************************************************* N0ARY/BBS Internet Gateway Operating Instructions July 17, 1997 Preliminary notes: There is an error in the "73" magazine article. If you are an internet only user the action of registering you automatically enables email forwarding. You do not need to perform the "Enabling" step. At this time the bbs is not available via telnet. The bbs/internet gateway is available only to those with a valid amateur radio license. This is because messages sent through the gateway will most probably travel over the amateur radio bands and the FCC has restrictions on the content of what amateurs may transmit. LOCAL USERS: ------------ Local users are those that log into the bbs via the bbs's telephone modem port (408-749-1950) or via one of the 3 tnc ports (144.93, 223.62, 433.37). Each local user has a bbs account that is used to customize how the bbs interacts with the user. Local users can set their account up so that all incoming mail addressed to their call will be forwarded via a gateway to internet and on to other networks (mcimail, compuserve, etc). All the user needs to do is enter his email address and turn the feature on. EMAIL bob@arasmith.com EMAIL ON When the EMAIL feature is turned on the packet message will be deleted at the time of forwarding through the gateway. So care should be taken that the paths are correct prior to turning the feature on, for instance enable it, send a test message, and disable it. After a successful transfer re-enable the feature. To disable the auto forwarding feature simply type: EMAIL OFF Messages can be sent by packet users to the internet users via the gateway. This applies to users at N0ARY as well as users at other bbs's. Begin by sending a message to IPGATE@N0ARY with the first line of the message being the letters "To:" followed by the internet address of the recipient. N6ZFJ de N0ARY > sp ipgate@n0ary Enter your subject: Meeting? Enter your message body: To: bob@arasmith.com Are you planning to attend the club meeting on Thursday? Give me a call. 73, Connie ^Z NOTE: That the recipient cannot respond to the message unless they are a ham and registered with the gateway. He/she becomes registered by sending a message from his internet host to gateway-request@arasmith.com. REMOTE USERS: ------------- Remote users are those that do not log into N0ARY directly but merely appear from the packet world to use it as home. If a packet user checks the "White Pages" for a remote user the entry comes back as @N0ARY. The packet user then address his message to YOURCALL@N0ARY and the bbs will do the translation and forwarding to internet. It is not necessary for a person to know your actual internet address nor use the SP IPGATE method described above. From the packet network it appears that you are just another user at N0ARY. WHITE PAGES: ------------ The "White Pages" is a distributed database of all the bbs users. Most bbs users in the US are represented in the database as well as many from other countries. When a user chooses a home bbs, that bbs generates an update that is sent to the regional servers and then distributed to all the other bbs's. An entry consists of; call, home bbs, first name, zip, city and state. When a user wishes to send another packet user a message he/she consults the white pages (WP) for the home bbs. REGISTERING: ------------ Before a user, both local and remote, can send a message from internet into the bbs system he/she must register with the gateway. This is done by sending a message from the host that he/she intends to use to gateway-request@arasmith.com with the following information: CALL: FULL NAME: CITY & ST: (or city and country) ZIP: HOMEBBS: (if you have one, if left blank mine will be used) PHONE: When a request is received the "From" field is copied directly into a file with the requesters call. Whenever the gateway receives a message bound for packet it scans this file comparing on the "From" field. When a match is found the gateway uses the associated call from then on. If there is no match the mailer bounces the message with a one-liner indicating the user must register. If you currently use another bbs as home this needs to be stated in the request. Otherwise you will be assigned N0ARY as your home. If you choose not to use N0ARY as your home you must make sure people know to send your message to YOURCALL@N0ARY to pass through the gate. Your WP entry will be wrong. NOTE: Registering is a manual process on my end, so don't attempt to send mail through the gateway until you receive a confirmation message from me. Normally this takes a day or so. EXECUTING BBS COMMANDS REMOTELY: -------------------------------- Many of the commands available to local users is also available to remote users by sending a message to the bbs. Here is a subset of the commands currently available. LIST listing messages LOOKUP look up calls in the on-line callbook WHO call dump a users account information READ read messages and files USERS n display the last n users to connect to the bbs INFO display manual pages of various topics CD change directories in the file system LS/DIR display the contents of a directory WP call look a user up in the "White Pages" HELP get help on how to use a command Not all commands available to local users can be accessed via the gate. All interactive commands are disabled as well as commands that modify the users account. The command parser for the bbs is very powerful and the user can form very complex requests. For instance the following command is valid on the bbs: LIST LAST 20 BULLETINS FROM N0ARY LIST ALL BULLETINS ABOUT KENWOOD The ABOUT keyword is used to search the subjects of messages for a given pattern, in this case KENWOOD. It can appear anywhere in the subject line. This is an example of how complex all the commands can become. They can also be abbreviated down to the level understood my most other bbs programs. Any of the following will give the same results. L< N6ZFJ LIST FROM N6ZFJ LIS < N6ZFJ L FR N6ZFJ In most cases a minimum number of unique characters is needed to distinguish a command. You can get a list of commands and a translation chart from W0RLI to N0ARY by typing the following commands. INFO COMMANDS INFO W0RLI Other commands that you may wish to execute are: INFO MANUAL HELP HELP HELP LIST Now that you know what some of the commands are this is how you go about executing them. You send a message to cmd@bbs.arasmith.com with your commands entered one per line or separated by semicolons. For example if you want to know if three of your buddies are in the white pages and if the bbs has any messages about the ICOM W2A. Send to: cmd@bbs.arasmith.com Subject: you can put anything here wp n0ary n6zfj n6une list all about w2a . The bbs will execute the commands and respond to you via return mail. SENDING MAIL TO PACKET: ----------------------- Once registered the user is free to begin using the gateway to send messages from his host through the gateway into the packet world. How much you have to specify of a users address depends on how much the bbs already knows about the user. If the bbs knows the home bbs of the user and his home bbs is know to the N0ARY bbs, which most of them are, you simply need to supply the call. n6zjf@bbs.arasmith.com If the N0ARY bbs doesn't know of the user but does know where his home bbs is then you need to supply just the home bbs call in addition to the users. n6zjf%n6qmy@bbs.arasmith.com Notice that the call and home bbs are separated by a percent sign '%' rather then the '@' which is used in the packet domain. This is because the '@' has a meaning in the internet address. If the bbs has no knowledge of either the user or his home bbs then you probably have the wrong home bbs or it is a new bbs. In which case you will have to supply the full address so the bbs will know how to route the message. n6zfj%n6qmy.#nca.ca.usa.noam@bbs.arasmith.com This level of addressing is hardly ever needed and normally means that the home bbs is in error. Bulletins can be sent in a similar fashion. The address is made up of a keyword, which can be any six character word and a distribution. Distributions are local to an area. For instance SBAY is valid in northern CA, it probably has no meaning at all in Topeka, KS. Valid distributions are: USA all U.S. (please keep use of this one to a minimum) WUSA Western USA CA California NCA Northern California SBAY South Bay (our local area) N0ARY This BBS only So if you trying to find a cw filter for a Kenwood TS440. Send to: want%ca@bbs.arasmith.com Subject: Kenwood TS440, CW filter If you have one of these you are willing to part with please give me a call or leave message, thanks. 73, N6ZFJ@N0ARY.#NCA.CA.USA.NOAM . Be descriptive, brief, and always include your full return address in the message. Also please try to limit your distributions to small regions. Using the USA distribution really slows down the flow of messages. INFO ON THE N0ARY BBS: ---------------------- The bbs came into being in July of 1990 and as of Aug of 1994 had over 1200 active users. The bbs has 3 rf ports, 2 phone ports, the internet port, and a voice synthesizer port. The latter allows users to check for messages via DTMF from their handhelds. The bbs itself runs on a Sun workstation under Unix. The code was written by Bob Arasmith to focus on the user. Great care was taken to make the bbs very forgiving to the novice user but very flexible and powerful for the old-timer. The bbs can be configured to interact with each user differently. Some examples are: * List messages in either descending or ascending order. * Specify a list of keywords that the user wishes not to see displayed when a list is performed, similar to a kill file. * .signature and .vacation files. * Specify how many lines the users terminal is capable of displaying before scrolling, the bbs will feed info this many lines and pause allowing the user to catch up and continue or abort the operation. Similar to more. * Users can put commonly executed commands in keystroke macros that are accessible via a single keystroke. A manual is currently available describing the commands and their permutations. This manual will be available in late 1992 as a postscript file. Run the command INFO MANUAL to learn how to get one via the post office. Sorry, the manual is not available in an ascii format. If you have any questions about the internet gateway or the bbs in general please drop me or my co-sysop a message. 73, bob packet: n0ary@n0ary.#nca.ca.usa.noam e-mail: bob@arasmith.com co-sysop: Gary WB6YRU packet: wb6yru@n0ary.#nca.ca.usa.noam e-mail: wb6yru@arasmith.com