WinPack Tips and Traps

Here are tips and traps I've come across while using WinPack.

Auto-BBS

Auto-BBS is the mode where WinPack will run off to your friendly BBS system and download your mail and bulletins. But what if you don't have a BBS, just a local TNC with a mailbox. Out of luck, right?

Nope. With the right settings, the "BBS Session" button (empty-looking mailbox) on the toolbar will collect your messages from at least one brand of TNC -- the PKC-3, and will almost work with the Kenwood TM-D700A mailbox.

Configuration of Auto-BBS is under "Options", "Personal/BBS Info". Here are the settings I've found usable with each kind of TNC.

Setting	PKC-3	TM-D700A
BBS Callsign¹	K7CVO-1	N8GFO-1
BBS Prompt	ENTER COMMAND	???
"To" label	TO	To
"From" label	FROM	From
"Date/time" label	DATE	Date<3 spaces>Time
"Message #" label	MSG#	Msg#
"Title" label	SUBJECT	Subject
Message end identifier	*	*
Bulletins	LB	N/A
Personal	LM	l
Notes
* "Message end identifier" appears to be fine using the default. WinPack appears to accept the command prompt appearing at the end of the message.
This also requires setting the "Human mode" checkbox under "Mail", "Mail options".
¹ Of course, enter the callsign of the TNC you get messages at. You can also enter a route if you need to digipeat to get to the destination. E.g. "K7CVO-1 VIA N8GFO".

TM-D700A and WinPack

It "almost works"? What do I mean by that?

The mailbox in the TM-D700A doesn't differentiate between messages FROM you and TO you, so the list command shows things you've sent as well as things you need to read. But, fortunately, the command WinPack uses to remove messages after downloading them (RM) does not do anything on the Kenwood. So, you download message to and from you each time you "Auto-BBS", and they do not get removed unless you go do it by hand. This will cause needless traffic, but unless the channel is busy it is more convenient.

The same web site where you can get WinPack has a link to a revised startup.txt to program the TM-D700A, including setting the frequency and mode. I've not used it, but I have a list of the TM-D700A commands and can configure one if needed. The same kind of file could be created for the TH-D7A, since the firmware is almost the same.

TH-D7A and WinPack

The TH-D7A works fine almost with the default WinPack TNC setup. There are two gotcha's.

No NEWMODE command. What this means is that you must issue a control-C to return to command mode after disconnecting from a remote site. If you don't, the text you type will be sent as unconnected packets.
No TRANSPARENT mode. This isn't something I've seen as a problem, but the WinPack documents say that this will prevent YAPP file transfers from working. I've not tried YAPP yet, so I can't speak with authority.

Here are the TH-D7A settings that I have. I've included the entire list as returned by the DISP command.

ASYRXOVR 0
AUTOLF   ON
BEACON   EVERY 0
BBFAILED 0
BTEXT    
CHECK    30
CPACTIME OFF
CR       ON
DWAIT    30
ECHO     OFF
FIRMRNR  OFF
FLOW     ON
FRACK    3
GBAUD    4800
GPSTEXT  $PNTS
HBAUD    1200
HEALLED  OFF
HOVRERR  0
HUNDRERR 0
KISS     OFF
LOCATION EVERY 0
LPATH    GPS
LTEXT    
LTMON    0
MONITOR  ON
MCON     OFF
MYCALL   N8GFO-2
MCOM     OFF
NTSGRP   
NTSMRK   $00
NTSMSG   
PACLEN   128
PACTIME  AFTER 10
PERSIST  128
PPERSIST ON
RCVDFRMR 0
RCVDIFRA 6
RCVDREJ  0
RCVDSABM 0
RETRY    10
RESPTIME 5
RXCOUNT  35
RXERRORS 81
SENDPAC  $0D
SENTFRMR 0
SENTIFRA 2
SENTREJ  2
SLOTTIME 3
TRIES    0
TRACE    OFF
TXCOUNT  49
TXDELAY  50
TXTMO    0
UNPROTO  CQ
XFLOW    ON

If you are a packet guru and see a setting that I should change, let me know.

Last updated: 19-Nov-2001

stanley+wp@peak.org