--- /dev/null
+<!doctype linuxdoc system>
+
+<article>
+
+<!-- Title information -->
+
+<title>The DXSpider User Manual v1.50</title>
+<author>Ian Maude, G0VGS, (g0vgs@gb7mbc.net)</author>
+<date>March 2003 revision 0.3</date>
+
+<abstract>
+A complete reference for users of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
+</abstract>
+
+<!-- Table of contents -->
+<toc>
+
+<!-- Begin the document -->
+
+<sect>Introduction
+
+<sect1>What is a DX Cluster?
+
+<p>
+A DX Cluster is a packet node where DX chasers on any band or mode can
+post rare or interesting stations that they have worked or heard. Of
+course other people are doing the same thing too, so you can find new
+DX as well as telling others about the stations you have worked.
+Clusters tend to be linked to each other so that the amount of people
+using them is increased, thereby increasing the amount of posted DX.
+Other information can be found on clusters such as on-line call books,
+mail etc. You can talk to other stations connected to the cluster
+network too, in real time, whether at the node you are logged into or
+on another node connected to the network. You can also use converse
+mode, where several stations can talk to each other in the same way.
+Of course, the DX is still posted to you all the while!
+
+<sect1>So what is DXSpider?
+
+<p>
+PacketCluster nodes have been around since roughly 1985. The original
+PacketCluster idea came from Dick Newell, AK1A, and ran under DOS.
+In about 1992 Dick stopped the development of the PacketCluster
+software for amateur radio. Many systems are still using this
+relatively old DOS software today.
+
+There are several new compatible cluster programs around now,
+including DXSpider. DXSpider is a clone of PacketCluster software that runs
+under several operating systems including Linux and Windows. Linux is fast
+becoming the choice for amateur radio stations because of it's flexibility,
+reliability and the lack of the memory limitations of DOS. Linux supports
+multitasking and is also multiuser. It has support for AX25, ROSE,
+NetROM and TCPIP built in, making it the ideal choice for amateur
+radio. It is also totally free!
+
+DXSpider was conceived and begun in 1998 by Dirk Koopman, G1TLH as an
+exercise in perl programming. It has developed rapidly and today is a
+very powerful cluster program. It was designed to be totally compatible
+with the AK1A program, although several commands have been extended to
+improve functionality.
+
+This manual is designed to help you become familiar with the commands
+that DXSpider supports and to help you get the best from the program so
+you can enjoy working that rare DX! As DXSpider is being improved all the
+time, commands will be added as time goes by, so make sure you have
+the most upto date version of this manual. The latest version will
+always be included with the cluster program so if you are unsure, simply
+ask your sysop. The manual will also be available on the wesite.
+
+
+<sect>Logins and logouts.
+
+<p>
+You might not think that there is a lot of point of including a
+section on how to log in and out of DXSpider. However, you would be
+suprised at the difficulties some people have in simply getting in
+and out of the cluster!
+
+There are several ways a login might be achieved, dependant on how
+the sysop has DXSpider configured. It is impossible for me to cover all
+variations but here are the basic ones.
+
+<sect1>AX25 logins.
+
+<p>
+Simplicity itself. The usual <bf>CONNECT</bf> command will log you straight
+into the cluster and you will not have to do anything else.
+Obviously, you will have to connect to the correct callsign. Some
+nodes use an SSID with their call so you would have to add that.
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+connect GB7MBC
+connect GB7MBC-1
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>Netrom logins.
+
+<p>
+There are several possibilities here, dependant on how the sysop has
+configured his system. If you are connecting via netrom then you are
+most probably connecting from another station. Listing the nodes in
+that station with the <bf>NODES</bf> command will tell you what callsign
+or netrom alias to connect to. Then just issue the connect command
+from there. It is possible that the netrom alias may connect you to
+a node with an alias for the cluster, such as DXC. Just type this
+and you will be connected.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+<tscreen><verb>
+connect MBCDX
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>Telnet logins.
+
+<p>
+With telnet connections, the source callsign is not seen by DXSpider, so
+you will be asked to login with your callsign.
+To telnet to DXSpider, you would connect to a specific port. There is no
+standard at the moment for a cluster telnet port but ask the sysop if
+you are unsure.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+telnet gb7mbc 8000
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+All the above are possible ways of connecting to a DXSpider cluster. You
+may have some or all of these available to you. There may be one or
+two additional ways to connect dependant on the network local to you.
+However I am sure you get the idea.
+
+<sect1>Logouts.
+
+<p>
+Logging out can be done by simply issuing the standard <bf>BYE</bf>
+command.
+
+You could also send a disconnect if you are using AX25, or a <bf>CLOSE</bf>
+command if you are connected via telnet.
+If you do not log out gracefully using one of the above commands,
+you may find you are unable to get a full connect next time. This
+may also happen if a netrom connection drops. You may get connected,
+but nothing else will happen because the program thinks you are still
+connected and will not let you connect twice under the same call.
+However you could reconnect by adding a number to the end of your call,
+for example G0YLM-2.
+This can be done by either altering your MYCALL setting in the TNC or
+by altering your program configuration.
+
+
+<sect>Setting your personal details.
+
+<p>
+Once logged in to the cluster, you should set your details so that
+anybody who wishes to contact you can find out who and where you are.
+There are four items to set, your name, qth, location and home node.
+Setting these details also allows the use of the SHOW/HEADING and
+SHOW/SUN commands from within the cluster. Unless you set your QTH
+and location, these commands cannot function.
+Once you have set your name, DXSpider will greet you with it next time
+you login. Your QTH setting is where you live and it is a good idea
+to add your locator to this as the location setting is converted to
+latitude and longitude once inputted. You can actually set your location
+in latitude/longitude or as a locator. Setting your home node will
+tell the program where you wish mail to be sent to you.
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+set/name Ian
+set/qth Morecambe, Lancashire IO84NB
+set/location 48 34 n 12 12 e
+set/qra IO84NB
+set/home gb7mbc
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect>Getting and posting DX.
+
+<p>
+When all is said and done, this is the main function of a DX cluster.
+In its simplest form you can just connect to the node and you will
+start to receive DX spots almost immediately! You can check on
+recent postings in either a general manner or on a particular band or
+mode. You can even check DX by callsign or a fragment of a callsign.
+Of course, once you get the hang of things, it is expected that you
+start posting some yourself! After all, there would be no clusters
+if people did not post DX and you get the added thrill of the hunt!
+
+<sect1>Receiving DX.
+
+<p>
+As we have already said, it is possible just to connect to the
+cluster and you will receive spots automatically. However, you may
+wish to check on spots just posted. Maybe you wish to see if a
+particular band is open or if a certain callsign is active, perhaps a
+DXpedition. The command to do this is <bf>SHOW/DX</bf>. Without any
+other arguments, this command will output the last 10 spots
+posted. It is possible to look at more than this, for example the
+last 20 or 50 spots, by adding the number to the command. You can
+make it even more specific by adding a band in either wavelength or
+frequency, and/or any additional information such as QSL details.
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/dx
+show/dx 5
+show/dx 20
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+will show the last 10, 5 and 20 spots received by the cluster
+respectively.
+
+<bf>Examples</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/dx on 20m
+show/dx 10 on 20m
+show/dx 20 on 20m
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+will show the last 5, 10 or 20 spots on 20 metres only.
+
+It is also possible to check for certain callsigns, or fragments of
+callsigns in the same way.
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/dx g0vgs
+show/dx 10 g0vgs
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+would show the last 5 or 10 dx spots containing the callsign g0vgs.
+
+<p>
+You can check for DX by offset and also by specifying a comment to
+search for.
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/dx 30-40
+show/dx 14000-14033
+show/dx iota
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+would show the spots that arrived between 30 and 40 spots ago and any
+spots with the word <em>iota</em> in the comment field. The case of
+the comment is not important.
+
+Checking DX posted on a certain day is possible too. All you have
+to do here is to specify how many days ago it was like this ...
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/dx day 30
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+It is of course possible to specify multiple arguments.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/dx 20 prefix 9a on vhf day 30
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+This would show the last 20 spots posted by or about calls with the prefix
+9a on vhf 30 days ago.
+
+As you can see the <bf>SHOW/DX</bf> command is very flexible, so if you are
+not sure whether something will work or not, try it and see! More
+information can be found in the Command Set section.
+
+<sect1>Posting DX.
+
+<p>
+To post DX you use the <bf>DX</bf> command. The syntax is shown below.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+dx (frequency) (callsign) (remarks)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Where frequency is in kilohertz and the callsign is the callsign of
+the station you have worked or heard, (ie not your own callsign!).
+The remarks section allows you to add information like the operators
+name or perhaps a location. Actually DXSpider will allow the frequency
+and callsign fields to be entered in any order.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+dx 14004 pa3ezl OP Aurelio 599
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+In fact, all the following will give the same result...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+dx 14004 pa3ezl OP Aurelio 599
+dx pa3ezl 14004 OP Aurelio 599
+dx pa3ezl 14.004 OP Aurelio 599
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+This posting, or callout as it is known, will be forwarded to all
+other connected stations both at the cluster you are connected to and
+other active clusters in the network. The callout will also be sent
+to you as proof of receipt.
+
+<sect>Headings and propagation
+
+<p>
+There are three commands in DXSpider to help you get the best DX possible.
+These are <bf>SHOW/SUN</bf>, <bf>SHOW/MOON</bf> and
+<bf>SHOW/HEADING</bf>. These commands will only work for you if you
+have entered your personal details. They use your entered location as
+a reference, so if you have not entered it or have entered it incorrectly
+they will not return the correct information.
+
+<sect1>Sun
+
+<p>
+The <bf>SHOW/SUN</bf> command can be used in three different ways. It
+can be used to show sunrise and sunset times for your own station, a
+particular callsign or a prefix.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/sun
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The output from this would look something like this ..
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/sun
+Location Rise Set Azim Elev
+G0VGS Morecambe, Lancashire 07:08Z 17:39Z 205.3 24.1
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/sun 5b4
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+would look like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/sun 5b4
+Location Rise Set Azim Elev
+5B Cyprus-5B 04:23Z 15:40Z 244.0 18.8
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+You can also specify multiple arguments like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/sun gw4veq 5b4ab zs
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+and then the output would look like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/sun gw4veq 5b4ab zs
+Location Rise Set Azim Elev
+GW4VEQ Brungwran, Isle of Anglesey IO 07:14Z 17:48Z 204.9 24.9
+5B Cyprus-5B 04:23Z 15:40Z 244.5 18.3
+ZS So-Africa-ZS1-ZS 04:31Z 17:28Z 289.9 41.3
+ZS So-Africa-ZS5-ZS 03:44Z 16:34Z 278.5 32.0
+ZS So-Africa-ZS6-ZS 03:59Z 16:42Z 277.6 35.0
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>Moon
+
+<p>
+The <bf>SHOW/MOON</bf> command works in the same way as the
+<bf>SHOW/SUN</bf> command. This program however, calculates the
+rise and set times of the moon for a prefix or callsign, together
+with the current azimuth and elevation of the sun at these
+locations.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/moon ea
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The output from this command would look like this ..
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/moon ea
+Location Rise Set Azim Elev RGain dB
+EA Spain-EA 08:15Z 20:09Z 257.2 9.5 -0.6
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+You can see that the output is similar to the <bf>SHOW/SUN</bf>
+command, with slightly different fields.
+
+<sect1>Heading
+
+<p>
+The <bf>SHOW/HEADING</bf> command works in the same way as the
+<bf>SHOW/SUN</bf> and <bf>SHOW/MOON</bf> commands but outputs beam
+headings for a specified callsign or prefix. Reciprocal beam headings
+are also calculated.
+
+<bf>Example</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/heading zl
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The output from this command would look like this ..
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/heading zl
+ZL New-Zealand-ZL1-ZL: 7 degs - dist: 11238 mi, 18087 km Reciprocal heading: 355 degs
+ZL New-Zealand-ZL2-ZL: 9 degs - dist: 11540 mi, 18574 km Reciprocal heading: 353 degs
+ZL New-Zealand-ZL3-ZL: 19 degs - dist: 11634 mi, 18724 km Reciprocal heading: 345 degs
+ZL New-Zealand-ZL4-ZL: 34 degs - dist: 11783 mi, 18963 km Reciprocal heading: 332 degs
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect>Announcements.
+
+<sect1>Making announcements.
+
+<p>
+Occasionally, you may wish to post something that does not fall into
+the normal parameters for a DX callout. You may wish to tell
+everybody connected that 10 FM is open for example, or ask if anyone
+knows the QSL manager for a certain callsign etc. You can do this
+using the <bf>ANNOUNCE</bf> command.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+announce 10 FM is open in IO84NB to europe.
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+That would let everyone know locally that this was the case, however
+it would not be forwarded to other nodes connected. To send
+announcements to other connected nodes as well, you would use the
+<bf>FULL</bf> extension.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+announce full Anyone seen EA7WA today?
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Be cautious in your use of announce full. There are many other tools
+available to get the information you require and the judicious use of
+this command is frowned upon as it creates a great deal of traffic
+across the network.
+
+<sect1>Listing announcements.
+
+<p>
+You can list previous announcements in the standard format with the
+<bf>SHOW</bf> command. As before you can list just the last 5 or as
+many as you wish.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/announcements
+show/announcements 10
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect>Nodes and users.
+
+<p>
+You can check which nodes are connected in the network, who is
+logged on locally, who is logged on at all the nodes or even
+just one node in particular. This is handy if you wish to see whether
+a friend is connected at the node they use. To see who is connected
+to the nodes, the <bf>SHOW/CONFIGURATION</bf> command is used.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/configuration
+show/configuration/nodes
+show/configuration (node_call)
+show/configuration (prefix)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The first of our three examples would output something like this,
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/c
+Node Callsigns
+EI5TCR (7 users)
+GB7ADX
+GB7BAA G4FPV G8TIC
+GB7BIG (GD0TEP) GD3UMW
+GB7BPQ (G0INA) G0RCI G3AKU G3OCA
+(GB7CDX) G3JNB G4ALR
+GB7DJK G0FYD G0REK G1TLH G4PEL G4SOZ
+ G4TVR G7SQW K8AZ M0CTQ-1 MM1CXE-10
+ ON7WP
+GB7DXA G0RDI G8SJP
+GB7DXC (G0HDB) G0WFK (G1FYC) G3KWK G3LME
+ G3OIL G4BGW G4FUJ (G4PDQ) GW7SMV
+GB7DXE G1NNB
+(GB7DXG) GU6EFB GU7DHI
+GB7DXK G1NTW G3IBI G3NSM G3XAQ G4CUS
+ G4XQY G7GAN
+GB7DXM G1EUC G3GAF G3LAS G4ZTR G8WXU
+ M0BCT M1EMF
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+You will notice that EI5TCR is showing only that it has 7 users and not
+giving the actual callsigns. This means that this node is on a limited
+protocol of some kind, probably because of a contest situation where
+slow radio links can block up and fail if too much information is sent
+between nodes.
+
+The second example would just show the nodes connected in the
+network, like this,
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+sh/c/n
+Node Callsigns
+GB7BAA GB7BAA GB7BPQ (GB7CDX) GB7DJK GB7DXA
+ GB7DXC GB7DXE (GB7DXG) GB7DXK GB7DXL
+ GB7DXM GB7DXS GB7IPT GB7MRS GB7UJS
+ GB7YDX KL7G N2TLY (ON0DXK)
+GB7BIG EI5TCR GB7ADX GB7BIG GB7UDX
+GB7MBC
+PA4AB-14 PA4AB-14
+PI4TUE-8 PI4TUE-8
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+If we insert the node_call pi4tue-8 into the third example, then
+this would be the output,
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+Node Callsigns
+PI4TUE-8 9A1CMA-6 DF6PW DL4FAY DL4KAK DL4WF-2
+ F5NOD-2 F5PAC IZ0CSR N6CR OH2BLD
+ ON1LVL-13 ON4CBT ON4CJP ON5DXL-14 ON7NQ
+ PA0RCT PA3DYS PA3FDO PA5KW-4 PI4TUE-9
+ YT1XX
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+As you can see, only the users of the requested node are shown.
+
+You can also use a prefix to show only a group of nodes. For example
+you may only wish to see who is connected to the nodes in the UK. To
+do this simply use a prefix like this ...
+
+<verb>
+show/configuration gb7
+</verb>
+
+To show the locally connected users, the <bf>SHOW/USERS</bf> command is
+used
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/users
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The output of this command would look like this,
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+Callsigns connected to GB7MBC
+G0JHC G0NEI G0VGS G0VGS-2 G0YLM
+G3JAG G3OWO G3UEU
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect>Talk mode.
+
+<p>
+You can send a single comment or start a dedicated talk session to
+another user by using the <bf>TALK</bf> command.
+
+<p>
+Talk mode is used to send a one line comment or greeting to a
+specific user connected either at your node or another in the
+network. You can also enter into a dedicated talk session with
+another user. Talks will be automatically forwarded to other nodes
+if the station you are talking to is not connected locally.
+You can find out who is connected by using the
+<bf>SHOW/CONFIGURATION</bf> command, (described earlier).
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+talk g0rdi Having a good day Iain?
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+This example would send the line "Having a good day Iain?" to the
+user g0rdi but would leave you in normal mode.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+talk g0rdi
+Entering Talkmode, /EX to end, /<cmd> to run a command
+Talk (G0RDI)>
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+As you can see, you can still run commands whilst in talk mode.
+Simply prefix the command with a / like /sh/dx and you will get
+the expected output.
+If the user is connected to another node, you may have to use a
+slightly extended version of the <bf>TALK</bf> command.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+talk g0rdi > gb7djk
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+To exit talk mode, you issue the command <bf>/ex</bf>.
+
+Whilst in talk mode you will still receive DX spots. This means that
+you can chat to a friend whilst working DX.
+
+<sect>Mail.
+
+<p>
+You can send and receive both personal mail and bulletins with DXSpider
+quite easily.
+
+<sect1>The "directory" command.
+
+<p>
+To list mail you would use the <bf>DIRECTORY</bf> command. On its
+own, this command will output the last ten messages received by the
+node, either to or from yourself or bulletins such as "DX" and "ALL".
+As with other commands you can display more by specifying a number
+with the command. You should be aware that Spider will accept
+these commands by separating with either a slash or a space, so
+<em>dir new</em> and <em>dir/new</em> work in the same way.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+directory
+directory/20
+directory 20
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Of course most of the time you will only want to list new mail sent
+to you personally since your last login. However you might also like
+to check for general mail received by the node. In fact if there is
+new mail for you, the cluster will tell you when you login. You will
+also be informed if new mail arrives for you during the time you are
+logged in.
+Mail is not only sent to callsigns though. Mail can also be sent to
+subjects like "all" or "local" or "dx" etc. You can treat these
+bulletins in the same way as personal mail with the directory
+command.
+
+<bf>Examples:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+directory/new
+directory/own
+directory/own/10
+directory/all
+directory/from <call>
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The last option will only show mail from a callsign if it was sent to
+you personally or was sent as a bulletin. There are some additional
+commands and these can be found in the DXSpider Command Reference section.
+
+<sect1>Reading mail.
+
+<p>
+The output of the <bf>DIRECTORY</bf> command could be something like
+this.
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+dir
+ 20735 2 ALL GW7SMV 21-Feb 1204Z REC 9E1S QSL TDY 50Mhz....
+ 20823 308 UK G0HDB 22-Feb 2334Z Help - which district code?
+ 20824 105 ALL W9AE 23-Feb 0349Z S0NY QSL address?
+ 20825 2 UK G0LRJ 23-Feb 0806Z QSL REC LZ2CJ/1.CARD NO-750.
+ 20858 2 ALL GW7SMV 24-Feb 0905Z REC S92DX QSL CARD TDY 50Mhz
+ 20921 200 ALL GM4FDM 27-Feb 2203Z Trip to VP8
+ 20949 375 ALL K0MN 27-Feb 0428Z ST0P cards are gd @ ARRL
+ 20950 2 UK G0LRJ 28-Feb 0835Z QSL REC SV9/IZ0CKJ/P EU-187.
+ 20987 569 ALL GD0TEP 1-Mar 1733Z Portable contests
+ 21076 2 ALL G4AFJ 3-Mar 1743Z kh6nd/kh5 qsl received
+ 21184-p 599 GW4HAT G0VGS 4-Mar 1518Z Re: Time
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The first column is the actual message number. If the message is a
+personal one to you, you will see a letter 'p' after this number. If
+the message has been read, there will be a '-' between the message
+number and the 'p'. This only works for personal messages. The next
+column shows the file size of the message. The third column shows the
+address the message was sent to and the next column shows who sent it.
+The rest is fairly self-explanatory.
+
+Reading a message is as simple as typing read, followed by the
+message number that you wish to read.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+read 25
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+will read message number 25. However the mail will be displayed in it's
+entirety unless you specify a page length. You can set your page length
+to any number you like and when the message reaches that number of lines
+you will get a prompt giving you options.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+set/page 20
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+
+<sect1>Sending mail.
+
+<p>
+Sending mail is done in the time honoured way. First you specify
+a recipient for the message, then you will be prompted for a subject.
+Once you have done this you will be asked to type your message.
+Please remember that there is no automatic word wrap, so unless you
+are using a client that wraps lines automatically, remember to hit
+return at the end of each line.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+send m0azm
+Enter Subject (30 characters):
+See you Thursday
+Enter Message /EX to send or /ABORT to exit
+Hi Ian,
+Just a quick note to say that I can make Thursday after all. The
+appointment I had has cancelled so we are go!
+Cheers
+Ian
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+At this point you can either hit return and enter /ex to send the
+message or use /abort at any time to abort it. You can now display
+the message in the normal way. There are several send options and
+these are listed in the Command Set section. These include sending
+mail to several recipients and asking for a return receipt.
+
+
+<sect1>Replying to mail.
+
+<p>
+If mail is addressed to you or to a bulletin address, you can use the
+<bf>REPLY</bf> command to reply to it. Using this command, the
+subject will be automatically set for you as "Re: subject", whatever
+the subject was.
+
+<bf>Example:</bf>
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+reply 2500
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>Deleting mail
+
+<P>
+To delete a message, you use the <em>delete</em> command.
+You can only delete messages sent to or received by yourself.
+Bulletins are dealt with automatically or by the sysop.
+
+<sect>Filtering (From version 1.45)
+
+<sect1>General filter rules
+
+<P>
+Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From
+v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just
+about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of
+DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do
+anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update.
+
+<P>
+There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These
+are <em>accept</em>, <em>reject</em> and <em>clear</em>. First we will look
+generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the
+DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
+
+<P>
+In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which can have
+up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+accept/spots .....
+reject/spots .....
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are
+filters for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each
+different accept or reject command reference for more details.
+
+There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+clear/spots 1
+clear/spots all
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
+
+<P>
+and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+show/filter
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<P>
+For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same
+principles to all types of filter.
+
+<sect1>Types of filter
+
+<P>
+There are two main types of filter, <em>accept</em> or <em>reject</em>. You
+can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
+and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject
+filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10
+lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the
+action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
+means take it)
+
+<P>
+If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter
+will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter,
+then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped.
+For example if you have a single line <em>accept</em> filter ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+then you will <em>ONLY</em> get VHF spots <em>from</em> or <em>to</em> CQ zones
+14, 15 and 16.
+
+<P>
+If you set a reject filter like this ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+reject/spots on hf/cw
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Then you will get everything <em>EXCEPT</em> HF CW spots. You could make this
+single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA
+and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in
+CW, then you could say ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other
+until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you
+wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
+don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing!
+
+<P>
+You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own
+understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
+reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF
+which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
+
+<P>
+This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if
+you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available.
+This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it
+more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example.
+
+<P>
+You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look
+at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We
+are saying reject spots that are VHF or above <em>APART</em> from those in
+zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did
+not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it
+logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+(on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are
+here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'.
+
+As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than
+simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want
+to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or
+one line. For example ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+would redefine our earlier example, or
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+clear/spots 1
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+clear/spots all
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+<sect1>Filter options
+
+<P>
+You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the
+various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
+
+<sect1>Advanced filtering
+
+<P>
+Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment.
+
+<P>
+The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
+can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
+
+<tscreen><verb>
+rej/spot on hf/cw
+acc/spot on 0/30000
+acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+</verb></tscreen>
+
+Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This
+will automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have
+said <em>reject all HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept
+all others at HF. Also accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or
+by operators in the zones 14, 15 and 16</em>. Each filter slot actually
+has a 'reject' slot and an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed
+BEFORE the accept slot.
+
+<P>
+It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the
+default for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'.
+In the example what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non
+hf/cw spot is passed to the accept line, which lets through everything
+else on HF. The next filter line lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
+
+
+<sect>Hints, tips and common questions.
+
+<p>
+<bf/Q./These commands seem very long! Can I shorten them?
+
+<bf/A./Of course you can and the usual abbreviations work. If you
+are unsure, try it.
+
+<bf/Q./I am not sure if this command is correct. Can I cause any
+harm if I try it?
+
+<bf/A./Do not be afraid to try a command to see if it will work,
+at the worst you will get an error message. If you require any
+help on a command, just type help followed by the command you
+want help on. Look at the "DXSpider Command Reference" section to see
+what help can be found.
+
+<bf/Q./How should I use the announce command?
+
+<bf/A./With respect. Use the command by all means, but please
+only use the "full" extension if absolutely necessary. It can
+create a LOT of messages passing between clusters.
+
+<bf/Q./I like to be working in the shack while logged into the
+cluster but I can't be looking at the screen all the time. How
+can I be alerted when anything happens?
+
+<bf/A./Use the <bf>SET/BEEP</bf> command. You can find information
+on this in the "DXSpider Command Reference" section.
+
+<bf/Q./I got disconnected from the cluster and now I can't log
+back in again. What is wrong?
+
+<bf/A./Probably the cluster thinks you are still logged on and
+will not let you reconnect using the same call to prevent loops.
+Try logging on again adding an ssid to your callsign as DXSpider
+treats G0YLM and G0YLM-1 as different users.
+
+<bf/Q./How do I know if I have got the latest version of this
+user manual?
+
+<bf/A./The latest and greatest will always be on the Website. It will
+also be included with every release of DXSpider. As always, if unsure,
+ask your sysop what version number is the latest.
+
+
projects / spider.git / blobdiff