 4 different
334 types of node at present and although they may not have any major
335 differences at the moment, it allows for compatibility. The 4 types are ...
345 For now, we will assume that the cluster we are going to connect to is an
349 Start up the cluster as you did before and login as the sysop with client.pl.
350 The cluster node I am wanting to make a connection to is GB7BAA but you would
351 obviously use whatever callsign you required. At the prompt type ...
358 The case does not matter as long as you have a version of DXSpider later than
359 1.33. Earlier versions required the callsign to be in upper case.
362 That is now set, it is as simple as that. To prove it, login on yet another
363 console as sysop and issue the command ...
366 client.pl gb7baa (using the callsign you set as a node)
370 You should get an initialisation string from DXSpider like this ...
377 If the callsign you just set up as a cluster node is for an incoming connect,
378 this is all that needs to be done. If the connection is to be outgoing then
379 a connection script needs to be written.
381 <sect1>Connection scripts
384 Because DXSpider operates under Linux, connections can be made using just about
385 any protocol; AX25, NETRom, tcp/ip, ROSE etc are all possible examples.
386 Connect scripts live in the /spider/connect directory and are simple ascii files.
387 Writing a script for connections is therefore relatively simple.
390 The connect scripts consist of lines which start with the following keywords
395 # All lines starting with a # are ignored, as are completely
398 timeout timeout followed by a number is the number of seconds to wait for a
399 command to complete. If there is no timeout specified in the script
400 then the default is 60 seconds.
402 abort abort is a regular expression containing one or more strings to look
403 for to abort a connection. This is a perl regular expression and is
404 executed ignoring case.
406 connect connect followed by ax25 or telnet and some type dependent
407 information. In the case of a telnet connection, there can be up to
409 The first is the ip address or hostname of the computer you wish to
410 connect to and the second is the port number you want to use (this
411 can be left out if it is a normal telnet session).
412 In the case of an ax25 session then this would normally be a call to
413 ax25_call or netrom_call as in the example above. It is your
414 responsibility to get your node and other ax25 parameters to work
415 before going down this route!
417 ' ' is the delimiting character for a word or phrase of an expect/send
418 line in a chat type script. The words/phrases normally come in pairs,
419 either can be empty. Each line reads input from the connection until
420 it sees the string (or perl regular expression) contained in the
421 left hand string. If the left hand string is empty then it doesn't
422 read or wait for anything. The comparison is done ignoring case.
423 When the left hand string has found what it is looking for (if it is)
424 then the right hand string is sent to the connection.
425 This process is repeated for every line of chat script.
427 client client starts the connection, put the arguments you would want here
428 if you were starting the client program manually. You only need this
429 if the script has a different name to the callsign you are trying to
430 connect to (i.e. you have a script called other which actually
431 connects to GB7DJK-1 [instead of a script called gb7djk-1]).
435 There are many possible ways to configure the script but here are two examples,
436 one for a NETRom/AX25 connect and one for tcp/ip.
440 abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
441 # don't forget to chmod 4775 netrom_call!
442 connect ax25 /usr/sbin/netrom_call bbs gb7djk g1tlh
446 # you can leave this out if you call the script 'gb7dxm'
454 connect telnet dirkl.tobit.co.uk
457 # tell GB7DJK-1 that it is connected to GB7DJK
458 # you can leave this out if you call this script 'gb7djk'
463 Both these examples assume that everything is set up properly at the other end.
464 You will find other examples in the /spider/examples directory.
466 <sect1>Starting the connection
469 You start the connection, from within a sysop enabled cluster login, by typing
470 in the word <em>connect</em> followed by a script name like this ....
473 G0VGS de GB7MBC 13-Dec-1998 2041Z >connect gb7djk-1
474 connection to GB7DJK-1 started
475 G0VGS de GB7MBC 13-Dec-1998 2043Z >
478 This will start a connection using the script called <em>gb7djk-1</em>. You can
479 follow the connection by watching the term or console from where you started
480 <em>cluster.pl</em>. You should see something like this ...
483 <- D G1TLH connect gb7djk-1
484 -> D G1TLH connection to GB7DJK-1 started
485 -> D G1TLH G1TLH de GB7DJK 13-Dec-1998 2046Z >
487 CONNECT sort: telnet command: dirkl.tobit.co.uk
488 CHAT "login" -> "gb7djk"
490 Red Hat Linux release 5.1 (Manhattan)
491 Kernel 2.0.35 on an i586
495 CHAT "word" -> "gb7djk"
497 received "Password: "
499 Connected to GB7DJK-1, starting normal protocol
502 GB7DJK-1 channel func state 0 -> init
504 <- D GB7DJK-1 Last login: Sun Dec 13 17:59:56 from dirk1
505 <- D GB7DJK-1 PC38^GB7DJK-1^~
506 <- D GB7DJK-1 PC18^ 1 nodes, 0 local / 1 total users Max users 0 Uptime
513 With later versions of Spider there is a set/login command for users. This
514 tells them when a user or node logs in or out. If you do not add a line to
515 your scripts after the final line (or before the client line which should always
516 be last if needed) then the login/logout information will be sent to users
517 <it>before</it> the login actually completes. This means if a node is
518 unreachable, it will continue sending logins and logouts to users even though it
519 is not actually connecting. To avoid this use the following line ...
526 In a script, this might look like ...
530 abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
531 connect telnet mary 3000
533 '>' 'telnet 44.131.93.96 7305'
540 Cluster links in particular suffer greatly from the presence of telnet echo.
541 This is caused by the telnet negotiation itself and can create at worst severe
542 loops. At best it creates unnecessary bandwidth and large logfiles! There are
543 things that can be done to limit this problem but will not always work dependent
544 on the route taken to connect.
547 Telnet echo itself should only be a problem if the connection is being made to
548 the telnet port (23). This port uses special rules that include echo negotiation.
549 If the connection is to a different port, such as 8000, this negotiation does
550 not happen and therefore no echo should be present.
553 Sometimes it is not possible to make a direct connection to another node and this
554 can cause problems. There is a way of trying to suppress the telnet echo but
555 this will not always work, unfortunately it is difficult to be more specific.
556 Here is an example of what I mean ...
560 abort (Busy|Sorry|Fail)
561 connect telnet mary.lancs.ac.uk
564 '\$' 'stty -echo raw'
565 '\$' 'telnet 44.131.93.96'
569 So, the first connection is made by Spider. This is fine as Spider uses the
570 Net_Telnet script from within perl. This actually uses TCP rather than TELNET
571 so no negotiation will be done on the first connection. Once connected to
572 mary.lancs.ac.uk, the command is sent to suppress echo. Now a telnet is made
573 to a cluster node that is accepting connections on port 23. The problem with
574 this link is that the negotiation is made by the remote machine, therefore you
575 have no control over it. The chances are that this link will create echo and
576 there will be no way you can stop it.
579 <sect>Automating things
582 Ok, you should now have DXSpider running nicely and allowing connects by cluster
583 nodes or users. However, it has to be shutdown and restarted manually and if
584 connection scripts fail they have to be started again manually too, not much use
585 if you are not at the console! So, in this section we will automate both.
586 Firstly starting the cluster.
588 <sect1>Autostarting the cluster
591 This is not only a way to start the cluster automatically, it also works as a
592 watchdog, checking the sanity of DXSpider and respawning it should it crash for
593 any reason. Before doing the following, shutdown the cluster as you did earlier.
596 Login as root and bring up the /etc/inittab file in your favourite editor. Add
597 the following lines to the file near the end ...
600 ##Start DXSpider on bootup and respawn it should it crash
601 DX:3:respawn:/bin/su -c "/usr/bin/perl -w /spider/perl/cluster.pl" sysop >/dev/tty7
605 This will automatically start DXSpider on tty7 (ALT-F7) on bootup and restart
606 it should it crash for any reason.
609 As root type the command <em>telinit q</em>. DXSpider should start up
610 immediately. You will see the output on tty7 and if you login as <em>sysop</em>
611 you should find everything running nicely.
614 So far so good, now to automate script connections...
616 <sect1>The crontab file
619 Login as <em>sysop</em> and create a file in /spider/local_cmd called crontab.
620 Edit it with your favourite editor and add a line like this (I have included
624 # check every 10 minutes to see if gb7xxx is connected and if not
625 # start a connect job going
627 0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * * start_connect('gb7xxx') if !connected('gb7xxx')
631 The callsign involved will be the callsign of the cluster node you are
632 going to connect to. This will now check every 10 minutes to see if
633 gb7xxx is connected, if it is then nothing will be done. If it is not,
634 then a connect attempt will be started.
637 There are probably lots of other things you could use this crontab file for.
638 If you want to know more about it, look at the
639 <htmlurl url="http://www.dxcluster.org/cron.html" name="DXSpider"> website
640 at the cron page where it is explained more fully.
645 Starting with version 1.13 there is simple hop control available on a per
646 node basis. Also it is possible to isolate a network completely so that you
647 get all the benefits of being on that network, but can't pass on information
648 from it to any other networks you may be connected to (or vice versa).
650 <sect1>Basic hop control
653 In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the file
654 that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default hops on the
655 various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to alter the hops for.
656 You may be happy with the default settings of course, but this powerful tool
657 can help to protect and improve the network. The file will look something
662 # hop table construction
667 # default hopcount to use
670 # some variable hop counts based on message type
681 # the per node hop control thingy
713 Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and contains a
714 series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot. The figures here
715 are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of how the file works.
718 You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is running.
719 If you alter the file during runtime, the command <em>load/hops</em> will
720 bring your changes into effect.
722 <sect1>Isolating networks
725 It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node using the
726 <em>set/isolate <node_call></em> command.
729 The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from another
730 nodes connected to your node. Your node will appear on and otherwise behave
731 normally on every network to which you are connected, but data from an isolated
732 network will not cross onto any other network or vice versa. However all the
733 spot, announce and WWV traffic and personal messages will still be handled
734 locally (because you are a real node on all connected networks), that is locally
735 connected users will appear on all networks and will be able to access and
736 receive information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will
737 be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a gateway for
738 another network, he can still still send a talk/announce etc message via your
739 node and it will be routed across.
742 The only limitation currently is that non-private messages cannot be passed down
743 isolated links regardless of whether they are generated locally. This will change
744 when the bulletin routing facility is added.
747 If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive all
748 information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass any information
749 back to the isolated node. There are times when you would like to forward only
750 spots across a link (maybe during a contest for example). To do this, isolate
751 the node in the normal way and put in a filter in the /spider/filter/spots
752 directory to override the isolate. This filter can be very simple and consists
753 of just one line ....
757 [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 3] # The last figure (3) is the hop count
762 There is a lot more on filtering in the next section.
764 <sect>Filtering (Old Style upto v1.44)
767 Filters can be set for spots, announcements and WWV. You will find the
768 directories for these under /spider/filter. You will find some examples in
769 the directories with the suffix <em>.issue</em>. There are two types of
770 filter, one for incoming information and one for outgoing information.
771 Outgoing filters are in the form <em>CALLSIGN.pl</em> and incoming filters
772 are in the form <em>in_CALLSIGN.pl</em>. Filters can be set for both nodes
776 All filters work in basically the same way. There are several elements
777 delimited by commas. There can be many lines in the filter and they are
778 read from the top by the program. When writing a filter you need to think
779 carefully about just what you want to achieve. You are either going to write
780 a filter to <em>accept</em> or to <em>reject</em>. Think of a filter as
781 having 2 main elements. For a reject filter, you would have a line or multiple
782 lines rejecting the things you do not wish to receive and then a default line
783 accepting everything else that is not included in the filter. Likewise, for an
784 accept filter, you would have a line or multiple lines accepting the things you
785 wish to receive and a default line rejecting everthing else.
788 In the example below, a user requires a filter that would only return SSB spots
789 posted in Europe on the HF bands. This is achieved by first rejecting the CW
790 section of each HF band and rejecting all of VHF, UHF etc based on frequency.
791 Secondly, a filter rule is set based on CQ zones to only accept spots posted in
792 Europe. Lastly, a default filter rule is set to reject anything outside the filter.
796 [ 0, 0, 'r', # reject all CW spots
806 30000.0, 49000000000.0,
808 [ 1, 11, 'n', [ 14, 15, 16, 20, 33, ], 15 ], #accept EU
809 [ 0, 0, 'd', 0, 1 ], # 1 = want, 'd' = everything else
814 The actual elements of each filter are described more fully in the following
820 The elements of the Spot filter are ....
823 [action, field_no, sort, possible_values, hops]
827 There are 3 elements here to look at. Firstly, the action element. This is
828 very simple and only 2 possible states exist, accept (1) or drop (0).
831 The second element is the field_no. There are 13 possiblities to choose from
837 2 = date in unix format
840 5 = spotted dxcc country
841 6 = spotter's dxcc country
847 12 = callsign of the channel on which the spot has appeared
851 The third element tells us what to expect in the fourth element. There are
855 n - numeric list of numbers e.g. [ 1,2,3 ]
856 r - ranges of pairs of numbers e.g. between 2 and 4 or 10 to 17 - [ 2,4, 10,17 ]
857 a - an alphanumeric regex
862 The fifth element is simply the hops to set in this filter. This would only
863 be used if the filter was for a node of course and overrides the hop count in
867 So, let's look at an example spot filter. It does not matter in the example
868 who the filter is to be used for. So, what do we need in the filter? We need
869 to filter the spots the user/node requires and also set a default rule for
870 anything else outside the filter. Below is a simple filter that stops spots
871 arriving from outside Europe.
873 <tscreen><verb>$in = [
874 [ 0, 4, 'a', '^(K|N|A|W|VE|VA|J)'], # 0 = drop, 'a' = alphanumeric
875 [ 1, 0, 'd', 0, 1 ], # 1 = want, 'd' = everything else
880 So the filter is wrapped in between a pair of square brackets. This tells
881 Spider to look in between these limits. Then each line is contained within
882 its own square brackets and ends with a comma. Lets look carefully at the first
883 line. The first element is 0 (drop). Therefore anything we put on this line
884 will not be accepted. The next element is 4. This means we are filtering by
885 the spotter. The third element is the letter "a" which tells the program to
886 expect an alphanumeric expression in the fourth element. The fourth element
887 is a list of letters separated by the pipe symbol.
890 What this line does is tell the program to drop any spots posted by anyone in
891 the USA, Canada or Japan.
894 The second line is the default rule for anything else. The "d" tells us this
895 and the line simply reads... accept anything else.
898 You can add as many lines as you need to complete the filter but if there are
899 several lines of the same type it is neater to enclose them all as one line.
900 An example of this is where specific bands are set. We could write this like
904 [ 0,0,'r',[1800.0, 2000.0], 1],
905 [ 0,0,'r',[10100.0, 10150.0], 1],
906 [ 0,0,'r',[14000.0, 14350.0], 1],
907 [ 0,0,'r',[18000.0, 18200.0], 1],
911 But the line below achieves the same thing and is more efficient ....
916 1800.0, 2000.0, # top band
917 10100.0, 10150.0, # WARC
918 14000.0, 14350.0, # 20m
919 18000.0, 18200.0, # WARC
929 # This is an example announce or filter allowing only West EU announces
931 # The element list is:-
932 # 0 - callsign of announcer
933 # 1 - destination * = all, <callsign> = routed to the node
935 # 3 - * - sysop, <some text> - special list eg 6MUK, ' ', normal announce
937 # 5 - 0 - announce, 1 - wx
938 # 6 - channel callsign (the interface from which this spot came)
941 [ 1, 0, 'a', '^(P[ABCDE]|DK0WCY|G|M|2|EI|F|ON)' ],
946 In this example, only the prefixes listed will be allowed. It is possible to
947 be quite specific. The Dutch prefix "P" is followed by several secondary
948 identifiers which are allowed. So, in the example, "PA" or "PE" would be ok
949 but not "PG". It is even possible to allow information from a single callsign.
950 In the example this is DK0WCY, to allow the posting of his Aurora Beacon.
957 # This is an example WWV filter
959 # The element list is:-
960 # 0 - nominal unix date of spot (ie the day + hour:13)
968 # 8 - incoming interface callsign
970 # this one doesn't filter, it just sets the hop count to 6 and is
971 # used mainly just to override any isolation from WWV coming from
981 It should be noted that the filter will start to be used only once a user/node
982 has logged out and back in again.
984 I am not going to spend any more time on these filters now as they will become
985 more "comprehensive" in the near future.
987 <sect>Filtering (New Style v1.45 and later)
989 <sect1>General filter rules
992 Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From
993 v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just
994 about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of
995 DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do
996 anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update.
999 There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These
1000 are <em>accept</em>, <em>reject</em> and <em>clear</em>. First we will look
1001 generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the
1002 DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
1005 In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which can have
1006 up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
1013 where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are filters
1014 for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each different
1015 accept or reject command reference for more details.
1017 There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
1024 There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
1027 and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
1034 For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same
1035 principles to all types of filter.
1037 <sect1>Types of filter
1040 There are two main types of filter, <em>accept</em> or <em>reject</em>. You
1041 can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
1042 and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject
1043 filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10
1044 lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the
1045 action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
1049 If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter
1050 will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter,
1051 then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped.
1052 For example if you have a single line <em>accept</em> filter ...
1055 accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
1058 then you will <em>ONLY</em> get VHF spots <em>from</em> or <em>to</em> CQ zones
1062 If you set a reject filter like this ...
1065 reject/spots on hf/cw
1068 Then you will get everything <em>EXCEPT</em> HF CW spots. You could make this
1069 single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA
1070 and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in
1071 CW, then you could say ...
1074 reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
1077 But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
1080 accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
1083 which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other
1084 until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you
1085 wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
1086 don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing!
1089 You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own
1090 understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
1093 reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
1094 reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
1097 What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF
1098 which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
1101 This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if
1102 you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available.
1103 This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it
1104 more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example.
1107 You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look
1108 at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We
1109 are saying reject spots that are VHF or above <em>APART</em> from those in
1110 zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did
1111 not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it
1112 logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ...
1115 (on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
1118 The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are
1119 here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'.
1121 As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than
1122 simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want
1123 to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or
1124 one line. For example ...
1127 reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
1130 would redefine our earlier example, or
1136 To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
1142 <sect1>Filter options
1145 You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the
1146 various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
1148 <sect1>Default filters
1151 Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects. This can
1152 be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be followed, even
1153 if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set specifically. Default
1154 rules can be set for nodes and users. They can be set for spots, announces,
1155 WWV and WCY. They can also be used for hops. An example might look like
1159 accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
1160 set/hops node_default spot 50
1163 This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV and WCY.
1164 This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific filter is written to
1165 override it for a particular node. You can also set a user_default should
1166 you require. It is important to note that default filters should be
1167 considered to be "connected". By this I mean that should you override the
1168 default filter for spots, you need to add a rule for the hops for spots also.
1170 <sect1>Advanced filtering
1173 Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment.
1176 The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
1177 can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
1182 acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
1185 Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This will
1186 automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have said <em>reject all
1187 HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all others at HF. Also
1188 accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by operators in the zones
1189 14, 15 and 16</em>. Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and
1190 an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot.
1193 It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the default
1194 for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'. In the example
1195 what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non hf/cw spot is passed
1196 to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line
1197 lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
1202 <sect1>Filtering Mail
1205 In the /spider/msg directory you will find a file called badmsg.pl.issue. Rename
1206 this to badmsg.pl and edit the file. The original looks something like this ....
1210 # the list of regexes for messages that we won't store having
1211 # received them (bear in mind that we must receive them fully before
1215 # The format of each line is as follows
1217 # type source pattern
1218 # P/B/F T/F/O/S regex
1220 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
1221 # source: T - to field, F - from field, O - origin, S - subject
1222 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
1224 # Currently only type B and P msgs are affected by this code.
1226 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
1227 # causes the action to be taken.
1229 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
1230 # for the action specified
1248 I think this is fairly self explanatory. It is simply a list of subject
1249 headers that we do not want to pass on to either the users of the cluster or
1250 the other cluster nodes that we are linked to. This is usually because of
1251 rules and regulations pertaining to items for sale etc in a particular country.
1253 <sect1>Filtering DX callouts (Depricated)
1256 <bf><it>From version 1.47, this method is replaced by the command set/baddx</it></bf>
1259 In the same way as mail, there are some types of spot we do not wish to pass on
1260 to users or linked cluster nodes. In the /spider/data directory you will find
1261 a file called baddx.pl.issue. Rename this to baddx.pl and edit the file. The
1262 original looks like this ....
1266 # the list of dx spot addresses that we don't store and don't pass on
1287 Again, this is simply a list of names we do not want to see in the spotted
1288 field of a DX callout.
1291 <sect1>Filtering words from text fields in Announce, Talk and DX spots
1294 Create a file in /spider/data called <em>badwords</em>. The format is quite
1295 simple. Lines beginning with # are ignored so comments can be added. An
1296 example file is below ...
1299 # Below is a list of words we do not wish to see on the cluster
1300 grunge grunged grunging
1301 splodge splodger splodging
1306 Multiple words can be used on the same line as shown. Obviously these
1307 are just examples :-)
1310 You can reload the file from the cluster prompt as sysop with load/badwords.
1315 DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports both
1316 personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands to ensure
1317 that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send mail almost
1318 immediately, assuming that the target is on line. However, only one
1319 mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a mail message is already
1320 being sent or recieved, then the new message will be queued until it has
1323 The cluster mail is automatically deleted after 30 days unless the sysop
1324 sets the "keep" flag using the <em>msg</em> command.
1326 <sect1>Personal mail
1329 Personal mail is sent using the <em>sp</em> command. This is actually the
1330 default method of sending mail and so a simple <em>s</em> for send will do.
1331 A full list of the send commands and options is in the <em>command set</em>
1332 section, so I will not duplicate them here.
1334 <sect1>Bulletin mail
1337 Bulletin mail is sent by using the <em>sb</em> command. This is one of the
1338 most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a bulletin
1339 mail with <em>s</em> or <em>sp</em> instead of <em>sb</em> and of course
1340 the message never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop
1341 by using the <em>msg</em> command.
1343 <P>Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file.
1348 DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed
1349 in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there
1350 is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however,
1351 to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is
1352 pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK
1353 ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg.
1354 At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it
1355 to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements.
1356 The format is below ...
1360 # this is an example message forwarding file for the system
1362 # The format of each line is as follows
1364 # type to/from/at pattern action destinations
1365 # P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
1367 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
1368 # to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
1369 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
1370 # action: I - ignore, F - forward
1371 # destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
1373 # if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
1375 # Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
1377 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
1378 # causes the action to be taken.
1380 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
1381 # for the action specified
1383 # If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
1384 # pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
1385 # it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
1386 # you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
1387 # on first connection)
1393 'B', 'T', 'LOCAL', 'F', [ qw(GB7MBC) ],
1394 'B', 'T', 'ALL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1395 'B', 'T', 'UK', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
1396 'B', 'T', 'QSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1397 'B', 'T', 'QSLINF', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1398 'B', 'T', 'DX', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1399 'B', 'T', 'DXINFO', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1400 'B', 'T', 'DXNEWS', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1401 'B', 'T', 'DXQSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1402 'B', 'T', 'SYSOP', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
1403 'B', 'T', '50MHZ', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
1407 Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you wish
1408 that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to "UK" will
1409 only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
1412 To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
1415 <sect1>The msg command
1418 The <em>msg</em> command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the
1419 sysop. It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other
1420 changes to manage the cluster mail.
1422 Here is a full list of the various options ...
1425 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
1426 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
1427 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
1428 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
1429 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
1430 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
1431 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
1432 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
1433 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
1434 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waiting time for this message
1435 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
1436 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
1437 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
1438 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
1441 These commands are simply typed from within the cluster as the sysop user.
1443 <sect1>Message status
1446 You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the command
1447 <em>stat/msg</em>. This will give you additional information on the
1448 message number including which nodes have received it, which node it
1449 was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of
1453 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
1456 Msg Time: 26-Jan-2001 1302Z
1460 Subject: AMSAT 2line KEPS 01025.AMSAT
1462 Got it Nodes: GB7BAA, GB7ADX
1466 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
1469 <sect1>Filtering mail
1472 This is described in the section on <em>Other filters</em> so I will not
1475 <sect1>Distribution lists
1478 Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
1479 mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
1480 sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called <em>distro</em>. You
1481 put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
1482 SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
1485 qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
1486 GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
1487 GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
1490 Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this list.
1492 <sect1>BBS interface
1495 Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the sysop
1496 of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS and pushes
1497 any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from Spider to the BBS,
1498 the interface is one-way.
1501 Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary mail.
1502 Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by using the
1503 Forward.pl file very carefully.
1508 Spider allows the creation of local or remote databases. It supports
1509 chained databases, allowing several different databases to be scanned
1510 with one simple command. Importing of databases is limited at present
1511 to the standard AK1A databases such as OBLAST and the DB0SDX QSL
1512 database but will expand with time.
1514 <sect1>Creating databases
1517 Creating a database could not be more simple. All the commands are
1518 sent from the cluster prompt as the <em>sysop</em> user.
1520 To create a database you use the command <em>dbcreate</em>. It can
1521 be used in 3 different ways like so ..
1527 To simply create a database locally, you just tell the command the
1528 name of the database. This does not create the actual database, it
1529 simply defines it to say that it exists.
1532 dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>...]
1535 This creates a chained database entry. The first database will be
1536 scanned, then the second, the third etc...
1539 dbcreate <name> remote <name>
1542 This creates a remote entry. the first name field is the database
1543 name at the remote node, then the remote switch, then the actual
1544 node_call of the remote node, for example...
1547 dbcreate buckmaster remote gb7dxc
1550 Remote databases cannot be chained, however, the last database in a
1551 chain can be a remote database.
1553 <sect1>Importing databases
1556 The only databases that Spider can currently import are the standard
1557 AK1A databases such as OBLAST or the DB0SDX qsl and address database.
1558 This will be added to with time.
1560 To import such a database, first put the file somewhere useful like /tmp
1561 and then issue the following command ...
1564 dbimport oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
1567 This will update the existing local oblast database or create it if
1570 <sect1>Checking available databases
1573 Once a database is created, you will want to check that it has been
1574 added. To do this use the <em>dbavail</em> command. This will
1575 output the available databases. For example ...
1579 DB Name Location Chain
1583 G0VGS de GB7MBC 3-Feb-2001 1925Z >
1586 <sect1>Looking up databases
1589 To look for information in a defined database, simply use the <em>dbshow</em>
1590 command, for example ...
1593 dbshow buckmaster G0YLM
1596 will show the information for the callsign G0YLM from the buckmaster
1597 database if it exists. To make things more standard for the users
1598 you can add an entry in the Aliases file so that it looks like a standard
1599 <em>show</em> command like this ...
1602 '^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
1605 Now you can simply use show/buckmaster or an abreviation.
1607 <sect1>Removing databases
1610 To delete an existing database you use the <em>dbremove</em> command.
1617 would remove the oblast database and its associated datafile from the
1618 system. There are no warnings or recovery possible from this command.
1619 If you remove a database it ceases to exist and would have to be created
1620 from scratch if you still required it.
1622 <sect>Information, files and useful programs
1627 One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
1628 information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner
1629 that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day"
1630 or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd
1631 and edit it to say whatever you want. It is purely a text file and will be
1632 sent automatically to anyone logging in to the cluster.
1634 <sect1>Downtime message
1637 If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but
1638 the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them
1639 of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called
1640 "offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish.
1641 This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when
1642 DXSpider is not actually running.
1644 <sect1>Other text messages
1647 You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file
1648 name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users.
1649 To set this up, make a directory under /spider called <em>packclus</em>.
1650 Under this directory you can create files called <em>news</em> or <em>newuser</em>
1651 for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can
1652 be listed by the user with the command ....
1658 They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
1664 If the file they want to read is called <em>news</em>. You could also set
1665 an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type <em>news</em>
1668 You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or
1669 nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins
1670 such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user.
1671 To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called
1672 <em>bulletins</em>. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These
1673 can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the <em>show/files</em>
1674 command with an extension for the bulletins directory you have just created,
1678 show/files bulletins
1682 An example would look like this ....
1686 bulletins DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
1689 You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a
1690 file called <em>news</em> and a directory called <em>bulletins</em>. You can
1691 also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file <em>news</em>,
1692 you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to whether the
1693 file has been updated since you last read it. To read the file called
1694 <em>news</em> you would simply issue the command ....
1700 To look what is in the bulletins directory you issue the command ....
1703 show/files bulletins
1704 opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1705 opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1706 opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1707 opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1708 opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1709 opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1710 opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1711 opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1712 opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1713 opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1714 opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1715 opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1716 opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1717 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
1720 You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....
1723 type bulletins/opdx391
1724 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
1725 The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
1729 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
1730 Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
1731 Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
1732 Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
1733 Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
1734 & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
1735 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
1738 The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
1740 <sect1>The Aliases file
1743 You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to
1744 /spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file. You will see something like this ...
1750 # provide some standard aliases for commands for terminally
1751 # helpless ak1a user (helpless in the sense that they never
1752 # read nor understand help files)
1754 # This file is automagically reloaded if its modification time is
1755 # later than the one stored in CmdAlias.pm
1757 # PLEASE make this file consistant with reality! (the patterns MUST
1758 # match the filenames!)
1760 # Don't alter this file, copy it into the local_cmd tree and modify it.
1761 # This file will be replaced everytime I issue a new release.
1763 # You only need to put aliases in here for commands that don't work as
1764 # you desire naturally, e.g sh/dx on its own just works as you expect
1765 # so you need not add it as an alias.
1773 '^\?', 'apropos', 'apropos',
1776 '^ann.*/full', 'announce full', 'announce',
1777 '^ann.*/sysop', 'announce sysop', 'announce',
1778 '^ann.*/(.*)$', 'announce $1', 'announce',
1785 '^del', 'kill', 'kill',
1786 '^del\w*/fu', 'kill full', 'kill',
1787 '^di\w*/a\w*', 'directory all', 'directory',
1788 '^di\w*/b\w*', 'directory bulletins', 'directory',
1789 '^di\w*/n\w*', 'directory new', 'directory',
1790 '^di\w*/o\w*', 'directory own', 'directory',
1791 '^di\w*/s\w*', 'directory subject', 'directory',
1792 '^di\w*/t\w*', 'directory to', 'directory',
1793 '^di\w*/f\w*', 'directory from', 'directory',
1794 '^di\w*/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
1811 '^l$', 'directory', 'directory',
1812 '^ll$', 'directory', 'directory',
1813 '^ll/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
1818 '^news', 'type news', 'type',
1828 '^r$', 'read', 'read',
1829 '^rcmd/(\S+)', 'rcmd $1', 'rcmd',
1832 '^s/p$', 'send', 'send',
1833 '^sb$', 'send noprivate', 'send',
1834 '^set/home$', 'set/homenode', 'set/homenode',
1835 '^set/nobe', 'unset/beep', 'unset/beep',
1836 '^set/nohe', 'unset/here', 'unset/here',
1837 '^set/noan', 'unset/announce', 'unset/announce',
1838 '^set/nodx', 'unset/dx', 'unset/dx',
1839 '^set/nota', 'unset/talk', 'unset/talk',
1840 '^set/noww', 'unset/wwv', 'unset/wwv',
1841 '^set/nowx', 'unset/wx', 'unset/wx',
1842 '^sh$', 'show', 'show',
1843 '^sh\w*/buck', 'dbshow buck', 'dbshow',
1844 '^sh\w*/bu', 'show/files bulletins', 'show/files',
1845 '^sh\w*/c/n', 'show/configuration nodes', 'show/configuration',
1846 '^sh\w*/c$', 'show/configuration', 'show/configuration',
1847 '^sh\w*/com', 'dbavail', 'dbavail',
1848 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/dx $1-$2', 'show/dx',
1849 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)', 'show/dx $1', 'show/dx',
1850 '^sh\w*/dx/d(\d+)', 'show/dx from $1', 'show/dx',
1851 '^sh\w*/email', 'dbshow email', 'dbshow',
1852 '^sh\w*/hftest', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
1853 '^sh\w*/vhftest', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
1854 '^sh\w*/qsl', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
1855 '^sh\w*/tnc', 'who', 'who',
1856 '^sh\w*/up', 'show/cluster', 'show/cluster',
1857 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1-$2', 'show/wwv',
1858 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1', 'show/wwv',
1859 '^sp$', 'send', 'send',
1863 '^ta$', 'talk', 'talk',
1864 '^t$', 'talk', 'talk',
1871 '^wx/full', 'wx full', 'wx',
1872 '^wx/sysop', 'wx sysop', 'wx',
1883 You can create aliases for commands at will. Beware though, these may not
1884 always turn out as you think. Care is needed and you need to test the
1885 results once you have set an alias.
1890 In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop.
1891 This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots,
1892 announces etc. To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.pl.
1895 To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the
1896 file with your favourite editor.
1898 <sect1>Updating kepler data
1901 Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order for
1902 this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly. In
1903 general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail.
1904 Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a
1905 file. You do this with the <em>export</em> command from the cluster prompt
1906 as the sysop. For example ...
1909 export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
1912 would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the
1913 /spider/perl directory.
1915 Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in
1916 the perl directory called <em>convkeps.pl</em>. All we need to do now is
1917 convert the file like so ...
1920 ./convkeps.pl keps.in
1923 Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
1929 That is it! the kepler data has been updated.
1931 <sect1>The QRZ callbook
1934 The command <em>sh/qrz</em> will only work once you have followed a few
1935 simple steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com.
1936 Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the file
1937 /spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match your user
1938 ID and password. You also at this point need to set $allow=1 to complete
1939 the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the proprieter of
1940 <htmlurl url="http://www.qrz.com" name="qrz.com"> for allowing this access.
1945 CVS stands for "Concurrent Versions System" and the CVS for DXSpider is held
1946 at <htmlurl url="http://www.sourceforge.net" name="Sourceforge">. This means
1947 that it is possible to update your DXSpider installation to the latest
1948 sources by using a few simple commands.
1951 THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!!! ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A TEST
1952 INSTALLATION OR ARE WILLING TO HAVE YOUR CLUSTER CRASH ON YOU!!!
1953 THIS MUST BE CONSIDERED AT LEAST BETA TESTING AND MAYBE EVEN ALPHA!!
1954 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
1957 DID I MENTION..... ONLY DO THIS IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE
1961 I am of course assuming that you have a machine with both DXSpider and
1962 Internet access running.
1965 BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER STARTING WITH THIS MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR
1966 ENTIRE SPIDER TREE!!
1969 Assuming you are connected to the Internet, you need to login to the
1970 CVS repository and then update your Spider source. There are several
1971 steps which are listed below ...
1974 First login as the user <em>sysop</em>. Next you need to connect to the CVS
1975 repository. You do this with the command below ...
1978 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider login
1981 You will get a password prompt. Simply hit return here and your machine should
1982 return to a normal linux prompt.
1985 What happens next depends on whether you have an existing installation that
1986 you want to update with the latest and greatest or whether you just want
1987 to see what is there and/or run it on a new machine for testing.
1989 If you are installing Spider from CVS then change directory to /home/sysop
1991 If you are wanting to update Spider then cd to /tmp
1994 The next step will create a brand new 'spider' directory in your current
1998 cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider co spider
2001 This command is all on one line.
2004 Hopefully your screen should show you downloading files. The -z3 simply compresses
2005 the download to improve speed.
2006 When this has finished, you will have exactly the same as if you had untarred a full
2007 tarball PLUS some extra directories and files that CVS needs to do the magic that
2011 Now if you are doing a new installation, that's it. Carry on as if you have
2012 just downloaded and untarred the lastest tarball.
2015 If you want to upgrade your current installation then do this ...
2018 tar cvfz /tmp/s.tgz spider
2020 tar xvfzp /tmp/s.tgz
2023 This is assuming you downloaded to the /tmp directory of course.
2026 NOTE: the 'p' on the end of the 'xvfz' is IMPORTANT! It keeps the permissions
2027 correct. YOU WERE LOGGED IN AS THE USER SYSOP WEREN'T YOU?????
2029 Remember to recompile the C client (cd /spider/src; make)
2032 At this point the files have been upgraded. You can (usually) restart the cluster
2033 in your own time. However, if you attempt to use any new commands or features
2034 expect it to be fatal! At least your cluster will have been restarted then so it
2035 will be too late to worry about it!
2038 Now the magic part! From now on when you want to update, simply connect to the
2039 Internet and then, as the user <em>sysop</em> ...
2046 and your files will be updated. As above, remember to recompile the "C" client
2047 if it has been updated (CVS will tell you) and restart if any of the perl scripts
2048 have been altered or added, again, CVS will tell you.
2051 You will find any changes documented in the /spider/Changes file.
2053 <sect>The DXSpider command set
2056 Below is a complete list of commands available from the cluster prompt.
2057 Most maintenance tasks are automatic but there are some commands that are useful
2058 for a sysop. These are listed below in alphabetical order. The number in
2059 brackets following the command name is the permissions level needed to use
2062 <sect1>accept/announce (0)
2066 <bf>accept/announce [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an accept filter
2071 Create an 'accept this announce' line for a filter.
2073 An accept filter line means that if the announce matches this filter it is
2074 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
2075 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
2077 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2080 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2081 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2083 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2084 origin_itu <numbers>
2085 origin_zone <numbers>
2090 wx 1 filter WX announces
2091 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
2098 acc/ann 2 by_zone 14,15,16
2099 (this could be all on one line: acc/ann dest 6MUK or by_zone 14,15,16)
2108 This filter would only allow announces that were posted buy UK stations.
2109 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
2115 but this probably for advanced users...
2117 <sect1>accept/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
2121 <bf>accept/announce <call> [input] [0-9]<pattern></bf> Announce filter sysop version
2125 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2126 default for nodes and users eg:-
2130 accept/ann input node_default by G,M,2
2131 accept/ann user_default by G,M,2
2134 <sect1>accept/spots (0)
2138 <bf>accept/announce [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an accept filter
2143 Create an 'accept this spot' line for a filter.
2146 An accept filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
2147 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
2148 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
2150 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2153 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
2154 on <range> same as 'freq'
2155 call <prefixes> eg: G,PA,HB9
2156 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2158 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2169 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
2170 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
2171 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
2172 this is more efficient than saying simply: freq HF (but don't get
2173 too hung up about that)
2179 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2182 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything, eg:
2188 but this probably for advanced users...
2190 <sect1>accept/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
2194 <bf>accept/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf> Spot filter sysop version
2198 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2199 default for nodes and users eg:-
2202 accept/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
2203 accept/spot node_default all
2204 set/hops node_default 10
2206 accept/spot user_default by G,M,2
2209 <sect1>accept/wcy (0)
2213 <bf>accept/wcy [0-9] <pattern></bf> set an accept WCY filter
2217 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
2218 filter on the following fields:-
2221 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2223 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2224 origin_itu <numbers>
2225 origin_zone <numbers>
2233 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place and
2234 you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want them).
2236 This command is really provided for future use.
2238 See HELP FILTER for information.
2240 <sect1>accept/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
2244 <bf>accept/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
2245 WCY filter sysop version
2249 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2250 default for nodes and users eg:-
2253 accept/wcy node_default all
2254 set/hops node_default 10
2257 <sect1>accept/wwv (0)
2261 <bf>accept/wwv [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set an accept WWV filter
2265 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
2266 filter on the following fields:-
2269 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2271 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2272 origin_itu <numbers>
2273 origin_zone <numbers>
2283 accept/wwv by_zone 4
2286 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV broadcasts
2287 by stations in the US).
2289 See HELP FILTER for information.
2291 <sect1>accept/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
2295 <bf>accept/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
2296 WWV filter sysop version
2300 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
2301 default for nodes and users eg:-
2304 accept/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
2305 accept/wwv node_default all
2306 set/hops node_default 10
2308 accept/wwv user_default by W,K
2315 <bf>announce <text></bf> Send an announcement to local users
2319 Send an announcement to LOCAL users only, where <text> is the text
2320 of the announcement you wish to broadcast
2322 <sect1>announce full (0)
2326 <bf>announce full <text></bf> Send an announcement cluster wide
2330 This command will send your announcement across the whole cluster
2334 <sect1>announce sysop (5)
2338 <bf>announce sysop <text></bf>
2342 Send an announcement to Sysops only
2348 <bf>apropos <string></bf> Search the help database
2352 Search the help database for <string> (it isn't case sensitive),
2353 and print the names of all the commands that may be relevant.
2359 <bf>bye</bf> Exit from the cluster
2363 This will disconnect you from the cluster
2369 <bf>catchup <node_call> All|[<msgno> ...]</bf>
2370 Mark a message as sent
2374 When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another node
2375 is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new partner
2376 node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl file, all
2377 outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them. This may well
2378 be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by using these
2383 catchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
2386 and to undo what you have just done:-
2389 uncatchup GB7DJK all
2390 uncatchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
2393 which will arrange for them to be forward candidates again.
2395 Order is not important.
2397 <sect1>clear/spots (0)
2401 <bf>clear/spots [1|all]</bf> Clear a spot filter line
2405 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a spot filter or to
2406 remove the whole filter.
2408 If you have a filter:-
2412 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2421 you will be left with:-
2424 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2433 the filter will be completely removed.
2440 <bf>connect <callsign></bf> Start a connection to another DX Cluster
2444 Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to the
2445 DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process which will
2446 use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the 'chat' exchange
2447 necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the cluster <callsign>.
2453 <bf>dbavail</bf> Show a list of all the databases in the system
2457 The title says it all really, this command lists all the databases defined
2458 in the system. It is also aliased to SHOW/COMMAND.
2464 <bf>dbcreate <name></bf> Create a database entry<newline>
2465 <bf>dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>..]</bf> Create a
2466 chained database entry<newline>
2467 <bf>dbcreate <name> remote <node></bf> Create a remote database
2472 DBCREATE allows you to define a database in the system. It doesn't actually
2473 create anything, just defines it.
2475 The databases that are created are simple DB_File hash databases, they are
2476 therefore already 'indexed'.
2478 You can define a local database with the first form of the command eg:
2482 You can also chain databases with the addition of the 'chain' keyword.
2483 This will search each database one after the other. A typical example
2486 DBCREATE sdx_qsl chain sql_ad
2488 No checking is done to see if the any of the chained databases exist, in
2489 fact it is usually better to do the above statement first then do each of
2490 the chained databases.
2492 Databases can exist offsite. To define a database that lives on another
2495 DBCREATE buckmaster remote gb7dxc
2497 Remote databases cannot be chained; however, the last database in a
2498 a chain can be a remote database eg:
2500 DBCREATE qsl chain gb7dxc
2502 To see what databases have been defined do:
2504 DBAVAIL (or it will have been aliased to SHOW/COMMAND)
2506 It would be normal for you to add an entry into your local Aliases file
2507 to allow people to use the 'SHOW/<dbname>' style syntax. So you would
2508 need to add a line like:-
2514 '^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
2524 to work as they may be used to.
2526 See DBIMPORT for the importing of existing AK1A format data to databases.
2527 See DBSHOW for generic database enquiry
2533 <bf>dbimport <dbname></bf> Import AK1A data into a database
2537 If you want to import or update data in bulk to a database you can use
2538 this command. It will either create or update entries into an existing
2539 database. For example:-
2541 DBIMPORT oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
2543 will import the standard OBLAST database that comes with AK1A into the
2544 oblast database held locally.
2550 <bf>dbremove <dbname></bf> Delete a database
2554 DBREMOVE will completely remove a database entry and also delete any data
2555 file that is associated with it.
2557 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
2563 will remove the oblast database from the system and it will also remove
2564 the associated datafile.
2568 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
2570 You have been warned.
2576 <bf>dbshow <dbname> <key></bf> Display an entry, if it exists,
2581 This is the generic user interface to the database to the database system.
2582 It is expected that the sysop will add an entry to the local Aliases file
2583 so that users can use the more familiar AK1A style of enquiry such as:
2589 but if he hasn't and the database really does exist (use DBAVAIL or
2590 SHOW/COMMAND to find out) you can do the same thing with:
2601 <bf>debug</bf> Set the cluster program into debug mode
2605 Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the cluster
2612 It will interrupt the cluster just after the debug command has finished.
2614 <sect1>directory (0)
2618 <bf>directory</bf> List messages<newline>
2619 <bf>directory all</bf> List all messages<newline>
2620 <bf>directory own</bf> List your own messages<newline>
2621 <bf>directory new</bf> List all new messages<newline>
2622 <bf>directory to <call></bf> List all messages to <call><newline>
2623 <bf>directory from <call></bf> List all messages from <call><newline>
2624 <bf>directory subject <string></bf> List all messages with <string>
2626 <bf>directory <nn></bf> List last <nn> messages<newline>
2627 <bf>directory <from>-<to></bf> List messages <from> message <to> message <newline>
2631 List the messages in the messages directory.
2633 If there is a 'p' one space after the message number then it is a
2634 personal message. If there is a '-' between the message number and the
2635 'p' then this indicates that the message has been read.
2637 You can use shell escape characters such as '*' and '?' in the <call>
2640 You can combine some of the various directory commands together eg:-
2645 DIR SUBJECT IOTA 200-250
2648 You can abbreviate all the commands to one letter and use ak1a syntax:-
2656 <sect1>directory (extended for sysops) (5)
2659 Works just like the user command except that sysops can see ALL messages.
2661 <sect1>disconnect (8)
2665 <bf>disconnect <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Disconnect a user or node
2669 Disconnect any <call> connected locally
2675 <bf>dx [by <call>] <freq> <call> <remarks></bf> Send a DX spot
2679 This is how you send a DX Spot to other users. You can, in fact, now
2680 enter the <freq> and the <call> either way round.
2688 will all give the same result. You can add some remarks to the end
2689 of the command and they will be added to the spot.
2692 DX FR0G 144600 this is a test
2695 You can credit someone else by saying:-
2698 DX by G1TLH FR0G 144.600 he isn't on the cluster
2701 The <freq> is compared against the available bands set up in the
2702 cluster. See SHOW/BANDS for more information.
2708 <bf>export <msgno> <filename></bf> Export a message to a file
2712 Export a message to a file. This command can only be executed on a local
2713 console with a fully privileged user. The file produced will be in a form
2714 ready to be imported back into the cluster by placing it in the import
2715 directory (/spider/msg/import).
2717 This command cannot overwrite an existing file. This is to provide some
2718 measure of security. Any files written will owned by the same user as the
2719 main cluster, otherwise you can put the new files anywhere the cluster can
2720 access. For example:-
2724 <sect1>export_users (9)
2728 <bf>export_users [<filename>]</bf> Export the users database to ascii
2732 Export the users database to a file in ascii format. If no filename
2733 is given then it will export the file to /spider/data/user_asc.
2735 If the file already exists it will be renamed to <filename>.o. In fact
2736 up to 5 generations of the file can be kept each one with an extra 'o' on the
2739 BE WARNED: this will write to any file you have write access to. No check is
2740 made on the filename (if any) that you specify.
2742 <sect1>forward/latlong (8)
2746 <bf>forward/latlong <node_call></bf> Send latitude and longitude
2747 information to another cluster
2751 This command sends all the latitude and longitude information that your
2752 cluster is holding against callsigns. One advantage of recieving this
2753 information is that more locator information is held by you. This
2754 means that more locators are given on the DX line assuming you have
2755 <em>set/dxgrid</em> enabled. This could be a LOT of information though, so
2756 it is not recommended on slow links.
2758 <sect1>forward/opername (1)
2762 <bf>forward/opername <call></bf> Send out information on this <call>
2767 This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
2768 be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH, Location
2769 and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is available.
2775 <bf>help <cmd></bf> Get help on a command
2779 All commands can be abbreviated, so SHOW/DX can be abbreviated
2780 to SH/DX, ANNOUNCE can be shortened to AN and so on.
2782 Look at the APROPOS <string> command which will search the help database
2783 for the <string> you specify and give you a list of likely commands
2784 to look at with HELP.
2790 <bf>init <node call></bf> Re-initialise a link to an AK1A compatible node
2794 This command attempts to re-initialise a link to a (usually) AK1A node
2795 that has got confused, usually by a protocol loop of some kind. It may
2796 work - but you usually will be better off simply disconnecting it (or
2797 better, if it is a real AK1A node, doing an RCMD <node> DISC/F <your
2800 Best of luck - you will need it.
2806 <bf>kill <msgno> [<msgno> ..]</bf> Delete a message
2807 from the local system
2811 Delete a message from the local system. You will only be able to
2812 delete messages that you have originated or been sent (unless you are
2819 <bf>kill <msgno> [<msgno> ...]</bf> Remove or erase a message from
2821 <bf>kill from <call></bf> Remove all messages from a callsign<newline>
2822 <bf>kill to <call></bf> Remove all messages to a callsign<newline>
2826 You can get rid of any message to or originating from your callsign using
2827 this command. You can remove more than one message at a time.
2829 As a sysop you can kill any message on the system.
2831 <sect1>kill full (5)
2835 <bf>kill full <msgno> [<msgno>]</bf> Delete a message from the
2840 Delete a message (usually a 'bulletin') from the whole cluster system.
2842 This uses the subject field, so any messages that have exactly the same subject
2843 will be deleted. Beware!
2849 <bf>links</bf> Show which nodes are physically connected
2853 This is a quick listing that shows which links are connected and
2854 some information about them. See WHO for a list of all connections.
2857 <sect1>load/aliases (9)
2861 <bf>load/aliases</bf> Reload the command alias table
2865 Reload the /spider/cmd/Aliases file after you have editted it. You will need to
2866 do this if you change this file whilst the cluster is running in order for the
2867 changes to take effect.
2870 <sect1>load/baddx (9)
2874 <bf>load/baddx</bf> Reload the bad DX table
2878 Reload the /spider/data/baddx.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
2879 the cluster is running. This table contains the DX Calls that, if spotted,
2880 will not be passed on. FR0G and TEST are classic examples.
2882 <sect1>load/badmsg (9)
2886 <bf>load/badmsg</bf> Reload the bad message table
2890 Reload the /spider/msg/badmsg.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
2891 the cluster is running. This table contains a number of perl regular
2892 expressions which are searched for in the fields targetted of each message.
2893 If any of them match then that message is immediately deleted on receipt.
2895 <sect1>load/badwords (9)
2899 <bf>load/badwords</bf> Reload the badwords file
2903 Reload the /spider/data/badwords file if you have changed it manually whilst
2904 the cluster is running. This file contains a list of words which, if found
2905 on certain text portions of PC protocol, will cause those protocol frames
2906 to be rejected. It will all put out a message if any of these words are
2907 used on the announce, dx and talk commands. The words can be one or
2908 more on a line, lines starting with '#' are ignored.
2910 <sect1>load/bands (9)
2914 <bf>load/bands</bf> Reload the band limits table
2918 Reload the /spider/data/bands.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
2919 the cluster is running.
2921 <sect1>load/cmd_cache (9)
2925 <bf>load/cmd_cache</bf> Reload the automatic command cache
2929 Normally, if you change a command file in the cmd or local_cmd tree it will
2930 automatially be picked up by the cluster program. Sometimes it can get confused
2931 if you are doing a lot of moving commands about or delete a command in the
2932 local_cmd tree and want to use the normal one again. Execute this command to
2933 reset everything back to the state it was just after a cluster restart.
2935 <sect1>load/forward (9)
2939 <bf>load/forward</bf> Reload the msg forwarding routing table
2942 Reload the /spider/msg/forward.pl file if you have changed it
2943 manually whilst the cluster is running.
2945 <sect1>load/messages (9)
2949 <bf>load/messages</bf> Reload the system messages file
2953 If you change the /spider/perl/Messages file (usually whilst fiddling/writing ne
2954 commands) you can have them take effect during a cluster session by executing this
2955 command. You need to do this if get something like :-
2957 unknown message 'xxxx' in lang 'en'
2959 <sect1>load/prefixes (9)
2963 <bf>load/prefixes</bf> Reload the prefix table
2967 Reload the /spider/data/prefix_data.pl file if you have changed it manually
2968 whilst the cluster is running.
2974 <bf>merge <node> [<no spots>/<no wwv>]</bf> Ask for the
2975 latest spots and WWV
2979 MERGE allows you to bring your spot and wwv database up to date. By default
2980 it will request the last 10 spots and 5 WWVs from the node you select. The
2981 node must be connected locally.
2983 You can request any number of spots or wwv and although they will be appended
2984 to your databases they will not duplicate any that have recently been added
2985 (the last 2 days for spots and last month for WWV data).
2991 <bf>msg <cmd> <msgno> [data ...]</bf> Alter various message
2996 Alter message parameters like To, From, Subject, whether private or bulletin
2997 or return receipt (RR) is required or whether to keep this message from timing
3001 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
3002 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
3003 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
3004 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
3005 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
3006 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
3007 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
3008 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
3009 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
3010 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waitting time for this message
3011 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
3012 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
3013 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
3014 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
3017 You can look at the status of a message by using:-
3019 STAT/MSG <msgno>
3021 This will display more information on the message than DIR does.
3027 <bf>pc <call> <text></bf> Send text (eg PC Protocol) to <call>
3031 Send some arbitrary text to a locally connected callsign. No processing is done on
3032 the text. This command allows you to send PC Protocol to unstick things if problems
3033 arise (messages get stuck etc). eg:-
3035 pc gb7djk PC33^GB7TLH^GB7DJK^400^
3037 You can also use in the same way as a talk command to a connected user but
3038 without any processing, added of "from <blah> to <blah>" or whatever.
3040 pc G1TLH Try doing that properly!!!
3046 <bf>ping <node></bf> Check the link quality between nodes
3050 his command allows you to send a frame to another cluster node on
3051 the network and get a return frame. The time it takes to do this
3052 is a good indication of the quality of the link. The actual time
3053 it takes is output to the console in seconds.
3054 Any visible cluster node can be PINGed.
3061 <bf>rcmd <node call> <cmd></bf> Send a command to another DX cluster
3065 This command allows you to send nearly any command to another DX Cluster
3066 node that is connected to the system.
3068 Whether you get any output is dependant on a) whether the other system knows
3069 that the node callsign of this cluster is in fact a node b) whether the
3070 other system is allowing RCMDs from this node and c) whether you have
3071 permission to send this command at all.
3077 <bf>read</bf> Read the next unread personal message addressed to you<newline>
3078 <bf>read <msgno></bf> Read the specified message<newline>
3082 You can read any messages that are sent as 'non-personal' and also any
3083 message either sent by or sent to your callsign.
3086 <sect1>read (extended for sysops) (5)
3090 <bf>read <msgno></bf> Read a message on the system
3094 As a sysop you may read any message on the system
3096 <sect1>reject/announce
3100 <bf>reject/announce [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject filter
3105 Create an 'reject this announce' line for a filter.
3107 An reject filter line means that if the announce matches this filter it is
3108 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
3109 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
3111 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
3114 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
3115 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3117 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3118 origin_itu <numbers>
3119 origin_zone <numbers>
3124 wx 1 filter WX announces
3125 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
3131 rej/ann by_zone 14,15,16 and not by G,M,2
3134 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3140 but this probably for advanced users...
3142 <sect1>reject/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
3146 <bf>reject/announce <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf> Announce filter sysop version
3150 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
3151 default for nodes and users eg:-
3155 reject/ann input node_default by G,M,2
3156 reject/ann user_default by G,M,2
3159 <sect1>reject/spots (0)
3163 <bf>reject/spots [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject filter
3168 Create a 'reject this spot' line for a filter.
3170 A reject filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
3171 dumped (not passed on). See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
3172 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
3174 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
3177 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
3178 on <range> same as 'freq'
3179 call <prefixes> eg: G,PA,HB9
3180 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
3182 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3192 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
3193 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
3194 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
3195 this is more efficient than saying simply: on HF (but don't get
3196 too hung up about that)
3202 rej/spot 2 on vhf and not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3205 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3211 but this probably for advanced users...
3213 <sect1>reject/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
3217 <bf>reject/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
3218 Reject spot filter sysop version
3222 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
3223 default for nodes and users eg:-
3226 reject/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
3227 reject/spot node_default all
3228 set/hops node_default 10
3230 reject/spot user_default by G,M,2
3233 <sect1>reject/wcy (0)
3237 <bf>reject/wcy [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject WCY filter
3241 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
3242 filter on the following fields:-
3245 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3247 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3248 origin_itu <numbers>
3249 origin_zone <numbers>
3256 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place and
3257 you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want them).
3259 This command is really provided for future use.
3261 See HELP FILTER for information.
3263 <sect1>reject/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
3267 <bf>reject/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
3268 WCY reject filter sysop version
3272 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
3273 default for nodes and users eg:-
3275 reject/wcy gb7djk all
3277 <sect1>reject/wwv (0)
3281 <bf>reject/wwv [0-9] <pattern></bf> Set a reject WWV filter
3285 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you can
3286 filter on the following fields:-
3289 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3291 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3292 origin_itu <numbers>
3293 origin_zone <numbers>
3303 reject/wwv by_zone 14,15,16
3306 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV broadcasts
3307 by stations in the US).
3309 See HELP FILTER for information.
3311 <sect1>reject/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
3315 <bf>reject/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern></bf>
3316 WWV reject filter sysop version
3319 <P>This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as the
3320 default for nodes and users eg:-
3323 reject/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
3324 reject/wwv node_default all
3326 reject/wwv user_default by W
3333 <bf>reply</bf> Reply (privately) to the last message that you have read<newline>
3334 <bf>reply <msgno></bf> Reply (privately) to the specified message<newline>
3335 <bf>reply B <msgno></bf> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified message<newline>
3336 <bf>reply NOPrivate <msgno></bf> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified
3338 <bf>reply RR <msgno></bf> Reply to the specified message with read
3343 You can reply to a message and the subject will automatically have
3344 "Re:" inserted in front of it, if it isn't already present.
3346 You can also use all the extra qualifiers such as RR, PRIVATE,
3347 NOPRIVATE, B that you can use with the SEND command (see SEND
3348 for further details)
3354 <bf>send <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Send a message to
3355 one or more callsigns<newline>
3356 <bf>send RR <call></bf> Send a message and ask for a read receipt<newline>
3357 <bf>send COPY <msgno> <call></bf> Send a copy of a message
3359 <bf>send PRIVATE <call></bf> Send a personal message<newline>
3360 <bf>send NOPRIVATE <call></bf> Send a message to all stations<newline>
3364 All the SEND commands will create a message which will be sent either to
3365 an individual callsign or to one of the 'bulletin' addresses.
3367 SEND <call> on its own acts as though you had typed SEND PRIVATE, that is
3368 it will mark the message as personal and send it to the cluster node that
3369 that callsign is connected to.
3371 You can have more than one callsign in all of the SEND commands.
3373 You can have multiple qualifiers so that you can have for example:-
3376 SEND RR COPY 123 PRIVATE G1TLH G0RDI
3379 which should send a copy of message 123 to G1TLH and G0RDI and you will
3380 receive a read receipt when they have read the message.
3382 SB is an alias for SEND NOPRIVATE (or send a bulletin in BBS speak)
3383 SP is an alias for SEND PRIVATE
3385 <sect1>set/address (0)
3389 <bf>set/address <your_address></bf> Record your postal address
3393 Literally, record your address details on the cluster.
3395 <sect1>set/announce (0)
3399 <bf>set/announce</bf> Allow announce messages
3403 Allow announce messages to arrive at your terminal.
3405 <sect1>set/arcluster (5)
3409 <bf>set/arcluster <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
3410 the node_call an AR-Cluster type node
3414 Set the node_call as an AR-Cluster type node
3416 <sect1>set/baddx (8)
3420 <bf>set/baddx <call></bf> Stop words we do not wish to see in the callsign field
3421 of a dx spot being propagated
3425 Setting a word as 'baddx' will prevent spots with that word in the callsign
3426 field of a DX spot from going any further. They will not be displayed and they
3427 will not be sent onto other nodes.
3429 The word must be wriiten in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
3432 set/baddx FORSALE VIDEO FR0G
3435 To allow a word again, use the following command ...
3441 <sect1>set/badnode (6)
3445 <bf>set/badnode <node_call></bf> Stop spots from this node_call
3450 Setting a callsign as a 'badnode' will prevent spots from that node
3451 going any further. They will not be displayed and they will not be
3452 sent onto other nodes.
3454 The call can be a full or partial call (or a prefix), eg:-
3460 will stop anything from K1TTT (including any SSID's)
3466 will allow spots from him again.
3468 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by FILTERing.
3470 <sect1>set/badspotter (8)
3474 <bf>set/badspotter <call></bf> Stop spots from this callsign being propagated
3478 Setting a callsign as a 'badspotter' will prevent spots from this callsign
3479 going any further. They will not be displayed and they will not be
3480 sent onto other nodes.
3482 The call must be written in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
3485 set/badspotter VE2STN
3488 will stop anything from VE2STN. If you want SSIDs as well then you must
3489 enter them specifically.
3492 unset/badspotter VE2STN
3495 will allow spots from him again.
3497 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by FILTERing.
3503 <bf>set/beep</bf> Add beeps to terminal messages
3507 Add a beep to DX and other terminal messages.
3513 <bf>set/clx <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
3514 the node_call a CLX type node
3518 Set the node_call as a CLX type node
3520 <sect1>set/debug (9)
3524 <bf>set/debug <name></bf> Add a debug level to the debug set
3528 You can remove this level with unset/debug <name>
3534 <bf>set/dx</bf>Allow DX messages to arrive at your terminal
3538 You can stop DX messages with the <em>unset/dx</em> command
3540 <sect1>set/dxgrid (0)
3544 <bf>set/dxgrid</bf>Allow grid squares on the end of DX messages
3548 Some logging programs do not like the additional information at
3549 the end of a DX spot. If this is the case, use the <em>unset/dxgrid</em>
3550 command to remove the grid squares.
3552 <sect1>set/dxnet (5)
3556 <bf>set/dxnet <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
3557 the node_call a DXNet type node
3561 Set the node_call as a DXNet type node
3567 <bf>set/echo</bf> Make the cluster echo your input
3571 If you are connected via a telnet session, different implimentations
3572 of telnet handle echo differently depending on whether you are
3573 connected via port 23 or some other port. You can use this command
3574 to change the setting appropriately.
3576 You can remove the echo with the <em>unset/echo</em> command
3578 The setting is stored in your user profile.
3580 YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE THIS COMMAND IF YOU ARE CONNECTED VIA AX25.
3586 <bf>set/here</bf> Set the here flag
3590 Let others on the cluster know you are here by only displaying your
3591 callsign. If you are away from your terminal you can use the <em>unset/here</em>
3592 command to let people know you are away. This simply puts brackets
3593 around your callsign to indicate you are not available.
3595 <sect1>set/homenode (0)
3599 <bf>set/homenode <node_call></bf> Set your home cluster
3603 Tell the cluster system where you normally connect to. Any Messages sent
3604 to you will normally find their way there should you not be connected.
3615 <bf>set/hops <node_call> ann|spots|wwv|wcy <n></bf>
3620 Set the hop count for a particular type of broadcast for a node.
3622 This command allows you to set up special hop counts for a node
3623 for currently: announce, spots, wwv and wcy broadcasts.
3627 set/hops gb7djk ann 10
3628 set/hops gb7mbc spots 20
3631 Set SHOW/HOPS for information on what is already set. This command
3632 creates a filter and works in conjunction with the filter system.
3634 <sect1>set/isolate (9)
3638 <bf>set/isolate <node call></bf> Isolate a node from the rest of the network
3642 Connect a node to your system in such a way that you are a full protocol
3643 member of its network and can see all spots on it, but nothing either leaks
3644 out from it nor goes back into from the rest of the nodes connected to you.
3646 You can potentially connect several nodes in this way.
3648 You can see which nodes are isolated with the show/isolate (1) command.
3650 You can remove the isolation with the command unset/isolate.
3652 <sect1>set/language (0)
3656 <bf>set/language <language></bf> Set the language you wish to use
3660 You can select the language that you want the cluster to use. Currently
3661 the languages available are <em>en</em> (English) and <em>nl</em> (Dutch).
3663 <sect1>set/location (0)
3667 <bf>set/location <lat and long></bf> Set your latitude and longitude
3671 You can set your latitude and longitude manually or alternatively use the
3672 <em>set/qra</em> command which will do the conversion for you.
3675 set/location 54 04 N 2 02 E
3679 <sect1>set/sys_location (9)
3683 <bf>set/sys_location <lat & long></bf> Set your cluster latitude and longitude
3687 In order to get accurate headings and such like you must tell the system
3688 what your latitude and longitude is. If you have not yet done a SET/QRA
3689 then this command will set your QRA locator for you. For example:-
3692 SET/LOCATION 52 22 N 0 57 E
3695 <sect1>set/logininfo (0)
3699 <bf>set/logininfo</bf> Show logins and logouts of nodes and users
3703 Show users and nodes when they log in and out of the local cluster. You
3704 can stop these messages by using the <em>unset/logininfo</em> command.
3707 <sect1>set/lockout (9)
3711 <bf>set/lockout <call></bf> Stop a callsign connecting to the cluster
3715 You can show who is locked out with the <em>show/lockout</em> command.
3716 To allow the user to connect again, use the <em>unset/lockout</em> command.
3722 <bf>set/name <your_name></bf> Set your name
3726 Tell the cluster what your name is, eg:-
3736 <bf>set/node <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Make the callsign an AK1A cluster
3740 Tell the system that the call(s) are to be treated as AK1A cluster and
3741 fed PC Protocol rather normal user commands.
3743 From version 1.41 you can also set the following types of cluster
3752 To see what your nodes are set to, use the <em>show/nodes</em> command.
3754 <sect1>set/obscount (9)
3758 <bf>set/obscount <count> <node call></bf> Set the 'pump-up'
3759 obsolescence counter
3763 From version 1.35 onwards neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular intervals (see
3764 SET/PINGINTERVAL), usually 300 seconds or 5 minutes. There is a 'pump-up'
3765 counter which is decremented on every outgoing ping and then reset to
3766 the 'obscount' value on every incoming ping. The default value of this
3769 What this means is that a neighbouring node will be pinged twice at
3770 (default) 300 second intervals and if no reply has been heard just before
3771 what would be the third attempt, that node is disconnected.
3773 If a ping is heard then the obscount is reset to the full value. Using
3774 default values, if a node has not responded to a ping within 15 minutes,
3781 <bf>set/page <n></bf> Set the number of lines per page
3785 Tell the system how many lines you wish on a page when the number of lines
3786 of output from a command is more than this. The default is 20. Setting it
3787 explicitly to 0 will disable paging.
3794 The setting is stored in your user profile.
3797 <sect1>set/password (9)
3801 <bf>set/password <callsign> <string></bf> Set a users password
3805 The password for a user can only be set by a full sysop. The string
3806 can contain any characters but any spaces are removed (you can type in
3807 spaces - but they won't appear in the password). You can see the
3808 result with STAT/USER. The password is the usual 30 character baycom
3811 <sect1>set/pinginterval (9)
3815 <bf>set/pinginterval <time> <node call></bf> Set the ping time
3816 to neighbouring nodes
3820 As from version 1.35 all neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular intervals
3821 in order to determine the rolling quality of the link and, in future, to
3822 affect routing decisions. The default interval is 300 secs or 5 minutes.
3824 You can use this command to set a different interval. Please don't.
3826 But if you do the value you enter is treated as minutes up 60 and seconds
3827 for numbers greater than that.
3829 This is used also to help determine when a link is down at the far end
3830 (as certain cluster software doesn't always notice), see SET/OBSCOUNT
3831 for more information.
3833 <sect1>set/privilege (9)
3837 <bf>set/privilege <n> <call> [<call> ...]</bf> Set the
3838 privilege level on a call
3842 Set the privilege level on a callsign. The privilege levels that pertain
3843 to commands are as default:-
3847 1 - allow remote nodes normal user RCMDs
3848 5 - various privileged commands (including shutdown, but not disc-
3849 connect), the normal level for another node.
3850 8 - more privileged commands (including disconnect)
3851 9 - local sysop privilege. DO NOT SET ANY REMOTE USER OR NODE TO THIS
3855 If you are a sysop and you come in as a normal user on a remote connection
3856 your privilege will automatically be set to 0.
3858 <sect1>set/spider (5)
3862 <bf>set/spider <node_call> [<node_call> ...]</bf> Make
3863 the node_call a DXSpider type node
3867 Set the node_call as a DXSpider type node
3869 <sect1>set/sys_qra (9)
3873 <bf>set/sys_qra <locator></bf> Set your cluster QRA locator
3880 <bf>set/qra <locator></bf> Set your QRA locator
3884 Tell the system what your QRA (or Maidenhead) locator is. If you have not
3885 done a SET/LOCATION then your latitude and longitude will be set roughly
3886 correctly (assuming your locator is correct ;-). For example:-
3896 <bf>set/qth <your QTH></bf> Set your QTH
3900 Tell the system where your are. For example:-
3903 set/qth East Dereham, Norfolk
3910 <bf>set/talk</bf> Allow talk messages to be seen at your console
3914 Allow talk messages to arrive at your console. You can switch off
3915 talks with the <em>unset/talk</em> command.
3921 <bf>set/wcy</bf> Allow WCY messages to be seen at your console
3925 Allow WCY information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
3926 WCY messages with the <em>unset/wcy</em> command.
3932 <bf>set/wwv</bf> Allow WWV messages to be seen at your console
3936 Allow WWV information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
3937 WWV messages with the <em>unset/wwv</em> command.
3943 <bf>set/wx</bf> Allow WX messages to be seen at your console
3947 Allow WX information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
3948 WX messages with the <em>unset/wx</em> command.
3950 <sect1>show/baddx (1)
3954 <bf>show/baddx</bf>Show all the bad dx calls in the system
3958 Display all the bad dx callsigns in the system, see SET/BADDX
3959 for more information.
3961 <sect1>show/badnode (6)
3965 <bf>show/badnode</bf> Show all the bad nodes in the system
3969 Display all the bad node callsigns in the system, see SET/BADNODE
3970 for more information.
3972 <sect1>show/badspotter (1)
3976 <bf>show/badspotter</bf>Show all the bad spotters in the system
3980 Display all the bad spotter's callsigns in the system, see SET/BADSPOTTER
3981 for more information.
3983 <sect1>show/date (0)
3987 <bf>show/date [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show
3992 This is very nearly the same as SHOW/TIME, the only difference the format
3993 of the date string if no arguments are given.
3995 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the local
3996 time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some prefixes
3997 then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not including DST) at
3998 the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
4004 <bf>show/dx [options]</bf> interrogate the spot database
4008 If you just type SHOW/DX you will get the last so many spots
4009 (sysop configurable, but usually 10).
4011 In addition you can add any number of these options in very nearly
4012 any order to the basic SHOW/DX command, they are:-
4015 on <band> - eg 160m 20m 2m 23cm 6mm
4016 on <region> - eg hf vhf uhf shf (see SHOW/BANDS)
4018 <number> - the number of spots you want
4019 <from>-<to> - <from> spot no <to> spot no in
4022 <prefix> - for a spotted callsign beginning with <prefix>
4023 *<suffix> - for a spotted callsign ending in <suffix>
4024 *<string>* - for a spotted callsign containing <string>
4026 day <number> - starting <number> days ago
4027 day <from>-<to> - <from> days <to> days ago
4029 info <text> - any spots containing <text> in the info or remarks
4031 by <call> - any spots spotted by <call> (spotter <call>
4034 qsl - this automatically looks for any qsl info on the call
4035 held in the spot database.
4037 iota [<iota>] - If the iota island number is missing it will
4038 look for the string iota and anything which looks like
4039 an iota island number. If you specify then it will look
4042 qra [<locator>] - this will look for the specific locator if
4043 you specify one or else anything that looks like a locator.
4050 SH/DX on 20m info iota
4051 SH/DX 9a on vhf day 30
4058 <sect1>show/dxcc (0)
4062 <bf>show/dxcc <prefix></bf> Interrogate the spot database by country
4066 This command takes the <prefix> (which can be a full or partial
4067 callsign if desired), looks up which internal country number it is
4068 and then displays all the spots as per SH/DX for that country.
4070 The options for SHOW/DX also apply to this command.
4075 SH/DXCC W on 20m info iota
4078 <sect1>show/files (0)
4082 <bf>show/files [<filearea> [<string>]]</bf> List
4083 the contents of a filearea
4087 SHOW/FILES on its own will show you a list of the various fileareas
4088 available on the system. To see the contents of a particular file
4092 SH/FILES <filearea>
4095 where <filearea> is the name of the filearea you want to see the
4098 You can also use shell globbing characters like '*' and '?' in a
4099 string to see a selection of files in a filearea eg:-
4102 SH/FILES bulletins arld*
4105 See also TYPE - to see the contents of a file.
4107 <sect1>show/filter (0)
4111 <bf>show/filter</bf> Show the filters you have set
4115 Show the contents of all the filters that are set by you. This command
4116 displays all the filters set - for all the various categories.
4118 <sect1>show/filter (extended for sysops) (5)
4122 <bf>show/filter <callsign></bf> Show the filters set by <callsign>
4126 A sysop can look at any filters that have been set.
4128 <sect1>show/hops (8)
4132 <bf>show/hops <node_call> [ann|spots|wcy|wwv|]</bf> Show the hop
4137 This command shows the hop counts set up for a node. You can specify
4138 which category you want to see. If you leave the category out then
4139 all the categories will be listed.
4141 <sect1>show/isolate (1)
4145 <bf>show/isolate</bf> Show a list of isolated nodes
4149 Show which nodes are currently set to be isolated.
4151 <sect1>show/lockout (9)
4155 <bf>show/lockout</bf> Show a list of excluded callsigns
4159 Show a list of callsigns that have been excluded (locked out) of the
4160 cluster locally with the <em>set/lockout</em> command
4166 <bf>show/log [<callsign>]</bf> Show excerpts from the system log
4170 This command outputs a short section of the system log. On its own
4171 it will output a general logfile. With the optional callsign it will
4172 show output from the log associated with that callsign.
4174 <sect1>show/moon (0)
4178 <bf>show/moon [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show moon
4183 Show the Moon rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or callsigns,
4184 together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun currently at those
4187 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times for
4188 your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or SET/QRA),
4189 together with the current azimuth and elevation.
4191 In addition, it will show the gain or loss dB relative to the nominal
4192 distance of 385,000Km due to the ellipsoidal nature of the orbit.
4194 If all else fails it will show the Moonrise and set times for the node
4195 that you are connected to.
4208 <bf>show/muf <prefix> [<hours>][long]</bf> Show
4209 the likely propagation to <prefix>
4213 This command allow you to estimate the likelihood of you contacting
4214 a station with the prefix you have specified. The output assumes a modest
4215 power of 20dBW and receiver sensitivity of -123dBm (about 0.15muV/10dB SINAD)
4217 The result predicts the most likely operating frequencies and signal
4218 levels for high frequency (shortwave) radio propagation paths on
4219 specified days of the year and hours of the day. It is most useful for
4220 paths between 250 km and 6000 km, but can be used with reduced accuracy
4221 for paths shorter or longer than this.
4223 The command uses a routine MINIMUF 3.5 developed by the U.S. Navy and
4224 used to predict the MUF given the predicted flux, day of the year,
4225 hour of the day and geographic coordinates of the transmitter and
4226 receiver. This routine is reasonably accurate for the purposes here,
4227 with a claimed RMS error of 3.8 MHz, but much smaller and less complex
4228 than the programs used by major shortwave broadcasting organizations,
4229 such as the Voice of America.
4231 The command will display some header information detailing its
4232 assumptions, together with the locations, latitude and longitudes and
4233 bearings. It will then show UTC (UT), local time at the other end
4234 (LT), calculate the MUFs, Sun zenith angle at the midpoint of the path
4235 (Zen) and the likely signal strengths. Then for each frequency for which
4236 the system thinks there is a likelihood of a circuit it prints a value.
4238 The value is currently a likely S meter reading based on the conventional
4239 6dB / S point scale. If the value has a '+' appended it means that it is
4240 1/2 an S point stronger. If the value is preceeded by an 'm' it means that
4241 there is likely to be much fading and by an 's' that the signal is likely
4244 By default SHOW/MUF will show the next two hours worth of data. You
4245 can specify anything up to 24 hours worth of data by appending the no of
4246 hours required after the prefix. For example:-
4255 RxSens: -123 dBM SFI: 159 R: 193 Month: 10 Day: 21
4256 Power : 20 dBW Distance: 6283 km Delay: 22.4 ms
4257 Location Lat / Long Azim
4258 East Dereham, Norfolk 52 41 N 0 57 E 47
4259 United-States-W 43 0 N 87 54 W 299
4260 UT LT MUF Zen 1.8 3.5 7.0 10.1 14.0 18.1 21.0 24.9 28.0 50.0
4261 18 23 11.5 -35 mS0+ mS2 S3
4262 19 0 11.2 -41 mS0+ mS2 S3
4265 indicating that you will have weak, fading circuits on top band and
4266 80m but usable signals on 40m (about S3).
4274 will get you the above display, but with the next 24 hours worth of
4282 Gives you an estimate of the long path propagation characterics. It
4283 should be noted that the figures will probably not be very useful, nor
4284 terrible accurate, but it is included for completeness.
4286 <sect1>show/node (1)
4290 <bf>show/node [<node_call> ...]</bf> Show the type and version
4295 Show the type and version (if connected) of the nodes specified on the
4296 command line. If no callsigns are specified then a sorted list of all
4297 the non-user callsigns known to the system will be displayed.
4299 <sect1>show/prefix (0)
4303 <bf>show/prefix <callsign></bf> Interrogate the prefix database
4307 This command takes the <callsign> (which can be a full or partial
4308 callsign or a prefix), looks up which internal country number
4309 it is and then displays all the relevant prefixes for that country
4310 together with the internal country no, the CQ and ITU regions.
4315 <sect1>show/program (5)
4319 <bf>show/program</bf> Show the locations of all the included program modules
4323 Show the name and location where every program module was load from. This
4324 is useful for checking where you think you have loaded a .pm file from.
4330 <bf>show/qra <locator> [<locator>]</bf> Show the distance
4331 between locators<newline>
4332 <bf>show/qra <lat> <long></bf> Convert latitude and longitude to
4337 This is a multipurpose command that allows you either to calculate the
4338 distance and bearing between two locators or (if only one locator is
4339 given on the command line) the distance and beraing from your station
4340 to the locator. For example:-
4347 The first example will show the distance and bearing to the locator from
4348 yourself, the second example will calculate the distance and bearing from
4349 the first locator to the second. You can use 4 or 6 character locators.
4351 It is also possible to convert a latitude and longitude to a locator by
4352 using this command with a latitude and longitude as an argument, for
4356 SH/QRA 52 41 N 0 58 E
4363 <bf>show/qrz <callsign></bf> Show any callbook details on a callsign
4367 This command queries the QRZ callbook server on the internet
4368 and returns any information available for that callsign. This service
4369 is provided for users of this software by http://www.qrz.com
4371 <sect1>show/route (0)
4375 <bf>show/route <callsign></bf> Show the route to <callsign>
4379 This command allows you to see to which node the callsigns specified are
4380 connected. It is a sort of inverse sh/config.
4386 <sect1>show/satellite (0)
4390 <bf>show/satellite <name> [<hours> <interval>]</bf>
4391 Show satellite tracking data
4395 Show the tracking data from your location to the satellite of your choice
4396 from now on for the next few hours.
4398 If you use this command without a satellite name it will display a list
4399 of all the satellites known currently to the system.
4401 If you give a name then you can obtain tracking data of all the passes
4402 that start and finish 5 degrees below the horizon. As default it will
4403 give information for the next three hours for every five minute period.
4405 You can alter the number of hours and the step size, within certain
4408 Each pass in a period is separated with a row of '-----' characters
4414 SH/SAT FENGYUN1 12 2
4421 <bf>show/sun [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show
4422 sun rise and set times
4426 Show the sun rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or callsigns,
4427 together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun currently at those
4430 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times for
4431 your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or SET/QRA),
4432 together with the current azimuth and elevation.
4434 If all else fails it will show the sunrise and set times for the node
4435 that you are connected to.
4441 SH/SUN G1TLH K9CW ZS
4444 <sect1>show/time (0)
4448 <bf>show/time [<prefix>|<callsign>]</bf> Show
4453 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the local
4454 time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some prefixes
4455 then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not including DST) at
4456 the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
4462 <bf>show/wcy</bf> Show the last 10 WCY broadcasts<newline>
4463 <bf>show/wcy <n></bf> Show the last <n> WCY broadcasts
4467 Display the most recent WCY information that has been received by the system
4473 <bf>show/wwv</bf> Show the last 10 WWV broadcasts<newline>
4474 <bf>show/wwv <n></bf> Show the last <n> WWV broadcasts
4478 Display the most recent WWV information that has been received by the system
4485 <bf>shutdown</bf> Shutdown the cluster
4489 Shutdown the cluster and disconnect all the users. If you have Spider
4490 set to respawn in /etc/inittab it will of course restart.
4496 <bf>spoof <callsign> <command></bf> Run commands as another user
4500 This is a very simple yet powerful command for the sysop. It allows you to
4501 issue commands as if you were a different user. This is very useful for the
4502 kind of things that users seem to always get wrong.. like home_node for
4509 <bf>stat/db <dbname></bf> Show the status of a database
4513 Show the internal status of a database descriptor.
4515 Depending on your privilege level you will see more or less information.
4516 This command is unlikely to be of much use to anyone other than a sysop.
4518 <sect1>stat/channel (5)
4522 <bf>stat/channel <callsign></bf> Show the status of a channel on the cluster
4526 Show the internal status of the channel object either for the channel that
4527 you are on or else for the callsign that you asked for.
4529 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
4535 <bf>stat/msg <msgno></bf> Show the status of a message
4539 This command shows the internal status of a message and includes information
4540 such as to whom it has been forwarded, its size, origin etc etc.
4542 <sect1>stat/user (5)
4546 <bf>stat/user <callsign></bf> Show the full status of a user
4550 Shows the full contents of a user record including all the secret flags
4553 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
4559 <bf>sysop</bf> Regain your privileges if you login remotely
4563 The system automatically reduces your privilege level to that of a
4564 normal user if you login in remotely. This command allows you to
4565 regain your normal privilege level. It uses the normal system: five
4566 numbers are returned that are indexes into the character array that is
4567 your assigned password (see SET/PASSWORD). The indexes start from
4570 You are expected to return a string which contains the characters
4571 required in the correct order. You may intersperse those characters
4572 with others to obscure your reply for any watchers. For example (and
4573 these values are for explanation :-):
4576 password = 012345678901234567890123456789
4584 aa2bbbb0ccc5ddd7xxx3n
4589 They will all match. If there is no password you will still be offered
4590 numbers but nothing will happen when you input a string. Any match is
4597 <bf>talk <callsign></bf> Enter talk mode with <callsign><newline>
4598 <bf>talk <callsign> <text></bf> Send a text message to <callsign><newline>
4599 <bf>talk <callsign> > <node_call> [<text>]</bf>
4600 Send a text message to <callsign> via <node_call>
4604 Send a short message to any other station that is visible on the cluster
4605 system. You can send it to anyone you can see with a SHOW/CONFIGURATION
4606 command, they don't have to be connected locally.
4608 The second form of TALK is used when other cluster nodes are connected
4609 with restricted information. This usually means that they don't send
4610 the user information usually associated with logging on and off the cluster.
4612 If you know that G3JNB is likely to be present on GB7TLH, but you can only
4613 see GB7TLH in the SH/C list but with no users, then you would use the
4614 second form of the talk message.
4616 If you want to have a ragchew with someone you can leave the text message
4617 out and the system will go into 'Talk' mode. What this means is that a
4618 short message is sent to the recipient telling them that you are in a 'Talking'
4619 frame of mind and then you just type - everything you send will go to the
4620 station that you asked for.
4622 All the usual announcements, spots and so on will still come out on your
4625 If you want to do something (such as send a spot) you precede the normal
4626 command with a '/' character, eg:-
4629 /DX 14001 G1TLH What's a B class licensee doing on 20m CW?
4633 To leave talk mode type:
4643 <bf>type <filearea>/<name></bf> Look at a file in one of the fileareas
4647 Type out the contents of a file in a filearea. So, for example, in
4648 filearea 'bulletins' you want to look at file 'arld051' you would
4652 TYPE bulletins/arld051
4655 See also SHOW/FILES to see what fileareas are available and a
4662 <bf>who</bf> Show who is physically connected locally
4666 This is a quick listing that shows which callsigns are connected and
4667 what sort of connection they have
4673 <bf>wx <text></bf> Send a weather message to local users<newline>
4674 <bf>wx full <text> </bf> Send a weather message to all cluster users
4678 Weather messages can sometimes be useful if you are experiencing an extreme
4679 that may indicate enhanced conditions
4681 <sect1>wx (enhanced for sysops) (5)
4685 <bf>wx sysop <text></bf> Send a weather message to other clusters only
4689 Send a weather message only to other cluster nodes and not to general users.
projects / spider.git / blob