Q: I am connected into the AR-Cluster network
and see spots coming in but no spot appear in the DX tab.
A: Check your
computer date/time. Spots, which come in
more than 20 minutes ahead or behind your local computer clock
are not processed. A warning message
appears in the Log tab indicating the spot was dumped.
Q:
When I try to connect via Telnet to my AR-Cluster node the connection is
accepted but then after I enter my call, the Telnet connection is rejected.
A: If the node call is the same as the Telnet call,
the connection will be rejected as the cluster cannot connect the same call in
the system more that once. Try
re-connecting using a SSID on the call.
Q:
When ever I get a DX spot ARC gets busy for 10 seconds an does not respond to
any commands.
A: Activating the voice alert multimedia feature
requires considerable system resources.
In this case, the sysop had turned down the volume on his sound card and
the multi-media sound announcements were consuming a considerable amount of
system resources.
Q:
Can I connect to other AR-Cluster nodes without having a dedicated IP
addresses?
A: Yes. Only
AR-Cluster hub nodes require static IP addresses. You can link to WU3V, AB5K or other
AR-Cluster nodes running static IP addresses.
You initiate the connection from the dynamic IP address assigned by your
Internet Service Provider. The ability
to connect without going to the expense of a static IP address is one of the
major advantages of AR-Cluster over other existing Internet enabled cluster
interfaces.
Q:
For connection to other AR-Cluster nodes, do we have
to have our own registered domain name?
A: No.
Q:
I want to allow users to Telnet into my AR-Cluster via the Internet. Do I need a static IP address?
A: No. Even if you use a ISP
who provides a dynamic IP Internet, your users can find you using one of the IP
direction services such as DYNIP.COM.
Q:
I want to allow users to Telnet into my AR-Cluster via the Internet. Do we have to have our own registered domain
name?
A: No, a domain name is not necessary.
Q:
How do I set the time on my computer?
A: Go into the control-panel and select the date-time
option. Set the time to the correct GMT
time and then click on the Time-Zone tab and set the time zone to GMT. Unclick the check box to automatically adjust
for daylight savings time.
Q:
How do I point to a remote database on another node?
A: Go into the cfg-remote
database commands dialog and click the New
button. Set the command to the remote
database command (BUCK) and select the nodes you want to pull the data from by
priority and set the access level as needed (sysop and user).
Q:
How do I subscribe to the AR-Cluster reflector?
A: Send mail message to: majordomo@wu3v.net no subject info subscribe ar-cluster
(in the message body)The robot will send back a
message to you to let you know that everything was received ok.
Q: How do I sign up on the BPQ reflector?
A: Send mail message
to: majordomo@wu3v.net no subject info subscribe bpq (in
the message body)The robot will send back a message to
you to let you know that everything was received ok.
Q: When I run the AGW KISS engine, I get a
WS2_32.DLL not found error.
A: You need to
install the winsock components for the AGW KISS
engine to work under Windows 95. Go to
the AGW site and download the file WS2Setup.exe.
Q: How does the DX dupe filter work?
A: There are
actually two DX dupe filters implemented, a system one and a user configurable
one. The purpose of the system DX dupe
filter is to remove spots caused by loops in the system. The system DX dupe filter works on any DX
spots coming into the network comparing the Call, Frequency, Date-Time and
Comment fields for an exact match in the database table. If a exact match
occurs, the spot is dumped. The
secondary DX dupe filter is programmed by the sysop. It is located in the Cfg-Filters-DX-Dupe
area. This filter ignores the Comment
field in its comparison. You can also
set its frequency ranges to remove duplicate spots close in frequency.
Q: What does the warning message “Disconnecting K8ABC call
already an object,
Dumping and Disconnecting all instances” mean?
A: This is a
normal warning. What has happened is
that the user went away and the Microsoft Winsock control has not yet reported a disconnect.
Possibly the user disconnected his telnet client is a way that did not
report a disconnect back to you (his IPS went down,
power failure etc). When the user
re-connects to your ARC node we show him already connected since Winsock never
reported a disconnect.
The warning you are seeing tells us he is reconnecting and we are
dumping his old connection object and creating a new one. If the user never re-connected, the next
time you sent a DX spot to the user, the Winsock control, after a timeout,
would report a disconnect as the TCPIP packet could not be delivered. At that point ARC would disconnect the user.
Q: What does the warning “Disconnecting call - contains illegal
characters” mean?
A: Callsigns passed by TNC connections are guaranteed to be
valid but Telnet connections are at the mercy of what the user types into the
system when prompted for a call. When a
Telnet user connects ARC validates his callsign with
the following rules: 1. The call can only
contain the following valid characters: A-Z, -, /, 0-9 2.
The length of the call cannot be greater than 12 characters 3.
The call cannot contain all numbers.
Non-valid calls are rejected.
Q: I have a solid RF path to K5NA and my backup
RF path to a digi to get to WU3V is marginal. Is it possible to setup a primary network
connection to node, K5NA with a secondary back to a second node, WU3V and if
K5NA fails, automatically switch to WU3V but when K5NA comes back up switch
back to K5NA? Nodes K5NA and WU3V both connect together.
A: Yes,
program the Auto-Connect: K5NA set
to Priority 1, retries 2 WU3V
Priority 2 and retries 2. Now in the
scheduler, program: Interval: Every
5 Minutes, Qualifier: If
Connected to Qualifier2: K5NA
Command: Disc WU3VThe auto-connect will fail over to WU3V when K5NA
drops off line. When K5NA connects back
to WU3V and is available again, the scheduler will see the connection and will
disconnect WU3V. The next time the
auto-connect engine cycles, it should reconnect you to K5NA
Q: Doing a dir/to k1xxx gives mailbox empty, but
dir/own shows messages. What is the difference?
A: The dir/to
command does not show private mail messages (this keeps a third party from
viewing your private messages) while the dir/own command shows both public and
private messages.
Q: I want to connect into the AR-Cluster backbone
and get US and International DX spots but I also want to connect into my local
regional network and they do not want to any the non-regional spots. How do I do this?
A: The
AR-Cluster node that you connect to should set its outbound hop counts to your
node to a H1. That way spots and other
protocol messages from the ARC backbone will terminate at your node and not be
transmitted into your regional network.
Note: Please make sure that spots from your regional network are
transmitted back into the ARC Backbone by setting a high hop count back to the
ARC node that you connect to.
Q: A recent DX-Expedition is using a special
call that auto-countries to the wrong country.
How can this be corrected?
A: The auto-country
information is stored in the database.
It is loaded into ARC from the ARRL CTY files. Jim Reisert, AD1C
keeps the ARRL.CTY files current for amateur use. One solution is to wait for a new
update. The other solution is to modify
the ARRL.CTY file with the new country information and import the modified
ARRL.CTY file into AR-Cluster.
Q: We just rolled over to daylight savings time
and I quit getting spots. What happened?
A: Your
Windows operating system automatically adjusted you CPU clock for the time
change. Now you need to adjust your GMT
time offset in AR-Cluster to indicate the new time offset.
Q: I want to do a new full install of AR-Cluster
but how do I retain my current user settings?
A: You can
export and import database tables to and from XML. This is the same B2B technology that
businesses exchange data over the web.
User data is stored in the User Info and User Filters tables. You may want to save and restore other data
as well. You export the desired tables to XML, do a
new install of ARC and then import the XML into the new tables. You can view the XML with a text editor or
your Internet explorer.
Q: ARC will not talk to my TNC. What are the recommended steps for debug?
A: Connect the
TNC via RS232 into your Windows machine, note the serial port. Run the Windows HyperTerminal program
(start-programs-accessories-communications-HyperTerminal). Set the HyperTerminal to the correct port and
the serial port settings per the defaults in your TNC manual. Power up the TNC. If all goes well, you should see the sign on
prompt as the TNC powers up. You should
now be able to execute commands on the TNC.
Go ahead and set you callsign on the TNC and
do a connect to another station to check out your TNC
and radio. If when powering up, you see
a few junk characters on the screen, the TNC was probably left in KISS mode the
last time it was operated so do a full reset on the TNC per the manual. For the KPC3, you jumper a couple of pins
while powering up the unit. When you get
the TNC connecting and operating properly outside AR-Cluster, you can then exit
HyperTerminal and let the BPQ32 or AGW Packet Engine control the TNC via
ARC. Both should kick the TNC back into
KISS what they start. You can also place
the TNC back into KISS mode using HyperTerminal with the TNC in the command
mode. Most TNC's
need a "
Q: How do I connect my contest/logging program
into AR-Cluster?
A: If your
computers are on a local network, simply telnet from your contest/logging
application into your AR-Cluster machine.
Q: How do I connect my contest/logging program
into AR-Cluster using RS232?
A: Set up a
RS232 port - Cfg-I/O Devices and set a Com port to
"Local User". Select the
serial port tab and set the ports Baud Rate, Parity and Flow as desired.
Q: How can I connect AGW into my NOS PC?
A: Set up an
AGW port as a TAPR TNC2 and it talks DIRECT to a NOS PC.
Q: What are the advantages, if any, of
increasing the PC memory from 128 to 256 Mbytes?
A: I'm not
sure you will make use of the extra memory.
It basically depends on what other tasks you are running on your
machine. If you run Win2K or NT you can
watch your memory usage with the task manager (right click on the task bar and
select performance monitor and the performance tab).
Q: How do I connect ARC/AGW into my NOS PC?
A: Set up a
AGW port using a type of TAPR TNC2 – Thanks SV2AGW
Q: How do I clear the default country information
that comes with the factory installation?
A: The country
information is stored in the CtyStatus table in the
ARC_pub.mdb (public) database. This
table stores the country prefixes worked and confirmed by band and mode. The data is displayed when you click on a DX
spot in the grid in the DX tab. You can
edit this table with MS-Access 2000 or use the procedure below. To clear the default data in this table do
the following: 1. Export the table to
XML: Cfg-XmlExport, select CtyStatus
and select the Export button. This will
build a XML document called CtyStatus.xml located in
the XML folder. 2. Edit this document
with MS Word and using the Word Find and Replace feature, replace all
occurrences of the word True with the word False. Select the MS Word replace all option. You will get a report that the editor
replaced 4,000 words. Exit MS Word and
save the XML document. 3. Now Import the
new XML file into AR-Cluster by selecting Cfg>XmlImport select the CtyStatus.xml,
select the delete existing records before import option and select the Import
button.
Q: I get a message during AR-Cluster
installation that the install is trying to a older
version of a DLL or OCX. What should I
do?
A: This is common
when installing across the various Windows platforms. Either Windows or another application
installed a newer version of the DLL or OCX.
If your version is newer that the one being installed,
keep the newer version. All DLL's
and OCX's are designed to be backward compatible so
always keep the newer one.
Q: I am having trouble accessing the FTP
site. What user name and password should
I use?
A: Use a user
name of “anonymous” and your email address for the password. Also one of our sysops reports having to go
into Internet options in the Control panel, under advanced options, and enable
"Use passive FTP for compatibility with some firewalls and DSL"
modems."
Q: On a new installation, local users can't use commands because all
input ends with a extra letter "y" so commands look like "sh/dxy", "diry"
etc.
A: Make sure
you are not using a English version of Windows and set
your Windows Regional settings to US English.
Q: Should I use the AGW or BPQ interface for
the TNC interface?
A: De Eric
G0CGL / GB7CGL: If you just run a
cluster but not a net/rom node and or bbs then in'my view AGW has the
advantage. Mostly those advantages are to do with being able to run the DX spot
UI beacon in ARC and having a myriad of other different packet programs to use
that can simultaneously interface with AGW.
In my case these include a logbook program that is fed DX data without
recourse to using a com port, terminal programs and a telnet manager which not
only facilitates connections to worldwide gateways but overcomes the outgoing
telnet port 23 restriction in ARC and lets me connect
to non ARC clusters. This amount of
flexibility is not so easy to obtain with BPQ.
From your users' point of view, they wouldn’t know whether you had BPQ
or AGW: ARC/AGW or ARC/BPQ is quite seamless in both cases.
If you run a node then BPQ
has the advantage. There are two node applications for AGW, Digiplex
and XNet. Both
work very well but have some compatibility issues if operated in a
predominately BPQ environment ie where neighbor nodes
are BPQ.
Q: In the Cfg>IoDevices>AgwPacketEngine...
what is the AGW port number select box?
A: Each port
on the AGW is now configurable with a separate login message. For example the #1 port here get a "user welcome message" as that's the normal
user port. The # 2 port gets a
"user go-away message" as that's our 450 backbone and is reserved for
node to node traffic.
Q: How do I AutoStart
ARC after power fail?
A: 1) copy a
Shortcut to AR-CLUSTER.EXE to your:
C:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder.
2) The other issue is
whether how your Motherboard behaves when it looses Power. Some motherboard BIOS’es
have a parameter like: After Power
Interruption: and choices like “
3) Go to Start>Settings>Control Panel>Users And Passwords. Uncheck the box for “Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer”. Consult your computer documentation for more details.
Q: How does the DX-Keyword filter work?
A: The
DX-Keyword filter was implemented so users could filter DX spots with the word
BUSTED in the call. The user can program multiple key words for the
filter. Example: /BUS,/LID. For each DX spot sent to the user, we look
for a match in the DX spot callsign and if a match if
found, the spot is dumped. For the above
DX-Keyword filter settings, the following spots would be filtered out and not be sent to the
user:
JA1AAA/BUSTED, TE1ST/BUSTE, AH8A/BUST,
TI3H/BUS
JA1AAA/LID
Q: Is there a DXNOK - Stations which cannot
make spots?
A: Yes but
its implemented as SET/BLOCKDX CALLSIGN and SET/NOBLOCKDX CALLSIGN or in the
GUI, Cfg>User(Local)>Callsign>Switches>BlockDx Stations who rate this honor are sent the
message that's defined in the Cfg>IoDevices>DxBlockMsg.
Q: Is there a ANNNOK -
Stations which cannot make spots?
A: Yes but
its implemented as SET/BLOCKANNCALLSIGN and SET/NOBLOCKANN CALLSIGN or in the
GUI, Cfg>User(Local)>Callsign>Switches>BlockAnnouncements
Stations who rate this honor are sent the message that's defined in the Cfg>IoDevices>AnnBlockMsg
Q: How do I execute a connection script using
the scheduler?
A:
Connect/SCR FileName
Q: How do I filter spots coming to my node?
A: Set your
Upstream Filters on the ARC node that you connect to. Many
Q: How do I filter WX spots coming to my node?
A: Set the
Upstream Weather Spot Origination Filter to:
Q: When a passive link initializes with another
nodes it does not send part of the AR18 message types 3 and 4.
A: This is normal because AR18 message types 3
and 4 are part of the Network Origination Filters, NOF, and since we do not
exchange nodes and users on a passive link, there is no need to pass along NOF
filter data.
Q: When I initiate a passive link to a node, I see
the AR-18 filter protocol go up to the node but when I look on the destination
node using the Cfg>Nodes>Callsign, I expect to see the AR-18 configured data
listed in the Outbound filter tab for the node but its not there.
A: The
Cfg>Nodes>Callsign
command first attempts to find the node object in memory and if the node is not
in memory, then it looks up the node from the database. On a passive connection we mangle the callsigns to keep the rest of the logic from getting
confused on the routing of spots. So if
passive connect AB5K>2 is connected to you and you do a Cfg>Nodes>AB5K
you will NOT see the information for the passive connection but rather see the
AB5K direct connect if connected, otherwise you will see the data pulled form
the database. To display the information
on the the Passive node connection, click on the mangled passive call in
the treeview and then select the configuration
button. This will use the mangled callsign and display the information for the passive
connect object from memory. Then you
should be able to see the filters (on the outbound tab) that were send up by the passive connection.
Q: In a situation like ours with several nodes
serving an area it would be really nice if Show/Users were defined to display
all of the users in our local area.
A: You can use the Network
Origination Filters to do this. For
example, the nodes here run wide open with connections from other nodes all
across the world. For the local nodes
here in
Q: How do I do a outbound
Telnet connection to another node? I
would initiate the connection but I have a dynamic IP address.
A: One way is to subscribe
to a DNS server like tzo.com so that you have a static hostname which is always
resolved to your dynamic IP address.
This would allow the other cluster to connect to you. You can also use AGW and install the AGW
telnet manger. You can use the ARC script facility - it will connect ARC to the
telnet manager and initiate an automatic telnet to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
xx and allow for login and password.