1 The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.50
2 Ian Maude, G0VGS, (g0vgs@gb7mbc.net), and Charlie Carroll,
6 A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
7 ______________________________________________________________________
67 1. Routing and Filtering
71 1.3 The node_default filter
72 1.4 General route filtering
73 1.5 General filter rules
77 1.9 Advanced filtering
78 1.10 Basic hop control
79 1.11 Hop Control on Specific Nodes
80 1.12 Isolating networks
85 2.2 Filtering words from text fields in Announce, Talk and DX spots
86 2.3 Stopping (possibly bad) DX Spots from Nodes or Spotters
96 3.7 Distribution lists
103 5.1 Creating databases
104 5.2 Importing databases
105 5.3 Checking available databases
106 5.4 Looking up databases
107 5.5 Removing databases
109 6. Information, files and useful programs
114 6.4 Other text messages
117 6.7 Updating kepler data
119 6.9 Connecting logging programs
130 9.1 CVS from a Linux platform
131 9.2 CVS from a Windows platform
133 10. The DXSpider command set
135 10.1 accept/announce (0)
136 10.2 accept/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
137 10.3 accept/route (8)
138 10.4 accept/spots (0)
139 10.5 accept/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
141 10.7 accept/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
143 10.9 accept/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
145 10.11 announce full (0)
146 10.12 announce sysop (5)
150 10.16 clear/announce (8)
151 10.17 clear/route (8)
152 10.18 clear/spots (0)
153 10.19 clear/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
155 10.21 clear/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
157 10.23 clear/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
165 10.31 delete/user (9)
166 10.32 demonstrate (9)
168 10.34 directory (extended for sysops) (5)
172 10.38 export_users (9)
174 10.40 forward/latlong (8)
175 10.41 forward/opername (1)
181 10.47 kill/expunge (6)
183 10.49 load/aliases (9)
184 10.50 load/badmsg (9)
185 10.51 load/badwords (9)
187 10.53 load/cmd_cache (9)
188 10.54 load/forward (9)
189 10.55 load/messages (9)
190 10.56 load/prefixes (9)
197 10.63 read (extended for sysops) (5)
198 10.64 reject/announce
199 10.65 reject/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
200 10.66 reject/route (8)
201 10.67 reject/spots (0)
202 10.68 reject/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
204 10.70 reject/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
206 10.72 reject/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
209 10.75 set/address (0)
210 10.76 set/announce (0)
211 10.77 set/arcluster (5)
213 10.79 set/badnode (6)
214 10.80 set/badspotter (8)
215 10.81 set/badword (8)
226 10.92 set/homenode (0)
228 10.94 set/isolate (9)
229 10.95 set/language (0)
230 10.96 set/location (0)
231 10.97 set/sys_location (9)
232 10.98 set/logininfo (0)
233 10.99 set/lockout (9)
236 10.102 set/obscount (9)
238 10.104 set/password (0)
239 10.105 set/password (9)
240 10.106 set/pinginterval (9)
241 10.107 set/privilege (9)
242 10.108 set/spider (5)
243 10.109 set/sys_qra (9)
246 10.112 set/register (9)
251 10.117 show/baddx (1)
252 10.118 show/badnode (6)
253 10.119 show/badspotter (1)
254 10.120 show/badword (1)
255 10.121 show/configuration (0)
256 10.122 show/configuration/node (0)
257 10.123 show/connect (1)
259 10.125 show/debug (9)
262 10.128 sh/dxstats (0)
263 10.129 show/files (0)
264 10.130 show/filter (0)
265 10.131 show/filter (extended for sysops) (5)
266 10.132 show/hfstats (0)
267 10.133 show/hftable (0)
269 10.135 show/isolate (1)
270 10.136 show/lockout (9)
274 10.140 show/newconfiguration (0)
275 10.141 show/newconfiguration/node (0)
277 10.143 show/prefix (0)
278 10.144 show/program (5)
281 10.147 show/registered (9)
282 10.148 show/route (0)
283 10.149 show/satellite (0)
286 10.152 show/vhfstats (0)
287 10.153 show/vhftable (0)
293 10.159 stat/channel (5)
295 10.161 stat/route_node (5)
296 10.162 stat/route_user (5)
303 10.169 wx (enhanced for sysops) (5)
306 ______________________________________________________________________
308 1. Routing and Filtering
312 From DXSpider version 1.48, major changes were introduced to the way
313 node connections are treated. This is part of an ongoing process to
314 remove problems with loops and to enable talk and other functions to
315 propagate across the whole of the worldwide cluster network. In fact,
316 in a Spider network, it would be useful, perhaps even necessary to
317 have loops. This would give real resilience to the network, meaning
318 that if a link dropped, the information flow would simply come in and
319 go out via a different route. Of course, we do not have a complete
320 network of Spider nodes, there are other programs out there. Some of
321 these do not have any protection from loops. Certainly AK1A does not
322 handle loops well at all. It is therefore necessary to have some form
323 of protection for these nodes.
326 In fact DXSpider has had a simple system for some time which is called
327 isolation. This is similar to what in other systems such as clx, is
328 called passive mode. A more detailed explanation of isolation is given
329 further below. This system is still available and, for simple
330 networks, is probably all that you need.
331 The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 allows filtering the
332 node and user protocol frames on a "per interface" basis. We call this
333 route filtering. This is used instead of isolation.
336 What this really means is that you can control more or less completely
337 which user and node management PC protocol frames pass to each of your
338 partner nodes. You can also limit what comes into your node from your
339 partners. It is even possible to control the settings that your
340 partner node has for the routing information that it sends to you
341 (using the rcmd command).
346 Initially when route filters were being tested we generated a
347 "default" filter. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that this
348 might suit the UK cluster network but didn't really fit anybody else.
349 However using a default filter is an appropriate thing to do. How, is
350 explained further on.
353 The first thing that you must do is determine whether you need to use
354 route filtering at all. If you are a "normal" node with two or three
355 partners and you arranged in an "official" non-looping tree type
356 network, then you do not need to do route filtering and you will feel
357 a lot better for not getting involved. If you are successfully using
358 isolation then you also probably don't need to use route filtering.
361 To put it simply, you should not mix Isolation and Route Filtering.
362 It will work, of sorts, but you will not get the expected results. If
363 you are using Isolation sucessfully at the moment, do not get involved
364 in Route Filtering unless you have a good supply of aspirin! Once you
365 have started down the road of Route Filtering, do not use Isolation
366 either. Use one or the other, not both.
369 You will only require this functionality if you are "well-connected".
370 What that means is that you are connected to several different parts
371 of (say) the EU cluster and, at the same time, also connected to two
372 or three places in the US which, in turn are connected back to the EU.
373 This is called a "loop" and if you are seriously looped then you need
377 I should at this stage give a little bit of background on filters.
378 All the filters in Spider work in basically the same way. You can
379 either accept or reject various options in order to create the filter
380 rules you wish to achieve. Some filters are user settable, others can
381 only be altered by the sysop. Route filtering can only be done by the
386 Anyway, without further discouragement, let me start the process of
390 1.3. The node_default filter
392 All normal systems should have a default routing filter and it should
393 usually be set to send only the normal, unlooped, view of your
394 "national" network. Here in the UK that means nodes from the UK and
395 Eire, in EU it is more complex as the networks there grew up in a more
397 The generic commands are:-
401 reject/route node_default <filter_option>
405 accept/route node_default <filter_option>
410 where filter_option is one of the following ...
419 channel_dxcc <numbers>
420 channel_itu <numbers>
421 channel_zone <numbers>
426 Please be careful if you alter this setting, it will affect ALL your
427 links! Remember, this is a default filter for node connections, not a
431 For the default routing filter then you have two real choices: either
432 a "national" view or the "safe" option of only your own callsign.
433 Examples of each (for my node: GB7DJK) are:-
437 acc/route node_default call_dxcc 61,38
438 acc/route node_default call gb7djk
443 GB7DJK uses the first of these. The DXCC countries can be obtained
444 from the show/prefix command.
447 The example filters shown control output TO all your partner nodes
448 unless they have a specific filter applied to them (see next section).
451 It is also possible to control the incoming routing information that
452 you are prepared to accept FROM your partner nodes. The reason this is
453 necessary is to make sure that stuff like mail, pings and similar
454 commands a) go down the correct links and b) don't loop around
455 excessively. Again using GB7DJK as an example a typical default input
456 filter would be something like:
460 rej/route node_default input call_dxcc 61,38 and not channel_dxcc 61,38
463 What this does is accept node and user information for our national
464 network from nodes that are in our national network, but rejects such
465 information from anyone else. Although it doesn't explicitly say so,
466 by implication, any other node information (not from the UK and Eire)
470 As I imagine it will take a little while to get one's head around all
471 of this you can study the effect of any rules that you try by watching
472 the debug output after having done:-
481 After you have got tired of that, to put it back the way it was:-
491 1.4. General route filtering
493 Exactly the same rules apply for general route filtering. You would
494 use either an accept filter or a reject filter like this ...
498 reject/route <node_call> <filter_option>
502 accept/route <node_call> <filter_option>
508 Here are some examples of route filters ...
512 rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
513 rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
514 acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
515 acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
520 In practice you will either be opening the default filter out for a
521 partner by defining a specific filter for that callsign:-
526 acc/route gb7baa input all
529 or restricting it quite a lot, in fact making it very nearly like an
530 isolated node, like this:-
534 acc/route pi4ehv-8 call gb7djk
535 rej/route pi4ehv-8 input call_dxcc 61,38
540 This last example takes everything except UK and Eire from PI4EHV-8
541 but only sends him my local configuration (just a PC19 for GB7DJK and
542 PC16s for my local users).
545 It is possible to write much more complex rules, there are up to 10
546 accept/reject pairs per callsign per filter. For more information see
551 1.5. General filter rules
553 Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters.
554 From v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set
555 filters for just about anything you wish. If you have just updated
556 from an older version of DXSpider you will need to update your new
557 filters. You do not need to do anything with your old filters, they
558 will be renamed as you update.
561 There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating
562 filters. These are accept, reject and clear. First we will look
563 generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in
564 the DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
567 In general terms you can create a "reject" or an "accept" filter which
568 can have up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
579 where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There
580 are filters for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects.
581 See each different accept or reject command reference for more
584 There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter.
595 There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
598 and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
609 For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply
610 the same principles to all types of filter.
615 There are two main types of filter, accept or reject. You can use
616 either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
617 and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of
618 reject filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each
619 filter has 10 lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a
620 line matches then the action you have specified is taken (ie reject
621 means ignore it and accept means take it)
624 If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match
625 the filter will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use
626 an accept filter, then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted
627 and all else will be dumped. For example if you have a single line
632 accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
637 then you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones 14, 15 and 16.
640 If you set a reject filter like this ...
644 reject/spots on hf/cw
649 Then you will get everything EXCEPT HF CW spots. You could make this
650 single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested
651 in IOTA and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not
652 interested in CW, then you could say ...
656 reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
661 But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
665 accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
670 which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the
671 other until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix
672 them if you wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the
673 same line) but don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you
677 You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your
678 own understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
682 reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
683 reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
688 What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots
689 on VHF which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
692 This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this
693 case), if you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits
694 '0'-'9' are available. This make it easier to see just what filters
695 you have set. It also makes it more simple to remove individual
696 filters, during a contest for example.
699 You will notice in the above example that the second line has
700 brackets. Look at the line logically. You can see there are 2
701 separate sections to it. We are saying reject spots that are VHF or
702 above APART from those in zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or
703 originated there). If you did not have the brackets to separate the 2
704 sections, then Spider would read it logically from the front and see a
705 different expression entirely ...
709 (on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
714 The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets.
715 Whilst we are here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the
716 same as 'and by_zone'.
718 As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible
719 than simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that
720 if you want to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one
721 or more lines of it or one line. For example ...
725 reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
727 would redefine our earlier example, or
736 To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
748 You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in
749 the various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
754 Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects.
755 This can be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be
756 followed, even if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set
757 specifically. Default rules can be set for nodes and users. They can
758 be set for spots, announces, WWV and WCY. They can also be used for
759 hops. An example might look like this ...
763 accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
764 set/hops node_default spot 50
769 This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV
770 and WCY. This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific
771 filter is written to override it for a particular node. You can also
772 set a user_default should you require. It is important to note that
773 default filters should be considered to be "connected". By this I
774 mean that should you override the default filter for spots, you need
775 to add a rule for the hops for spots also.
778 1.9. Advanced filtering
780 Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to
784 The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf
785 spots from EU can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
791 acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
793 Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This
794 will automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have
795 said reject all HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all
796 others at HF. Also accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by
797 operators in the zones 14, 15 and 16. Each filter slot actually has a
798 'reject' slot and an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE
802 It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match,
803 the default for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for
804 'accept'. In the example what happens is that the reject is executed
805 first, any non hf/cw spot is passed to the accept line, which lets
806 through everything else on HF. The next filter line lets through just
807 VHF/UHF spots from EU.
810 1.10. Basic hop control
812 In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the
813 file that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default
814 hops on the various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to
815 alter the hops for. You may be happy with the default settings of
816 course, but this powerful tool can help to protect and improve the
817 network. The file will look something like this ...
860 # hop table construction
865 # default hopcount to use
868 # some variable hop counts based on message type
879 # the per node hop control thingy
913 Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and
914 contains a series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot.
915 The figures here are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of
919 SHould any of the nodecalls include an ssid, it is important to wrap
920 the whole call in single quotes, like this ...
937 If you do not do this, you will get errors and the file will not work
941 You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is
942 running. If you alter the file during runtime, the command load/hops
943 will bring your changes into effect.
946 1.11. Hop Control on Specific Nodes
948 You can set a callsign specific hop count for any of the standard
953 set/hops gb7djk spot 4
954 set/hops node_default route 10
955 set/hops gb7baa wcy 5
960 all work on their specific area of the protocol.
963 The set/hops command overrides any hops that you have set otherwise.
966 You can show what hops have been set using the show/hops command.
969 1.12. Isolating networks
971 It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node
972 using the set/isolate <node_call> command.
975 The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from
976 another node connected to your node. Your node will appear on and
977 otherwise behave normally on every network to which you are connected,
978 but data from an isolated network will not cross onto any other
979 network or vice versa. However all the spot, announce and WWV traffic
980 and personal messages will still be handled locally (because you are a
981 real node on all connected networks), that is locally connected users
982 will appear on all networks and will be able to access and receive
983 information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will
984 be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a
985 gateway for another network, he can still still send a talk/announce
986 etc message via your node and it will be routed across.
989 If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive
990 all information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass
991 any information back to the isolated node. There are times when you
992 would like to forward only spots across a link (maybe during a contest
993 for example). To do this, isolate the node in the normal way and use
994 an acc/spot >call< all filter to override the isolate.
1001 In the /spider/msg directory you will find a file called
1002 badmsg.pl.issue. Rename this to badmsg.pl and edit the file. The
1003 original looks something like this ....
1008 # the list of regexes for messages that we won't store having
1009 # received them (bear in mind that we must receive them fully before
1013 # The format of each line is as follows
1015 # type source pattern
1016 # P/B/F T/F/O/S regex
1018 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
1019 # source: T - to field, F - from field, O - origin, S - subject
1020 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
1022 # Currently only type B and P msgs are affected by this code.
1024 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
1025 # causes the action to be taken.
1027 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
1028 # for the action specified
1041 I think this is fairly self explanatory. It is simply a list of
1042 subject headers that we do not want to pass on to either the users of
1043 the cluster or the other cluster nodes that we are linked to. This is
1044 usually because of rules and regulations pertaining to items for sale
1045 etc in a particular country.
1049 2.2. Filtering words from text fields in Announce, Talk and DX spots
1051 From version 1.48 onwards the interface to this has changed. You can
1052 now use the commands set/badword to add words that you are not
1053 prepared to see on the cluster, unset/badword to allow that word again
1054 and show/badword to list the words that you have set.
1057 If you have a previous /spider/data/badwords, the first time you start
1058 the node, it will read and convert this file to the new commands. The
1059 old style file will then be removed.
1062 2.3. Stopping (possibly bad) DX Spots from Nodes or Spotters
1065 There are a number of commands that control whether a spot progresses
1066 any further by regarding it as "bad" in some way.
1069 A DX Spot has a number of fields which can be checked to see whether
1070 they contain "bad" values, they are: the DX callsign itself, the
1071 Spotter and the Originating Node.
1074 There are a set of commands which allow the sysop to control whether a
1086 These work in the same as the set/badword command, you can add any
1087 words or callsigns or whatever to the appropriate database. For
1088 example, to stop a spot from a particular node you do:
1092 set/badnode gb7djk gb7dxc
1101 set/badspotter b0mb p1rat nocall
1110 set/baddx video wsjt
1115 You can remove a word using the appropriate unset command
1116 (unset/baddx, unset/badspotter, unset/badnode) or list them using one
1117 of show/baddx, show/badspotter and show/badnode.
1125 DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports
1126 both personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands
1127 to ensure that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send
1128 mail almost immediately, assuming that the target is on line.
1129 However, only one mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a
1130 mail message is already being sent or recieved, then the new message
1131 will be queued until it has finished.
1133 The cluster mail is automatically deleted after 30 days unless the
1134 sysop sets the "keep" flag using the msg command.
1139 Personal mail is sent using the sp command. This is actually the
1140 default method of sending mail and so a simple s for send will do. A
1141 full list of the send commands and options is in the command set
1142 section, so I will not duplicate them here.
1147 Bulletin mail is sent by using the sb command. This is one of the
1148 most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a
1149 bulletin mail with s or sp instead of sb and of course the message
1150 never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop by using
1154 Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file.
1159 DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations
1160 needed in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated
1161 differently, there is no need for a list of accepted bulletin
1162 addresses. It is necessary, however, to tell the program which links
1163 accept which bulletins. For example, it is pointless sending
1164 bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK ones. The file
1165 that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg. At
1166 default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename
1167 it to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements. The
1190 # this is an example message forwarding file for the system
1192 # The format of each line is as follows
1194 # type to/from/at pattern action destinations
1195 # P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
1197 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
1198 # to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
1199 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
1200 # action: I - ignore, F - forward
1201 # destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
1203 # if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
1205 # Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
1207 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
1208 # causes the action to be taken.
1210 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
1211 # for the action specified
1213 # If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
1214 # pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
1215 # it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
1216 # you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
1217 # on first connection)
1228 Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you
1229 wish that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to
1230 "UK" will only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
1233 To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
1236 NB: If a user tries to send mail to a bulletin address that does not
1237 exist in this file, they will get an error.
1240 3.4. The msg command
1242 The msg command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the sysop.
1243 It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other changes
1244 to manage the cluster mail.
1246 Here is a full list of the various options ...
1255 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
1256 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
1257 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
1258 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
1259 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
1260 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
1261 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
1262 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
1263 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
1264 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waiting time for this message
1265 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
1266 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
1267 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
1268 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
1273 These commands are simply typed from within the cluster as the sysop
1279 You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the
1280 command stat/msg. This will give you additional information on the
1281 message number including which nodes have received it, which node it
1282 was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of
1287 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
1290 Msg Time: 26-Jan-2001 1302Z
1294 Subject: AMSAT 2line KEPS 01025.AMSAT
1296 Got it Nodes: GB7BAA, GB7ADX
1300 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
1308 This is described in the section on Other filters so I will not
1312 3.7. Distribution lists
1314 Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
1315 mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
1316 sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called distro. You put
1317 any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
1318 SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
1321 qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
1322 GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
1323 GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
1328 Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this
1334 Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the
1335 sysop of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS
1336 and pushes any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from
1337 Spider to the BBS, the interface is one-way.
1340 Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary
1341 mail. Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by
1342 using the Forward.pl file very carefully.
1347 From 1.48 onwards it will become increasingly possible to control
1348 DXSpider's operation with scripts of various kinds.
1351 The directory /spider/scripts is where it all happens and is used for
1352 several things. Firstly it contains a file called startup that can be
1353 used to call in any changes to the cluster from the default settings
1354 on startup. This script is executed immediately after all
1355 initialisation of the node is done but before any connections are
1356 possible. Examples of this include how many spots it is possible to
1357 get with the sh/dx command, whether you want registration/passwords to
1358 be permanently on etc. An example file is shown below and is included
1359 in the distribution as startup.issue.
1364 # startup script example
1366 # set maximum no of spots allowed to 100
1367 # set/var $Spot::maxspots = 100
1369 # Set registration on
1370 # set/var $main::reqreg = 1
1373 # set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
1380 As usual, any text behind a # is treated as a comment and not read.
1381 To use this file, simply rename it from startup.issue to startup. In
1382 our example above there are three options. The first option is the
1383 amount of spots that a user can request with the sh/dx command.
1384 Normally the default is to give 10 spots unless the user specifies
1385 more. Without this line enabled, the maximum a user can request is
1386 100 spots. Depending on your link quality you may wish to enable more
1387 or less by specifying the number.
1390 The other 2 options are dealt with more fully in the security section.
1393 Secondly, it is used to store the login scripts for users and nodes.
1394 Currently this can only be done by the sysop but it is envisaged that
1395 eventually users will be able to set their own. An example is
1396 included in the distibution but here is a further example.
1414 The lines in between commands can simply insert a blank line or a
1415 character such as a + sign to make the output easier to read. Simply
1416 create this script with your favourite editor and save it with the
1417 callsign of the user as the filename. Filenames should always be in
1421 Commands can be inserted in the same way for nodes. A node may wish a
1422 series of commands to be issued on login, such as a merge command for
1426 Thirdly, there are 2 default scripts for users and nodes who do not
1427 have a specifically defined script. These are user_default and
1433 Spider allows the creation of local or remote databases. It supports
1434 chained databases, allowing several different databases to be scanned
1435 with one simple command. Importing of databases is limited at present
1436 to the standard AK1A databases such as OBLAST and the DB0SDX QSL
1437 database but will expand with time.
1440 5.1. Creating databases
1442 Creating a database could not be more simple. All the commands are
1443 sent from the cluster prompt as the sysop user.
1445 To create a database you use the command dbcreate. It can be used in
1446 3 different ways like so ..
1453 To simply create a database locally, you just tell the command the
1454 name of the database. This does not create the actual database, it
1455 simply defines it to say that it exists.
1459 dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>...]
1464 This creates a chained database entry. The first database will be
1465 scanned, then the second, the third etc...
1469 dbcreate <name> remote <name>
1474 This creates a remote entry. the first name field is the database
1475 name at the remote node, then the remote switch, then the actual
1476 node_call of the remote node, for example...
1480 dbcreate buckmaster remote gb7dxc
1485 Remote databases cannot be chained, however, the last database in a
1486 chain can be a remote database.
1489 5.2. Importing databases
1491 The only databases that Spider can currently import are the standard
1492 AK1A databases such as OBLAST or the DB0SDX qsl and address database.
1493 This will be added to with time.
1495 To import such a database, first put the file somewhere useful like
1496 /tmp and then issue the following command ...
1500 dbimport oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
1505 This will update the existing local oblast database or create it if it
1509 5.3. Checking available databases
1511 Once a database is created, you will want to check that it has been
1512 added. To do this use the dbavail command. This will output the
1513 available databases. For example ...
1520 DB Name Location Chain
1524 G0VGS de GB7MBC 3-Feb-2001 1925Z >
1530 5.4. Looking up databases
1532 To look for information in a defined database, simply use the dbshow
1533 command, for example ...
1537 dbshow buckmaster G0YLM
1542 will show the information for the callsign G0YLM from the buckmaster
1543 database if it exists. To make things more standard for the users you
1544 can add an entry in the Aliases file so that it looks like a standard
1545 show command like this ...
1553 Now you can simply use show/buckmaster or an abreviation.
1556 5.5. Removing databases
1558 To delete an existing database you use the dbremove command. For
1568 would remove the oblast database and its associated datafile from the
1569 system. There are no warnings or recovery possible from this command.
1570 If you remove a database it ceases to exist and would have to be
1571 created from scratch if you still required it.
1574 6. Information, files and useful programs
1578 One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
1579 information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a
1580 banner that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message
1581 of the day" or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in
1582 /spider/data called motd and edit it to say whatever you want. It is
1583 purely a text file and will be sent automatically to anyone logging in
1587 This message of the day file lives in the same directory as the
1588 standard motd file but is only sent to non-registered users. Once
1589 registered they will receive the same message as any other user.
1592 6.3. Downtime message
1594 If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or
1595 maintenance but the machine is still running, a message can be sent to
1596 the user advising them of the fact. This message lives in the
1597 /spider/data directory and is called "offline". Simply create the
1598 file and edit it to say whatever you wish. This file will be sent to
1599 a user attempting to log into the cluster when DXSpider is not
1603 6.4. Other text messages
1605 You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input
1606 the file name. This could be for news items or maybe information for
1607 new users. To set this up, make a directory under /spider called
1608 packclus. Under this directory you can create files called news or
1609 newuser for example. In fact you can create files with any names you
1610 like. These can be listed by the user with the command ....
1619 They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
1628 If the file they want to read is called news. You could also set an
1629 alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type news
1632 You can also store other information in this directory, either
1633 directly or nested under directories. One use for this would be to
1634 store DX bulletins such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed
1635 and read by the user. To keep things tidy, make a directory under
1636 /spider/packclus called bulletin. Now copy any OPDX or similar
1637 bulletins into it. These can be listed by the user in the same way as
1638 above using the show/files command with an extension for the bulletin
1639 directory you have just created, like this ....
1649 An example would look like this ....
1652 bulletin DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
1657 You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory)
1658 there is a file called news and a directory called bulletin. You can
1659 also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file news,
1660 you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to
1661 whether the file has been updated since you last read it. To read the
1662 file called news you would simply issue the command ....
1671 To look what is in the bulletin directory you issue the command ....
1676 opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1677 opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1678 opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1679 opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1680 opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1681 opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1682 opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1683 opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1684 opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1685 opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1686 opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1687 opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1688 opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1689 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
1694 You can now read any file in this directory using the type command,
1699 type bulletin/opdx391
1700 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
1701 The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
1705 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
1706 Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
1707 Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
1708 Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
1709 Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
1710 & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
1711 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
1717 The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
1720 6.5. The Aliases file
1722 You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. This is the file
1723 that controls what a user gets when issuing a command. It is also
1724 possible to create your own aliases for databases and files you create
1728 You should not alter the original file in /spider/cmd/ but create a
1729 new file with the same name in /spider/local_cmd. This means that any
1730 new Aliases files that is downloaded will not overwrite your self
1731 created Aliases and also that you do not override any new Aliases with
1732 your copy in /spider/local_cmd/. You must remember that any files you
1733 store in /spider/local/ or /spider/local_cmd override the originals if
1734 the same lines are used in both files.
1737 The best way of dealing with all this then is to only put your own
1738 locally created Aliases in the copy in /spider/local_cmd. The example
1739 below is currently in use at GB7MBC.
1745 # Local Aliases File
1752 '^news$', 'type news', 'type',
1755 '^sh\w*/buck$', 'show/qrz', 'show',
1756 '^sh\w*/hftest$', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
1757 '^sh\w*/qsl$', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
1758 '^sh\w*/vhf$', 'dbshow vhf', 'dbshow',
1759 '^sh\w*/vhftest$', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
1767 Each alphabetical section should be preceded by the initial letter and
1768 the section should be wrapped in square brackets as you can see. The
1769 syntax is straightforward. The first section on each line is the new
1770 command that will be allowed once the alias is included. The second
1771 section is the command it is replacing and the last section is the
1772 actual command that is being used.
1775 The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that in the first
1776 section, the new alias command has a '^' at the start and a '$' at the
1777 end. Basically these force a perfect match on the alias. The '^'
1778 says match the beginning exactly and the with similar commands.
1781 I have 3 different types of alias in this file. At the top is an
1782 alias for 'news'. This is a file I have created in the
1783 /spider/packclus/ directory where I can inform users of new
1784 developments or points of interest. In it's initial form a user would
1785 have to use the command type news. The alias allows them to simply
1786 type news to get the info. Second is an alias for the show/qrz
1787 command so that those users used to the original show/buck command in
1788 AK1A will not get an error, and the rest of the lines are for locally
1789 created databases so that a user can type show/hftest instead of
1790 having to use the command dbshow hftest which is not as intuitive.
1793 This file is just an example and you should edit it to your own
1794 requirements. Once created, simply issue the command load/alias at
1795 the cluster prompt as the sysop user and the aliases should be
1802 In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for
1803 the sysop. This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities
1804 and colour for spots, announces etc. To use this program, simply use
1805 console.pl instead of client.
1808 To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and
1809 edit the file with your favourite editor.
1812 6.7. Updating kepler data
1814 Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order
1815 for this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly.
1816 In general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail.
1817 Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a
1818 file. You do this with the export command from the cluster prompt as
1819 the sysop. For example ...
1823 export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
1829 would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the
1830 /spider/perl directory.
1833 Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in
1834 the perl directory called convkeps.pl. All we need to do now is
1835 convert the file like so ...
1839 ./convkeps.pl keps.in
1845 Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
1855 That is it! the kepler data has been updated.
1858 6.8. The QRZ callbook
1860 The command sh/qrz will only work once you have followed a few simple
1861 steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com.
1862 Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the
1863 file /spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match
1864 your user ID and password. You also at this point need to set
1865 $allow=1 to complete the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the
1866 proprieter of qrz.com for allowing this access.
1869 6.9. Connecting logging programs
1871 There appear to be very few logging programs out there that support
1872 telnet especially the popular ones like LogEQF, Turbolog etc. This
1873 can make it difficult to connect to your own cluster! The way to do
1874 it is to make the logging program think it has a TNC attached to a com
1875 port on the logging PC and 'push' a linux login out to it. This is
1876 achieved very simply by the use of agetty.
1879 All that is required is to add a line in /etc/inittab to have the
1880 client ready for a connection on the com port of your choice.
1881 Remember that in Linux, the com ports start at ttyS0 for com1, ttyS1
1886 c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L 9600 ttyS1
1892 Add this after the standard runlevel lines in /etc/inittab. The above
1893 line works on ttyS1 (com2). Now as root, issue the command telinit q
1894 and it should be ready for connection. All that is required is a 3
1895 wire serial lead (tx, rx and signal ground). Tell you logging program
1896 to use 8n1 at 9600 baud and you should see a Linux login prompt.
1897 Login as normal and then telnet from there to the cluster.
1902 In the spider tree will be a directory spider-web. This is a neat
1903 little java web applet that can be run from a website. The applet
1904 must run on the same machine as the cluster. The included README file
1908 I should comment here that the applet is precompiled, that is, ready
1909 to go. It was compiled using JDK1.3.1. If your version is earlier
1910 than this then it may not work. Should that be the case you need to
1911 recompile or update your JDK. To recompile do the following ...
1915 cd /spider/spider-web
1917 /usr/bin/javac spiderclient.java
1923 I have used /usr/bin/javac as an example, your path to javac may be
1929 Completely based on a clx web client written in Java by dl6dbh
1930 (ftp://clx.muc.de/pub/clx/clx-java_10130001.tgz)
1932 The webserver has to run on the same machine as your DxSpider software!
1934 It is assumed that you have Java installed. You need JDK1.3.1 at least.
1936 Installation instructions (Performed as root):
1938 Put all the files in the spider-web directory into a newly created directory
1939 under the DocumentRoot of your websever for instance 'client'. In my case
1940 this is: /home/httpd/html/client/ although ymmv. For Suse the correct
1941 path should be /usr/local/httpd/htdocs/client/ for example.
1943 Move spider.cgi to the cgi-bin directory of your webserver, in my case that is
1944 /home/httpd/cgi-bin/ although ymmv. For Suse the correct path should be
1945 /usr/local/httpd/cgi-bin/ for example.
1947 Change the permissions of the files to ensure they are correct, obviously you
1948 will need to use the correct path the the files according to your system:
1950 chmod 755 /home/httpd/html/cgi-bin/spider.cgi
1951 chmod -R 755 /home/httpd/html/client/
1953 By default the spider.cgi script should pick up your hostname (As long as this
1954 is set correctly). If it does not or your hostname differs from the name that
1955 you attach to the public address that you are using, then edit spider.cgi :
1957 # Uncomment and set the hostname manually here if the above fails.
1958 # $HOSTNAME = "gb7mbc.spoo.org" ;
1962 telnet (see Listeners.pm)
1964 NOTE: If you can start the console but cannot connect to the cluster from it,
1965 then it is possible that the machine you are on cannot resolve the hostname of
1966 your cluster machine. If this is the case, you need to set your hostname
1969 You also need to set the $NODECALL variable. This prints the name of your
1970 choosing (probably your cluster callsign) on the html page.
1972 You now can connect to Spider-Web via http://yourserver/cgi-bin/spider.cgi
1979 From version 1.49 DXSpider has some additional security features.
1980 These are not by any means meant to be exhaustive, however they do
1981 afford some security against piracy. These two new features can be
1982 used independently of each other or in concert to tighten the
1988 The basic principle of registration is simple. If a user is not
1989 registered by the sysop, then they have read-only access to the
1990 cluster. The only thing they can actually send is a talk or a message
1991 to the sysop. In order for them to be able to spot, send announces or
1992 talks etc the sysop must register them with the set/register command,
2002 The user g0vgs can now fully use the cluster. In order to enable
2003 registration, you can issue the command ...
2007 set/var $main::reqreg = 1
2012 Any users that are not registered will now see the motd_nor file
2013 rather than the motd file as discussed in the Information, files and
2014 useful programs section.
2017 Entering this line at the prompt will only last for the time the
2018 cluster is running of course and would not be present on a restart.
2019 To make the change permanent, add the above line to
2020 /spider/scripts/startup. To read more on the startup file, see the
2021 section on Information, files and useful programs.
2024 To unregister a user use unset/register and to show the list of
2025 registered users, use the command show/register.
2030 At the moment, passwords only affect users who login to a DXSpider
2031 cluster node via telnet. If a user requires a password, they can
2032 either set it themselves or have the sysop enter it for them by using
2033 the set/password command. Any users who already have passwords, such
2034 as remote sysops, will be asked for their passwords automatically by
2035 the cluster. Using passwords in this way means that the user has a
2036 choice on whether to have a password or not. To force the use of
2037 passwords at login, issue the command ...
2041 set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
2047 at the cluster prompt. This can also be added to the
2048 /spider/scripts/startup file as above to make the change permanent.
2051 Of course, if you do this you will have to assign a password for each
2052 of your users. If you were asking them to register, it is anticipated
2053 that you would ask them to send you a message both to ask to be
2054 registered and to give you the password they wish to use.
2057 Should a user forget their password, it can be reset by the sysop by
2058 first removing the existing password and then setting a new one like
2063 unset/password g0vgs
2064 set/password g0vgs new_password
2072 9.1. CVS from a Linux platform
2074 CVS stands for "Concurrent Versions System" and the CVS for DXSpider
2075 is held at Sourceforge. This means that it is possible to update your
2076 DXSpider installation to the latest sources by using a few simple
2077 commands. A graphical interface to CVS for Windows is explained in
2081 Please be aware that if you update your system using CVS, it is
2082 possible that you could be running code that is very beta and not
2083 fully tested. There is a possibility that it could be unstable.
2086 I am of course assuming that you have a machine with both DXSpider and
2087 Internet access running.
2090 BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER STARTING WITH THIS MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR
2091 ENTIRE SPIDER TREE!!
2094 Assuming you are connected to the Internet, you need to login to the
2095 CVS repository and then update your Spider source. There are several
2096 steps which are listed below ...
2099 First login as the user sysop. Next you need to connect to the CVS
2100 repository. You do this with the command below ...
2103 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider login
2107 You will get a password prompt. Simply hit return here and your
2108 machine should return to a normal linux prompt.
2111 What happens next depends on whether you have an existing installation
2112 that you want to update with the latest and greatest or whether you
2113 just want to see what is there and/or run it on a new machine for
2116 If you are installing Spider from CVS then change directory to
2119 If you are wanting to update Spider then cd to /tmp
2122 The next step will create a brand new 'spider' directory in your
2126 cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider co spider
2130 This command is all on one line.
2133 Hopefully your screen should show you downloading files. The -z3
2134 simply compresses the download to improve speed. When this has
2135 finished, you will have exactly the same as if you had untarred a full
2136 tarball PLUS some extra directories and files that CVS needs to do the
2140 Now if you are doing a new installation, that's it. Carry on as if
2141 you have just downloaded and untarred the lastest tarball.
2144 If you want to upgrade your current installation then do this ...
2148 tar cvfz /tmp/s.tgz spider
2150 tar xvfzp /tmp/s.tgz
2155 This is assuming you downloaded to the /tmp directory of course.
2158 NOTE: the 'p' on the end of the 'xvfz' is IMPORTANT! It keeps the
2159 permissions correct. YOU WERE LOGGED IN AS THE USER SYSOP WEREN'T
2162 Remember to recompile the C client (cd /spider/src; make)
2165 At this point the files have been upgraded. You can (usually) restart
2166 the cluster in your own time. However, if you attempt to use any new
2167 commands or features expect it to be fatal! At least your cluster
2168 will have been restarted then so it will be too late to worry about
2172 Now the magic part! From now on when you want to update, simply
2173 connect to the Internet and then, as the user sysop ...
2185 and your files will be updated. As above, remember to recompile the
2186 "C" client if it has been updated (CVS will tell you) and restart if
2187 any of the perl scripts have been altered or added, again, CVS will
2191 You will find any changes documented in the /spider/Changes file.
2194 9.2. CVS from a Windows platform
2196 After the initial setup, an update to your DXSpider software is no
2197 more than a couple of clicks away. This section is intended to
2198 explain and illustrate the use of the WinCVS application to update
2199 your DXSpider software. The current stable version of WinCVS is Ver.
2200 1.2. You can get this software at:
2202 http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cvsgui/WinCvs120.zip
2204 Pick your download mirror and then install WinCVS after the download
2207 In this next section I have included a series of links to .jpg files
2208 to take advantage of the picture and 1000 words equivalency. The .jpg
2209 files are in the C:\spider\html directory. If someone using a Linux
2210 system is reading this section from boredom, the files are in
2211 /home/sysop/spider/html. One aside, a Linux user can also get a copy
2212 of gcvs and do your updates graphically as opposed to from the command
2213 line. The following descriptions are almost identical between WinCvs
2214 and gcvs. The following screen shots have duplicate links, depending
2215 upon whether you are viewing this information under the Windows or
2216 Linux operating system.
2218 When WinCVS is installed, running, and you are connected to the
2219 internet, the initial screen looks like:
2223 If you want, you can also look at these .jpg files with another viewer
2224 that might provide some better clarity to the image. On the left is
2225 the directory tree for your hard disk. Notice that the spider
2226 directory has a gray highlight.
2228 To start configuring WinCVS, click on Admin at the top of the screen
2229 and then Preferences. This should get you:
2233 In the top line for CVSROOT, enter:
2236 anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider login
2245 "passwd" file on the cvs server
2250 for Authentication on the General tab.
2252 Next, move to the right to the Ports tab.
2256 In here, check the box on the second line down for the "pserver" port.
2257 Enter a port number of 2401.
2259 Finally, go to the WinCvs tab all the way to the right.
2263 Enter Notepad as the viewer to open files. For the HOME folder, put
2264 "C:\spider" and click OK because the configuration is now complete.
2266 You are now ready to upgrade your copy of DXSpider. Click on the
2267 greyed Spider folder shown in the directory tree on the left of the
2268 WinCVS display. Two things should happen. The Spider folder will be
2269 selected and the greyed-out arrow located just below the word Query in
2270 the top line will turn to solid green.
2272 For anyone using gcvs under Linux, the green arrow is located on the
2273 extreme left of the display, under the word File. A gcvs screen looks
2278 Click on the now green arrow to start the download process. An Update
2279 Settings box will be displayed to which you can simply say OK.
2283 For future reference, the Update Settings box is the place where you
2284 can enter information to revert to a prior version of DXSpider.
2285 Information on reverting to a Before Date is contained in the WinCVS
2288 After a short period of time, a series of file names will scroll by in
2289 the lower pane of the WinCVS window. Eventually you should see
2292 *****CVS exited normally with code 0*****
2297 appear in the lower pane. You're done. The updated files are in
2298 place ready for you to stop and then restart your DXSpider. After the
2299 restart, you're running with the latest version of DXSpider.
2303 To paraphrase from the CVS section... Now the magic part! From now on
2304 when you want to update, simply connect to the Internet and start
2311 Click on the greyed-out Spider directory in the left screen
2312 Click on the green down arrow
2313 Click OK on the Update Settings dialog box
2314 Restart your Spider software
2320 10. The DXSpider command set
2322 Below is a complete list of commands available from the cluster
2323 prompt. Most maintenance tasks are automatic but there are some
2324 commands that are useful for a sysop. These are listed below in
2325 alphabetical order. The number in brackets following the command name
2326 is the permissions level needed to use the command
2329 10.1. accept/announce (0)
2331 accept/announce [0-9] <pattern> Set an accept filter line for announce
2334 Create an 'accept this announce' line for a filter.
2336 An accept filter line means that if the announce matches this filter
2337 it is passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please
2338 read this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief
2341 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2345 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2346 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2348 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2349 origin_itu <numbers>
2350 origin_zone <numbers>
2355 wx 1 filter WX announces
2356 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
2366 acc/ann 2 by_zone 14,15,16
2367 (this could be all on one line: acc/ann dest 6MUK or by_zone 14,15,16)
2382 This filter would only allow announces that were posted buy UK
2383 stations. You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
2392 but this probably for advanced users...
2395 10.2. accept/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
2397 accept/announce <call> [input] [0-9]<pattern> Announce filter sysop
2401 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2402 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2407 accept/ann input node_default by G,M,2
2408 accept/ann user_default by G,M,2
2414 10.3. accept/route (8)
2416 accept/route <call> [0-9] <pattern> Set an 'accept' filter line for
2420 Create an 'accept this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
2423 An accept filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches
2424 this filter it is passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING for
2425 more info. Please read this to understand how filters work - it will
2426 save a lot of grief later on.
2429 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2433 call <prefixes> the callsign of the thingy
2434 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2437 origin <prefixes> really the interface it came in on
2438 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2439 origin_itu <numbers>
2440 origin_zone <numbers>
2447 acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
2448 acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
2454 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
2464 10.4. accept/spots (0)
2466 accept/spots [0-9] <pattern> Set an accept filter line for spots
2469 Create an 'accept this spot' line for a filter.
2472 An accept filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
2473 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
2474 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
2476 Please read the following section carefully. Though it looks similar,
2477 reformatting, corrections, and hopefully clarifications have been
2480 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2509 Filters for the station being spotted:
2510 call <letters of the prefix, but NOT country inclusive>
2511 call G --> G1AAA, GJ2BBB, GU3CCC, etc will be spotted
2512 call K --> K1XX, K1XXX will be spotted
2513 W1XX, W1XXX will NOT be spotted
2514 call PA --> PA3EZL will be spotted
2515 PB2FG will NOT be spotted
2517 call_dxcc <numbers or prefixes>
2518 call_dxcc G --> G1AAA will be spotted
2519 GU1AAA will NOT be spotted (different country)
2520 call_dxcc K --> K1XX, W1XX will be spotted (same country)
2521 call_dxcc 139 --> PA3EZL and PB2FG will be spotted
2526 Filters for the callsign of the station doing the spotting:
2527 by <letters of the prefix, but NOT country inclusive>
2528 by G --> spots from G1AAA, GJ2BBB, GU3CCC, etc will be spotted
2529 by K --> spots from K1XX, K1XXX will be spotted
2530 spots from W1XX, W1XXX will NOT be spotted
2532 by_dxcc <numbers or prefixes>
2533 by_dxcc G --> spots from G1AAA will be spotted
2534 spots from GU1AAA will NOT be spotted (different
2536 by_dxcc K --> spots from K1XX, W1XX will be spotted (same country)
2537 by_dxcc 139 --> spots from PA3EZL or PB2FG will be spotted
2542 Filters for the callsign of the "node" doing the spotting:
2543 origin <letters of the prefix, but NOT country inclusive>
2544 origin K --> spots from a node starting with K will be spotted
2545 spots from a node starting with KK will NOT be spotted
2546 spots from a node starting with W will NOT be spotted
2548 Filters for the callsign of the connected node or user (channel) doing the spotting:
2550 channel W1HR --> spots from the connected node W1HR will be spotted
2551 channel K1QX --> spots from the connected user K1QX will be spotted
2553 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2554 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
2555 on <range> same as 'freq'
2561 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
2562 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
2563 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
2564 this is more efficient than saying simply: freq HF (but don't get too
2572 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2575 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything, eg:
2584 but this probably for advanced users...
2587 10.5. accept/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
2589 accept/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> Spot filter sysop version
2592 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2593 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2597 accept/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
2598 accept/spot node_default all
2599 set/hops node_default 10
2601 accept/spot user_default by G,M,2
2607 10.6. accept/wcy (0)
2609 accept/wcy [0-9] <pattern> set an accept WCY filter
2612 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
2613 can filter on the following fields:-
2617 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2619 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2620 origin_itu <numbers>
2621 origin_zone <numbers>
2631 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place
2632 and you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want
2635 This command is really provided for future use.
2637 See HELP FILTER for information.
2641 10.7. accept/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
2643 accept/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WCY filter sysop version
2646 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2647 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2651 accept/wcy node_default all
2652 set/hops node_default 10
2658 10.8. accept/wwv (0)
2660 accept/wwv [0-9] <pattern> Set an accept WWV filter
2663 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
2664 can filter on the following fields:-
2668 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2670 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2671 origin_itu <numbers>
2672 origin_zone <numbers>
2685 accept/wwv by_zone 4
2690 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV
2691 broadcasts by stations in the US).
2693 See HELP FILTER for information.
2696 10.9. accept/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
2698 accept/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WWV filter sysop version
2701 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2702 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2707 accept/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
2708 accept/wwv node_default all
2709 set/hops node_default 10
2711 accept/wwv user_default by W,K
2719 announce <text> Send an announcement to local users
2722 Send an announcement to LOCAL users only, where <text> is the text of
2723 the announcement you wish to broadcast. If you do not wish to receive
2724 announces, use the set/noannounce command. Any announces made by a
2725 sysop will override set/noannounce.
2728 10.11. announce full (0)
2730 announce full <text> Send an announcement cluster wide
2733 This command will send your announcement across the whole cluster
2738 10.12. announce sysop (5)
2740 announce sysop <text>
2743 Send an announcement to Sysops only
2748 apropos <string> Search the help database
2751 Search the help database for <string> (it isn't case sensitive), and
2752 print the names of all the commands that may be relevant.
2757 bye Exit from the cluster
2760 This will disconnect you from the cluster
2765 catchup <node_call> All|[<msgno> ...] Mark a message as sent
2768 When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another
2769 node is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new
2770 partner node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl
2771 file, all outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them.
2772 This may well be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by
2773 using these commmands:-
2778 catchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
2783 and to undo what you have just done:-
2787 uncatchup GB7DJK all
2788 uncatchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
2793 which will arrange for them to be forward candidates again.
2795 Order is not important.
2798 10.16. clear/announce (8)
2800 clear/announce [input] <callsign> [0-9|all] Clear an announce filter
2804 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2805 node_default or user_default.
2808 10.17. clear/route (8)
2810 clear/route [input] ^lt;callsign> [0-9|all] Clear a route filter line
2813 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a route filter or
2814 to remove the whole filter.
2816 see CLEAR/SPOTS for a more detailed explanation.
2818 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2819 node_default or user_default.
2822 10.18. clear/spots (0)
2824 clear/spots [1|all] Clear a spot filter line
2827 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a spot filter or
2828 to remove the whole filter.
2830 If you have a filter:-
2835 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2848 you will be left with:-
2852 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2866 the filter will be completely removed.
2869 10.19. clear/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
2871 clear/spots [input] <callsign> [0-9|all] Clear a spot filter line
2874 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2875 node_default or user_default.
2878 10.20. clear/wcy (0)
2880 clear/wcy [1|all] Clear a WCY filter line
2883 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a WCY filter or to
2884 remove the whole filter.
2886 see CLEAR/SPOTS for a more detailed explanation.
2889 10.21. clear/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
2891 clear/wcy [input] <callsign> [0-9|all] Clear a WCY filter line
2894 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2895 node_default or user_default.
2898 10.22. clear/wwv (0)
2900 clear/wwv [1|all] Clear a WWV filter line
2903 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a WWV filter or to
2904 remove the whole filter.
2905 see CLEAR/SPOTS for a more detailed explanation.
2908 10.23. clear/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
2910 clear/wwv [input] <callsign> [0-9|all] Clear a WWV filter line
2913 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2914 node_default or user_default.
2919 connect <callsign> Start a connection to another DX Cluster
2922 Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to
2923 the DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process
2924 which will use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the
2925 'chat' exchange necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the
2931 dbavail Show a list of all the databases in the system
2934 The title says it all really, this command lists all the databases
2935 defined in the system. It is also aliased to SHOW/COMMAND.
2940 dbcreate <name> Create a database entry
2941 dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>..] Create a chained database
2943 dbcreate <name> remote <node> Create a remote database entry
2946 DBCREATE allows you to define a database in the system. It doesn't
2947 actually create anything, just defines it.
2949 The databases that are created are simple DB_File hash databases, they
2950 are therefore already 'indexed'.
2952 You can define a local database with the first form of the command eg:
2956 You can also chain databases with the addition of the 'chain' keyword.
2957 This will search each database one after the other. A typical example
2960 DBCREATE sdx_qsl chain sql_ad
2962 No checking is done to see if the any of the chained databases exist,
2963 in fact it is usually better to do the above statement first then do
2964 each of the chained databases.
2966 Databases can exist offsite. To define a database that lives on
2969 DBCREATE buckmaster remote gb7dxc
2971 Remote databases cannot be chained; however, the last database in a a
2972 chain can be a remote database eg:
2974 DBCREATE qsl chain gb7dxc
2976 To see what databases have been defined do:
2978 DBAVAIL (or it will have been aliased to SHOW/COMMAND)
2980 It would be normal for you to add an entry into your local Aliases
2981 file to allow people to use the 'SHOW/<dbname>' style syntax. So you
2982 would need to add a line like:-
2989 '^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
3001 to work as they may be used to.
3003 See DBIMPORT for the importing of existing AK1A format data to
3004 databases. See DBSHOW for generic database enquiry
3009 dbimport <dbname> Import AK1A data into a database
3012 If you want to import or update data in bulk to a database you can use
3013 this command. It will either create or update entries into an existing
3014 database. For example:-
3016 DBIMPORT oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
3018 will import the standard OBLAST database that comes with AK1A into the
3019 oblast database held locally.
3024 dbremove <dbname> Delete a database
3027 DBREMOVE will completely remove a database entry and also delete any
3028 data file that is associated with it.
3030 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
3037 will remove the oblast database from the system and it will also
3038 remove the associated datafile.
3042 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
3044 You have been warned.
3049 dbshow <dbname> <key> Display an entry, if it exists, in a database
3052 This is the generic user interface to the database to the database
3053 system. It is expected that the sysop will add an entry to the local
3054 Aliases file so that users can use the more familiar AK1A style of
3064 but if he hasn't and the database really does exist (use DBAVAIL or
3065 SHOW/COMMAND to find out) you can do the same thing with:
3078 debug Set the cluster program into debug mode
3081 Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the
3082 cluster in debug mode i.e.
3091 It will interrupt the cluster just after the debug command has
3095 10.31. delete/user (9)
3097 delete/user <callsign> Delete a user from the User Database
3100 This command will completely remove a one or more users from the
3103 There is NO SECOND CHANCE.
3105 It goes without saying that you should use this command CAREFULLY!
3108 10.32. demonstrate (9)
3110 demonstrate <call> <command> Demonstrate a command to another user
3113 This command is provided so that sysops can demonstrate commands to
3114 other users. It runs a command as though that user had typed it in and
3115 then sends the output to that user, together with the command that
3120 DEMO g7brn sh/dx iota oc209
3126 Note that this command is similar to SPOOF and will have the same side
3127 effects. Commands are run at the privilege of the user which is being
3131 10.33. directory (0)
3133 directory List messages
3134 directory own List your own messages
3135 directory new List all new messages
3136 directory to <call> List all messages to <call>
3137 directory from <call> List all messages from <call>
3138 directory subject <string> List all messages with <string> in subject
3139 directory <nn> List last <nn> messages
3140 directory <from>-<to> List messages <from> message <to> message
3143 List the messages in the messages directory.
3145 If there is a 'p' one space after the message number then it is a
3146 personal message. If there is a '-' between the message number and the
3148 You can use shell escape characters such as '*' and '?' in the <call>
3151 You can combine some of the various directory commands together eg:-
3157 DIR SUBJECT IOTA 200-250
3162 You can abbreviate all the commands to one letter and use ak1a
3177 10.34. directory (extended for sysops) (5)
3179 Works just like the user command except that sysops can see ALL
3183 10.35. disconnect (8)
3185 disconnect <call> [<call> ...] Disconnect a user or node
3188 Disconnect any <call> connected locally
3193 dx [by <call>] <freq> <call> <remarks> Send a DX spot
3196 This is how you send a DX Spot to other users. You can, in fact, now
3197 enter the <freq> and the <call> either way round.
3208 will all give the same result. You can add some remarks to the end of
3209 the command and they will be added to the spot.
3213 DX FR0G 144600 this is a test
3218 You can credit someone else by saying:-
3222 DX by G1TLH FR0G 144.600 he isn't on the cluster
3227 The <freq> is compared against the available bands set up in the
3228 cluster. See SHOW/BANDS for more information.
3233 export <msgno> <filename> Export a message to a file
3235 Export a message to a file. This command can only be executed on a
3236 local console with a fully privileged user. The file produced will be
3237 in a form ready to be imported back into the cluster by placing it in
3238 the import directory (/spider/msg/import).
3240 This command cannot overwrite an existing file. This is to provide
3241 some measure of security. Any files written will owned by the same
3242 user as the main cluster, otherwise you can put the new files anywhere
3243 the cluster can access. For example:-
3248 10.38. export_users (9)
3250 export_users [<filename>] Export the users database to ascii
3253 Export the users database to a file in ascii format. If no filename is
3254 given then it will export the file to /spider/data/user_asc.
3256 If the file already exists it will be renamed to <filename>.o. In fact
3257 up to 5 generations of the file can be kept each one with an extra 'o'
3260 BE WARNED: this will write to any file you have write access to. No
3261 check is made on the filename (if any) that you specify.
3264 10.39. filtering (0)
3266 filtering Filtering things in DXSpider
3269 There are a number of things you can filter in the DXSpider system.
3270 They all use the same general mechanism.
3272 In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which
3273 can have up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example:-
3275 accept/spots ..... reject/spots .....
3277 where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There
3278 are filters for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects.
3279 See each different accept or reject command reference for more
3282 There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter and
3283 one to show you what you have set. They are:-
3285 clear/spots 1 clear/spots all
3291 There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
3293 For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply
3294 the principles to all types of filter.
3296 There are two main types of filter 'accept' or 'reject'; which you use
3297 depends entirely on how you look at the world and what is least
3298 writing to achieve what you want. Each filter has 10 lines (of any
3299 length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the action
3300 you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
3303 The important thing to remember is that if you specify a 'reject'
3304 filter (all the lines in it say 'reject/spots' (for instance) then if
3305 a spot comes in that doesn't match any of the lines then you will get
3306 it BUT if you specify an 'accept' filter then any spots that don't
3307 match are dumped. For example if I have a one line accept filter:-
3309 accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3311 then automatically you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones 14
3312 15 and 16. If you set a reject filter like:
3314 reject/spots on hf/cw
3316 Then you will get everything EXCEPT HF CW spots, If you am interested
3317 in IOTA and will work it even on CW then you could say:-
3319 reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
3321 But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
3323 accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
3325 which is exactly the same. You should choose one or the other until
3326 you are confortable with the way it works. Yes, you can mix them
3327 (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
3328 don't try this at home until you can analyse the results that you get
3329 without ringing up the sysop for help.
3331 You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your
3332 own understanding or simply convenience. I have one set frequently:-
3334 reject/spots 1 on hf/cw reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone
3335 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3337 What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots (being a class B I can't
3338 read any CW and couldn't possibly be interested in HF :-) and also
3339 rejects any spots on VHF which don't either originate or spot someone
3342 This is an exmaple where you would use the line number (1 and 2 in
3343 this case), if you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits
3345 You can leave the word 'and' out if you want, it is implied. You can
3346 use any number of brackets to make the 'expression' as you want it.
3347 There are things called precedence rules working here which mean that
3348 you will NEED brackets in a situation like line 2 because, without it,
3351 (on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
3353 annoying, but that is the way it is. If you use OR - use brackets.
3354 Whilst we are here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just 'and
3357 If you want to alter your filter you can just redefine one or more
3358 lines of it or clear out one line. For example:-
3360 reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
3367 To remove the filter in its entirty:-
3371 There are similar CLEAR commands for the other filters:-
3373 clear/announce clear/wcy clear/wwv
3377 Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to
3380 my example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
3381 can be written with a mixed filter, eg:
3383 rej/spot on hf/cw acc/spot on 0/30000 acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and
3384 (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3386 each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and an 'accept' slot.
3387 The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot.
3389 It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match,
3390 the default for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for
3391 first, any non hf/cw spot is passed to the accept line, which lets
3392 thru everything else on HF.
3394 The next filter line lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
3397 10.40. forward/latlong (8)
3399 forward/latlong <node_call> Send latitude and longitude information to
3403 This command sends all the latitude and longitude information that
3404 your cluster is holding against callsigns. One advantage of recieving
3405 this information is that more locator information is held by you.
3406 This means that more locators are given on the DX line assuming you
3407 have set/dxgrid enabled. This could be a LOT of information though,
3408 so it is not recommended on slow links.
3411 10.41. forward/opername (1)
3413 forward/opername <call> Send out information on this <call> to all
3417 This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
3418 be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH,
3419 Location and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is
3425 help <cmd> Get help on a command
3428 All commands can be abbreviated, so SHOW/DX can be abbreviated to
3429 SH/DX, ANNOUNCE can be shortened to AN and so on.
3431 Look at the APROPOS <string> command which will search the help
3432 database for the <string> you specify and give you a list of likely
3433 commands to look at with HELP.
3438 init <node call> Re-initialise a link to an AK1A compatible node
3441 This command attempts to re-initialise a link to a (usually) AK1A node
3442 that has got confused, usually by a protocol loop of some kind. It may
3443 work - but you usually will be better off simply disconnecting it (or
3444 better, if it is a real AK1A node, doing an RCMD <node> DISC/F <your
3447 Best of luck - you will need it.
3452 kill <msgno> [<msgno> ..] Delete a message from the local system
3455 Delete a message from the local system. You will only be able to
3456 delete messages that you have originated or been sent (unless you are
3462 kill <msgno> [<msgno> ...] Remove or erase a message from the system
3463 kill from <call> Remove all messages from a callsign
3464 kill to <call> Remove all messages to a callsign
3467 You can get rid of any message to or originating from your callsign
3468 using this command. You can remove more than one message at a time.
3470 As a sysop you can kill any message on the system.
3473 10.46. kill full (5)
3475 kill full <msgno> [<msgno>] Delete a message from the whole cluster
3478 Delete a message (usually a 'bulletin') from the whole cluster system.
3480 This uses the subject field, so any messages that have exactly the
3481 same subject will be deleted. Beware!
3484 10.47. kill/expunge (6)
3486 kill/expunge <msgno> [<msgno>..]Expunge a message
3489 Deleting a message using the normal KILL commands only marks that
3490 message for deletion. The actual deletion only happens later (usually
3493 The KILL EXPUNGE command causes the message to be truly deleted more
3494 or less immediately.
3496 It otherwise is used in the same way as the KILL command.
3501 links Show which nodes are physically connected
3504 This is a quick listing that shows which links are connected and some
3505 information about them. See WHO for a list of all connections.
3509 10.49. load/aliases (9)
3511 load/aliases Reload the command alias table
3514 Reload the /spider/cmd/Aliases file after you have editted it. You
3515 will need to do this if you change this file whilst the cluster is
3516 running in order for the changes to take effect.
3519 10.50. load/badmsg (9)
3521 load/badmsg Reload the bad message table
3524 Reload the /spider/msg/badmsg.pl file if you have changed it manually
3525 whilst the cluster is running. This table contains a number of perl
3526 regular expressions which are searched for in the fields targetted of
3527 each message. If any of them match then that message is immediately
3531 10.51. load/badwords (9)
3533 load/badwords Reload the bad words table
3536 Reload the /spider/data/badwords file if you have changed it manually
3537 whilst the cluster is running. This file contains a list of words
3538 which, if found on certain text portions of PC protocol, will cause
3539 those protocol frames to be rejected. It will all put out a message if
3540 any of these words are used on the announce, dx and talk commands. The
3541 words can be one or more on a line, lines starting with '#' are
3545 10.52. load/bands (9)
3547 load/bands Reload the band limits table
3550 Reload the /spider/data/bands.pl file if you have changed it manually
3551 whilst the cluster is running.
3554 10.53. load/cmd_cache (9)
3556 load/cmd_cache Reload the automatic command cache
3559 Normally, if you change a command file in the cmd or local_cmd tree it
3560 will automatially be picked up by the cluster program. Sometimes it
3561 can get confused if you are doing a lot of moving commands about or
3562 delete a command in the local_cmd tree and want to use the normal one
3563 again. Execute this command to reset everything back to the state it
3564 was just after a cluster restart.
3565 10.54. load/forward (9)
3567 load/forward Reload the msg forwarding routing table
3569 Reload the /spider/msg/forward.pl file if you have changed it manually
3570 whilst the cluster is running.
3573 10.55. load/messages (9)
3575 load/messages Reload the system messages file
3578 If you change the /spider/perl/Messages file (usually whilst
3579 fiddling/writing ne commands) you can have them take effect during a
3580 cluster session by executing this command. You need to do this if get
3583 unknown message 'xxxx' in lang 'en'
3586 10.56. load/prefixes (9)
3588 load/prefixes Reload the prefix table
3591 Reload the /spider/data/prefix_data.pl file if you have changed it
3592 manually whilst the cluster is running.
3597 merge <node> [<no spots>/<no wwv>] Ask for the latest spots and WWV
3600 MERGE allows you to bring your spot and wwv database up to date. By
3601 default it will request the last 10 spots and 5 WWVs from the node you
3602 select. The node must be connected locally.
3604 You can request any number of spots or wwv and although they will be
3605 appended to your databases they will not duplicate any that have
3606 recently been added (the last 2 days for spots and last month for WWV
3612 msg <cmd> <msgno> [data ...] Alter various message parameters
3615 Alter message parameters like To, From, Subject, whether private or
3616 bulletin or return receipt (RR) is required or whether to keep this
3617 message from timing out.
3631 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
3632 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
3633 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
3634 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
3635 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
3636 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
3637 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
3638 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
3639 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
3640 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waitting time for this message
3641 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
3642 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
3643 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
3644 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
3649 You can look at the status of a message by using:-
3653 This will display more information on the message than DIR does.
3658 pc <call> <text> Send text (eg PC Protocol) to <call>
3661 Send some arbitrary text to a locally connected callsign. No
3662 processing is done on the text. This command allows you to send PC
3663 Protocol to unstick things if problems arise (messages get stuck etc).
3666 pc gb7djk PC33^GB7TLH^GB7DJK^400^
3668 You can also use in the same way as a talk command to a connected user
3669 but without any processing, added of "from <blah> to <blah>" or
3672 pc G1TLH Try doing that properly!!!
3677 ping <node> Check the link quality between nodes
3680 his command allows you to send a frame to another cluster node on the
3681 network and get a return frame. The time it takes to do this is a
3682 good indication of the quality of the link. The actual time it takes
3683 is output to the console in seconds. Any visible cluster node can be
3690 rcmd <node call> <cmd> Send a command to another DX cluster
3693 This command allows you to send nearly any command to another DX
3694 Cluster node that is connected to the system.
3697 Whether you get any output is dependant on a) whether the other system
3698 knows that the node callsign of this cluster is in fact a node b)
3699 whether the other system is allowing RCMDs from this node and c)
3700 whether you have permission to send this command at all.
3705 read Read the next unread personal message addressed to you
3706 read <msgno> Read the specified message
3709 You can read any messages that are sent as 'non-personal' and also any
3710 message either sent by or sent to your callsign.
3714 10.63. read (extended for sysops) (5)
3716 read <msgno> Read a message on the system
3719 As a sysop you may read any message on the system
3722 10.64. reject/announce
3724 reject/announce [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject filter for announce
3727 Create an 'reject this announce' line for a filter.
3729 An reject filter line means that if the announce matches this filter
3730 it is passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please
3731 read this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief
3734 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
3738 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
3739 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3741 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3742 origin_itu <numbers>
3743 origin_zone <numbers>
3748 wx 1 filter WX announces
3749 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
3758 rej/ann by_zone 14,15,16 and not by G,M,2
3763 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3772 but this probably for advanced users...
3775 10.65. reject/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
3777 reject/announce <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> Announce filter sysop
3781 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3782 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3787 reject/ann input node_default by G,M,2
3788 reject/ann user_default by G,M,2
3794 10.66. reject/route (8)
3796 reject/route <call> [0-9] <pattern> Set an 'reject' filter line for
3800 Create an 'reject this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
3803 An reject filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches
3804 this filter it is NOT passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING
3805 for more info. Please read this to understand how filters work - it
3806 will save a lot of grief later on. You can use any of the following
3807 things in this line:-
3811 call <prefixes> the callsign of the thingy
3812 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3815 origin <prefixes> really the interface it came in on
3816 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3817 origin_itu <numbers>
3818 origin_zone <numbers>
3829 rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
3835 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3839 rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
3845 10.67. reject/spots (0)
3847 reject/spots [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject filter line for spots
3850 Create a 'reject this spot' line for a filter.
3852 A reject filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
3853 dumped (not passed on). See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read
3854 this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief
3857 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
3861 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
3862 on <range> same as 'freq'
3863 call <prefixes> eg: G,PA,HB9
3864 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
3866 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3878 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
3879 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
3880 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
3881 this is more efficient than saying simply: on HF (but don't get too
3889 rej/spot 2 on vhf and not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3895 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3904 but this probably for advanced users...
3907 10.68. reject/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
3909 reject/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> Reject spot filter sysop
3913 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3914 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3918 reject/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
3919 reject/spot node_default all
3920 set/hops node_default 10
3922 reject/spot user_default by G,M,2
3928 10.69. reject/wcy (0)
3930 reject/wcy [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject WCY filter
3933 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
3934 can filter on the following fields:-
3938 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3940 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3941 origin_itu <numbers>
3942 origin_zone <numbers>
3951 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place
3952 and you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want
3955 This command is really provided for future use.
3957 See HELP FILTER for information.
3961 10.70. reject/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
3963 reject/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WCY reject filter sysop
3967 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3968 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3970 reject/wcy gb7djk all
3973 10.71. reject/wwv (0)
3975 reject/wwv [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject WWV filter
3978 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
3979 can filter on the following fields:-
3983 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3985 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3986 origin_itu <numbers>
3987 origin_zone <numbers>
4000 reject/wwv by_zone 14,15,16
4005 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV
4006 broadcasts by stations in the US).
4008 See HELP FILTER for information.
4011 10.72. reject/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
4013 reject/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WWV reject filter sysop
4017 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
4018 the default for nodes and users eg:-
4022 reject/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
4023 reject/wwv node_default all
4025 reject/wwv user_default by W
4029 reply Reply (privately) to the last message that you have read
4030 reply <msgno> Reply (privately) to the specified message
4031 reply B <msgno> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified message
4032 reply NOPrivate <msgno> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified message
4033 reply RR <msgno> Reply to the specified message with read receipt
4036 You can reply to a message and the subject will automatically have
4037 "Re:" inserted in front of it, if it isn't already present.
4039 You can also use all the extra qualifiers such as RR, PRIVATE,
4040 NOPRIVATE, B that you can use with the SEND command (see SEND for
4046 send <call> [<call> ...] Send a message to one or more callsigns
4047 send RR <call> Send a message and ask for a read receipt
4048 send COPY <msgno> <call> Send a copy of a message to someone
4049 send PRIVATE <call> Send a personal message
4050 send NOPRIVATE <call> Send a message to all stations
4053 All the SEND commands will create a message which will be sent either
4054 to an individual callsign or to one of the 'bulletin' addresses.
4056 SEND <call> on its own acts as though you had typed SEND PRIVATE, that
4057 is it will mark the message as personal and send it to the cluster
4058 node that that callsign is connected to.
4060 You can have more than one callsign in all of the SEND commands.
4062 You can have multiple qualifiers so that you can have for example:-
4066 SEND RR COPY 123 PRIVATE G1TLH G0RDI
4071 which should send a copy of message 123 to G1TLH and G0RDI and you
4072 will receive a read receipt when they have read the message.
4074 SB is an alias for SEND NOPRIVATE (or send a bulletin in BBS speak) SP
4075 is an alias for SEND PRIVATE
4078 10.75. set/address (0)
4080 set/address <your_address> Record your postal address
4083 Literally, record your address details on the cluster.
4086 10.76. set/announce (0)
4088 set/announce Allow announce messages
4091 Allow announce messages to arrive at your terminal.
4093 10.77. set/arcluster (5)
4095 set/arcluster <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call an AR-
4099 Set the node_call as an AR-Cluster type node
4102 10.78. set/baddx (8)
4104 set/baddx <call> Stop words we do not wish to see in the callsign
4105 field of a dx spot being propagated
4108 Setting a word as 'baddx' will prevent spots with that word in the
4109 callsign field of a DX spot from going any further. They will not be
4110 displayed and they will not be sent onto other nodes.
4112 The word must be wriiten in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
4116 set/baddx FORSALE VIDEO FR0G
4121 To allow a word again, use the following command ...
4131 10.79. set/badnode (6)
4133 set/badnode <node_call> Stop spots from this node_call being
4137 Setting a callsign as a 'badnode' will prevent spots from that node
4138 going any further. They will not be displayed and they will not be
4139 sent onto other nodes.
4141 The call can be a full or partial call (or a prefix), eg:-
4150 will stop anything from K1TTT (including any SSID's)
4159 will allow spots from him again.
4161 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by
4165 10.80. set/badspotter (8)
4167 set/badspotter <call> Stop spots from this callsign being propagated
4170 Setting a callsign as a 'badspotter' will prevent spots from this
4171 callsign going any further. They will not be displayed and they will
4172 not be sent onto other nodes.
4174 The call must be written in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
4178 set/badspotter VE2STN
4183 will stop anything from VE2STN. If you want SSIDs as well then you
4184 must enter them specifically.
4188 unset/badspotter VE2STN
4193 will allow spots from him again.
4195 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by
4199 10.81. set/badword (8)
4201 set/badword <word> Stop things with this word being propogated
4204 Setting a word as a 'badword' will prevent things like spots,
4205 announces or talks with this word in the the text part from going any
4206 further. They will not be displayed and they will not be sent onto
4209 The word must be written in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
4211 set/badword annihilate annihilated annihilation
4213 will stop anything with these words in the text.
4215 unset/badword annihilated
4217 will allow text with this word again.
4223 set/beep Add beeps to terminal messages
4225 Add a beep to DX and other terminal messages.
4230 set/bbs <call> [<call>..]Make <call> a BBS
4235 set/clx <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call a CLX type
4239 Set the node_call as a CLX type node
4242 10.85. set/debug (9)
4244 set/debug <name> Add a debug level to the debug set
4247 You can choose to log several different levels. The levels are
4249 chan state msg cron connect
4251 You can show what levels you are logging with the show/debug command.
4253 You can remove a debug level with unset/debug <name>
4258 set/dxAllow DX messages to arrive at your terminal
4261 You can stop DX messages with the unset/dx command
4264 10.87. set/dxgrid (0)
4266 set/dxgridAllow grid squares on the end of DX messages
4269 Some logging programs do not like the additional information at the
4270 end of a DX spot. If this is the case, use the unset/dxgrid command
4271 to remove the grid squares.
4274 10.88. set/dxnet (5)
4276 set/dxnet <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call a DXNet
4280 Set the node_call as a DXNet type node
4285 set/echo Make the cluster echo your input
4288 If you are connected via a telnet session, different implimentations
4289 of telnet handle echo differently depending on whether you are
4290 connected via port 23 or some other port. You can use this command to
4291 change the setting appropriately.
4293 You can remove the echo with the unset/echo command
4295 The setting is stored in your user profile.
4297 YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE THIS COMMAND IF YOU ARE CONNECTED VIA AX25.
4300 10.90. set/email (0)
4302 set/email <email_address> Set email address(es) and forward your
4306 If any personal messages come in for your callsign then you can use
4307 these commands to control whether they are forwarded onto your email
4308 address. To enable the forwarding do something like:-
4310 SET/EMAIL mike.tubby@somewhere.com
4312 You can have more than one email address (each one separated by a
4313 space). Emails are forwarded to all the email addresses you specify.
4315 You can disable forwarding by:-
4322 set/here Set the here flag
4325 Let others on the cluster know you are here by only displaying your
4326 callsign. If you are away from your terminal you can use the
4327 unset/here command to let people know you are away. This simply puts
4328 brackets around your callsign to indicate you are not available.
4331 10.92. set/homenode (0)
4333 set/homenode <node_call> Set your home cluster
4336 Tell the cluster system where you normally connect to. Any Messages
4337 sent to you will normally find their way there should you not be
4350 set/hops <node_call> ann|spots|wwv|wcy <n> Set hop count
4353 Set the hop count for a particular type of broadcast for a node.
4355 This command allows you to set up special hop counts for a node for
4356 currently: announce, spots, wwv and wcy broadcasts.
4358 set/hops gb7djk ann 10
4359 set/hops gb7mbc spots 20
4364 Set SHOW/HOPS for information on what is already set. This command
4365 creates a filter and works in conjunction with the filter system.
4368 10.94. set/isolate (9)
4370 set/isolate <node call> Isolate a node from the rest of the network
4373 Connect a node to your system in such a way that you are a full
4374 protocol member of its network and can see all spots on it, but
4375 nothing either leaks out from it nor goes back into from the rest of
4376 the nodes connected to you.
4378 You can potentially connect several nodes in this way.
4380 You can see which nodes are isolated with the show/isolate (1)
4383 You can remove the isolation with the command unset/isolate.
4386 10.95. set/language (0)
4388 set/language <language> Set the language you wish to use
4391 You can select the language that you want the cluster to use.
4392 Currently the languages available are en (English) and nl (Dutch).
4395 10.96. set/location (0)
4397 set/location <lat and long> Set your latitude and longitude
4400 You can set your latitude and longitude manually or alternatively use
4401 the set/qra command which will do the conversion for you.
4405 set/location 54 04 N 2 02 E
4412 10.97. set/sys_location (9)
4414 set/sys_location <lat & long> Set your cluster latitude and longitude
4417 In order to get accurate headings and such like you must tell the
4418 system what your latitude and longitude is. If you have not yet done a
4419 SET/QRA then this command will set your QRA locator for you. For
4423 SET/LOCATION 52 22 N 0 57 E
4429 10.98. set/logininfo (0)
4431 set/logininfo Show logins and logouts of nodes and users
4434 Show users and nodes when they log in and out of the local cluster.
4435 You can stop these messages by using the unset/logininfo command.
4439 10.99. set/lockout (9)
4441 set/lockout <call> Stop a callsign connecting to the cluster
4444 You can show who is locked out with the show/lockout command. To
4445 allow the user to connect again, use the unset/lockout command.
4448 10.100. set/name (0)
4450 set/name <your_name> Set your name
4453 Tell the cluster what your name is, eg:-
4463 10.101. set/node (9)
4465 set/node <call> [<call> ...] Make the callsign an AK1A cluster
4468 Tell the system that the call(s) are to be treated as AK1A cluster and
4469 fed PC Protocol rather normal user commands.
4471 From version 1.41 you can also set the following types of cluster
4483 To see what your nodes are set to, use the show/nodes command.
4489 10.102. set/obscount (9)
4491 set/obscount <count> <node call> Set the 'pump-up' obsolescence
4495 From version 1.35 onwards neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular
4496 intervals (see SET/PINGINTERVAL), usually 300 seconds or 5 minutes.
4497 There is a 'pump-up' counter which is decremented on every outgoing
4498 ping and then reset to the 'obscount' value on every incoming ping.
4499 The default value of this parameter is 2.
4501 What this means is that a neighbouring node will be pinged twice at
4502 (default) 300 second intervals and if no reply has been heard just
4503 before what would be the third attempt, that node is disconnected.
4505 If a ping is heard then the obscount is reset to the full value. Using
4506 default values, if a node has not responded to a ping within 15
4507 minutes, it is disconnected.
4510 10.103. set/page (0)
4512 set/page <n> Set the number of lines per page
4515 Tell the system how many lines you wish on a page when the number of
4516 lines of output from a command is more than this. The default is 20.
4517 Setting it explicitly to 0 will disable paging.
4527 The setting is stored in your user profile.
4530 10.104. set/password (0)
4532 set/password Set your own password
4535 This command only works for a 'telnet' user (currently). It will only
4536 work if you have a password already set. This initial password can
4537 only be set by the sysop.
4539 When you execute this command it will ask you for your old password,
4540 then ask you to type in your new password twice (to make sure you get
4541 it right). You may or may not see the data echoed on the screen as you
4542 type, depending on the type of telnet client you have.
4545 10.105. set/password (9)
4547 set/password <callsign> <string> Set a users password
4550 The password for a user can only be set by a full sysop. The string
4551 can contain any characters.
4553 The way this field is used depends on context. If it is being used in
4554 the SYSOP command context then you are offered 5 random numbers and
4555 you have to supply the corresponding letters. This is now mainly for
4558 If it is being used on incoming telnet connections then, if a password
4561 set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
4563 command is executed in the startup script, then a password prompt is
4564 given after the normal 'login: ' prompt.
4566 The command "unset/password" is provided to allow a sysop to remove a
4567 users password completely in case a user forgets or loses their
4571 10.106. set/pinginterval (9)
4573 set/pinginterval <time> <node call> Set the ping time to neighbouring
4577 As from version 1.35 all neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular
4578 intervals in order to determine the rolling quality of the link and,
4579 in future, to affect routing decisions. The default interval is 300
4582 You can use this command to set a different interval. Please don't.
4584 But if you do the value you enter is treated as minutes up 60 and
4585 seconds for numbers greater than that.
4587 This is used also to help determine when a link is down at the far end
4588 (as certain cluster software doesn't always notice), see SET/OBSCOUNT
4589 for more information.
4592 10.107. set/privilege (9)
4594 set/privilege <n> <call> [<call> ...] Set the privilege level on a
4598 Set the privilege level on a callsign. The privilege levels that
4599 pertain to commands are as default:-
4604 1 - allow remote nodes normal user RCMDs
4605 5 - various privileged commands (including shutdown, but not disc-
4606 connect), the normal level for another node.
4607 8 - more privileged commands (including disconnect)
4608 9 - local sysop privilege. DO NOT SET ANY REMOTE USER OR NODE TO THIS
4614 If you are a sysop and you come in as a normal user on a remote
4615 connection your privilege will automatically be set to 0.
4621 10.108. set/spider (5)
4623 set/spider <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call a DXSpider
4627 Set the node_call as a DXSpider type node
4630 10.109. set/sys_qra (9)
4632 set/sys_qra <locator> Set your cluster QRA locator
4637 set/qra <locator> Set your QRA locator
4640 Tell the system what your QRA (or Maidenhead) locator is. If you have
4641 not done a SET/LOCATION then your latitude and longitude will be set
4642 roughly correctly (assuming your locator is correct ;-). For example:-
4654 set/qth <your QTH> Set your QTH
4657 Tell the system where your are. For example:-
4661 set/qth East Dereham, Norfolk
4667 10.112. set/register (9)
4669 set/register <call> Mark a user as registered
4672 Registration is a concept that you can switch on by executing the
4674 set/var $main::regreq = 1
4676 command (usually in your startup file)
4678 If a user is NOT registered then, firstly, instead of the normal motd
4679 file (/spider/data/motd) being sent to the user at startup, the user
4680 is sent the motd_nor file instead. Secondly, the non registered user
4681 only has READ-ONLY access to the node. The non-registered user cannot
4684 The only exception to this is that a non-registered user can TALK or
4685 SEND messages to the sysop.
4687 To unset a user use the 'unset/register' command
4690 10.113. set/talk (0)
4692 set/talk Allow talk messages to be seen at your console
4695 Allow talk messages to arrive at your console. You can switch off
4696 talks with the unset/talk command.
4701 set/wcy Allow WCY messages to be seen at your console
4704 Allow WCY information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
4705 WCY messages with the unset/wcy command.
4710 set/wwv Allow WWV messages to be seen at your console
4713 Allow WWV information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
4714 WWV messages with the unset/wwv command.
4719 set/wx Allow WX messages to be seen at your console
4722 Allow WX information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
4723 WX messages with the unset/wx command.
4726 10.117. show/baddx (1)
4728 show/baddxShow all the bad dx calls in the system
4731 Display all the bad dx callsigns in the system, see SET/BADDX for more
4735 10.118. show/badnode (6)
4737 show/badnode Show all the bad nodes in the system
4740 Display all the bad node callsigns in the system, see SET/BADNODE for
4744 10.119. show/badspotter (1)
4746 show/badspotter Show all the bad spotters in the system
4749 Display all the bad spotter's callsigns in the system, see
4750 SET/BADSPOTTER for more information.
4753 10.120. show/badword (1)
4755 show/badword Show all the bad words in the system
4758 Display all the bad words in the system, see SET/BADWORD for more
4762 10.121. show/configuration (0)
4764 show/configuration [<node>] Show all visible nodes and their users
4767 This command allows you to see all the users that can be seen and the
4768 nodes to which they are connected. With the optional node, you can
4769 specify a particular node to look at.
4771 This command is normally abbreviated to: sh/c
4773 BE WARNED: the list that is returned can be VERY long
4776 10.122. show/configuration/node (0)
4778 show/configuration/node Show all the nodes connected
4781 Show all the nodes connected locally and the nodes they have
4785 10.123. show/connect (1)
4787 show/connect Show all the active connections
4790 This command shows information on all the active connections known to
4791 the node. This command gives slightly more information than WHO.
4794 10.124. show/date (0)
4796 show/date [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show the local time
4799 This is very nearly the same as SHOW/TIME, the only difference the
4800 format of the date string if no arguments are given.
4802 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the
4803 local time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some
4804 prefixes then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not
4805 including DST) at the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
4808 10.125. show/debug (9)
4810 show/debug Show what levels of debug you are logging
4813 The levels can be set with set/debug
4821 show/dx [options] interrogate the spot database
4824 If you just type SHOW/DX you will get the last so many spots (sysop
4825 configurable, but usually 10).
4827 In addition you can add any number of these options in very nearly any
4828 order to the basic SHOW/DX command, they are:-
4833 on <band> - eg 160m 20m 2m 23cm 6mm
4834 on <region> - eg hf vhf uhf shf (see SHOW/BANDS)
4836 <number> - the number of spots you want
4837 <from>-<to> - <from> spot no <to> spot no in
4840 <prefix> - for a spotted callsign beginning with <prefix>
4841 *<suffix> - for a spotted callsign ending in <suffix>
4842 *<string>* - for a spotted callsign containing <string>
4844 day <number> - starting <number> days ago
4845 day <from>-<to> - <from> days <to> days ago
4847 info <text> - any spots containing <text> in the info or remarks
4849 by <call> - any spots spotted by <call> (spotter <call>
4852 qsl - this automatically looks for any qsl info on the call
4853 held in the spot database.
4855 iota [<iota>] - If the iota island number is missing it will
4856 look for the string iota and anything which looks like
4857 an iota island number. If you specify then it will look
4860 qra [<locator>] - this will look for the specific locator if
4861 you specify one or else anything that looks like a locator.
4872 SH/DX on 20m info iota
4873 SH/DX 9a on vhf day 30
4885 10.127. show/dxcc (0)
4887 show/dxcc <prefix> Interrogate the spot database by country
4890 This command takes the <prefix> (which can be a full or partial
4891 callsign if desired), looks up which internal country number it is and
4892 then displays all the spots as per SH/DX for that country.
4894 The options for SHOW/DX also apply to this command. e.g.
4900 SH/DXCC W on 20m info iota
4906 10.128. sh/dxstats (0)
4908 sh/dxstats Show the DX Statistics for last 31 days
4911 Show the total DX spots for the last 31 days
4915 10.129. show/files (0)
4917 show/files [<filearea> [<string>]] List the contents of a filearea
4920 SHOW/FILES on its own will show you a list of the various fileareas
4921 available on the system. To see the contents of a particular file area
4931 where <filearea> is the name of the filearea you want to see the
4934 You can also use shell globbing characters like '*' and '?' in a
4935 string to see a selection of files in a filearea eg:-
4939 SH/FILES bulletins arld*
4944 See also TYPE - to see the contents of a file.
4947 10.130. show/filter (0)
4949 show/filter Show the filters you have set
4951 Show the contents of all the filters that are set by you. This command
4952 displays all the filters set - for all the various categories.
4955 10.131. show/filter (extended for sysops) (5)
4957 show/filter <callsign> Show the filters set by <callsign>
4960 A sysop can look at any filters that have been set.
4963 10.132. show/hfstats (0)
4965 show/hfstats Show the HF DX Statistics for last 31 days
4968 Show the HF DX spots breakdown by band for the last 31 days
4971 10.133. show/hftable (0)
4973 show/hftable Show the HF DX Spotter Table for your country
4976 Show the HF DX Spotter table for your country for the last 31 days
4979 10.134. show/hops (8)
4981 show/hops <node_call> [ann|spots|wcy|wwv|] Show the hop counts for a
4985 This command shows the hop counts set up for a node. You can specify
4986 which category you want to see. If you leave the category out then all
4987 the categories will be listed.
4990 10.135. show/isolate (1)
4992 show/isolate Show a list of isolated nodes
4995 Show which nodes are currently set to be isolated.
4998 10.136. show/lockout (9)
5000 show/lockout Show a list of excluded callsigns
5003 Show a list of callsigns that have been excluded (locked out) of the
5004 cluster locally with the set/lockout command
5007 10.137. show/log (8)
5009 show/log [<callsign>] Show excerpts from the system log
5012 This command outputs a short section of the system log. On its own it
5013 will output a general logfile. With the optional callsign it will
5014 show output from the log associated with that callsign.
5017 10.138. show/moon (0)
5019 show/moon [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show moon rise and set times
5022 Show the Moon rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or
5023 callsigns, together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun
5024 currently at those locations.
5026 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times
5027 for your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or
5028 SET/QRA), together with the current azimuth and elevation.
5030 In addition, it will show the gain or loss dB relative to the nominal
5031 distance of 385,000Km due to the ellipsoidal nature of the orbit.
5033 If all else fails it will show the Moonrise and set times for the node
5034 that you are connected to.
5047 10.139. show/muf (0)
5049 show/muf <prefix> [<hours>][long] Show the likely propagation to
5053 This command allow you to estimate the likelihood of you contacting a
5054 station with the prefix you have specified. The output assumes a
5055 modest power of 20dBW and receiver sensitivity of -123dBm (about
5058 The result predicts the most likely operating frequencies and signal
5059 levels for high frequency (shortwave) radio propagation paths on
5060 specified days of the year and hours of the day. It is most useful for
5061 paths between 250 km and 6000 km, but can be used with reduced
5062 accuracy for paths shorter or longer than this.
5064 The command uses a routine MINIMUF 3.5 developed by the U.S. Navy and
5065 used to predict the MUF given the predicted flux, day of the year,
5066 hour of the day and geographic coordinates of the transmitter and
5067 receiver. This routine is reasonably accurate for the purposes here,
5068 with a claimed RMS error of 3.8 MHz, but much smaller and less complex
5069 than the programs used by major shortwave broadcasting organizations,
5070 such as the Voice of America.
5072 The command will display some header information detailing its
5073 assumptions, together with the locations, latitude and longitudes and
5074 bearings. It will then show UTC (UT), local time at the other end
5075 (LT), calculate the MUFs, Sun zenith angle at the midpoint of the path
5076 (Zen) and the likely signal strengths. Then for each frequency for
5077 which the system thinks there is a likelihood of a circuit it prints a
5080 The value is currently a likely S meter reading based on the
5081 conventional 6dB / S point scale. If the value has a '+' appended it
5082 means that it is 1/2 an S point stronger. If the value is preceeded by
5083 an 'm' it means that there is likely to be much fading and by an 's'
5084 that the signal is likely to be noisy.
5086 By default SHOW/MUF will show the next two hours worth of data. You
5087 can specify anything up to 24 hours worth of data by appending the no
5088 of hours required after the prefix. For example:-
5101 RxSens: -123 dBM SFI: 159 R: 193 Month: 10 Day: 21
5102 Power : 20 dBW Distance: 6283 km Delay: 22.4 ms
5103 Location Lat / Long Azim
5104 East Dereham, Norfolk 52 41 N 0 57 E 47
5105 United-States-W 43 0 N 87 54 W 299
5106 UT LT MUF Zen 1.8 3.5 7.0 10.1 14.0 18.1 21.0 24.9 28.0 50.0
5107 18 23 11.5 -35 mS0+ mS2 S3
5108 19 0 11.2 -41 mS0+ mS2 S3
5113 indicating that you will have weak, fading circuits on top band and
5114 80m but usable signals on 40m (about S3).
5125 will get you the above display, but with the next 24 hours worth of
5136 Gives you an estimate of the long path propagation characterics. It
5137 should be noted that the figures will probably not be very useful, nor
5138 terrible accurate, but it is included for completeness.
5141 10.140. show/newconfiguration (0)
5143 show/newconfiguration [<node>] Show all the nodes and users visible
5146 This command allows you to see all the users that can be seen and the
5147 nodes to which they are connected.
5149 This command produces essentially the same information as
5150 SHOW/CONFIGURATION except that it shows all the duplication of any
5151 routes that might be present It also uses a different format which may
5152 not take up quite as much space if you don't have any loops.
5154 BE WARNED: the list that is returned can be VERY long
5157 10.141. show/newconfiguration/node (0)
5159 show/newconfiguration/node Show all the nodes connected locally
5162 Show all the nodes connected to this node in the new format.
5165 10.142. show/node (1)
5167 show/node [<node_call> ...] Show the type and version number of nodes
5170 Show the type and version (if connected) of the nodes specified on the
5171 command line. If no callsigns are specified then a sorted list of all
5172 the non-user callsigns known to the system will be displayed.
5175 10.143. show/prefix (0)
5177 show/prefix <callsign> Interrogate the prefix database
5180 This command takes the <callsign> (which can be a full or partial
5181 callsign or a prefix), looks up which internal country number it is
5182 and then displays all the relevant prefixes for that country together
5183 with the internal country no, the CQ and ITU regions.
5189 10.144. show/program (5)
5191 show/program Show the locations of all the included program modules
5194 Show the name and location where every program module was load from.
5195 This is useful for checking where you think you have loaded a .pm file
5199 10.145. show/qra (0)
5201 show/qra <locator> [<locator>] Show the distance between locators
5202 show/qra <lat> <long> Convert latitude and longitude to a locator
5205 This is a multipurpose command that allows you either to calculate the
5206 distance and bearing between two locators or (if only one locator is
5207 given on the command line) the distance and beraing from your station
5208 to the locator. For example:-
5215 The first example will show the distance and bearing to the locator
5216 from yourself, the second example will calculate the distance and
5217 bearing from the first locator to the second. You can use 4 or 6
5220 It is also possible to convert a latitude and longitude to a locator
5221 by using this command with a latitude and longitude as an argument,
5226 SH/QRA 52 41 N 0 58 E
5232 10.146. show/qrz (0)
5234 show/qrz <callsign> Show any callbook details on a callsign
5237 This command queries the QRZ callbook server on the internet and
5238 returns any information available for that callsign. This service is
5239 provided for users of this software by http://www.qrz.com
5242 10.147. show/registered (9)
5244 show/registered [<prefix>[ Show the registered users
5247 10.148. show/route (0)
5249 show/route <callsign> Show the route to <callsign>
5252 This command allows you to see to which node the callsigns specified
5253 are connected. It is a sort of inverse sh/config.
5263 10.149. show/satellite (0)
5265 show/satellite <name> [<hours> <interval>] Show satellite tracking
5269 Show the tracking data from your location to the satellite of your
5270 choice from now on for the next few hours.
5272 If you use this command without a satellite name it will display a
5273 list of all the satellites known currently to the system.
5275 If you give a name then you can obtain tracking data of all the passes
5276 that start and finish 5 degrees below the horizon. As default it will
5277 give information for the next three hours for every five minute
5281 You can alter the number of hours and the step size, within certain
5284 Each pass in a period is separated with a row of '-----' characters
5291 SH/SAT FENGYUN1 12 2
5297 10.150. show/sun (0)
5299 show/sun [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show sun rise and set times
5302 Show the sun rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or callsigns,
5303 together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun currently at those
5306 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times
5307 for your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or
5308 SET/QRA), together with the current azimuth and elevation.
5310 If all else fails it will show the sunrise and set times for the node
5311 that you are connected to.
5318 SH/SUN G1TLH K9CW ZS
5324 10.151. show/time (0)
5326 show/time [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show the local time
5329 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the
5330 local time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some
5331 prefixes then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not
5332 including DST) at the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
5335 10.152. show/vhfstats (0)
5337 show/vhfstats Show the VHF DX Statistics for last 31 days
5340 Show the VHF DX spots breakdown by band for the last 31 days
5343 10.153. show/vhftable (0)
5345 show/vhftable Show the VHF DX Spotter Table for your country
5347 Show the VHF DX Spotter table for your country for the last 31 days
5350 10.154. show/wcy (0)
5352 show/wcy Show the last 10 WCY broadcasts
5353 show/wcy <n> Show the last <n> WCY broadcasts
5356 Display the most recent WCY information that has been received by the
5360 10.155. show/wwv (0)
5362 show/wwv Show the last 10 WWV broadcasts
5363 show/wwv <n> Show the last <n> WWV broadcasts
5366 Display the most recent WWV information that has been received by the
5371 10.156. shutdown (5)
5373 shutdown Shutdown the cluster
5376 Shutdown the cluster and disconnect all the users. If you have Spider
5377 set to respawn in /etc/inittab it will of course restart.
5382 spoof <callsign> <command> Run commands as another user
5385 This is a very simple yet powerful command for the sysop. It allows
5386 you to issue commands as if you were a different user. This is very
5387 useful for the kind of things that users seem to always get wrong..
5388 like home_node for example.
5393 stat/db <dbname> Show the status of a database
5396 Show the internal status of a database descriptor.
5398 Depending on your privilege level you will see more or less
5399 information. This command is unlikely to be of much use to anyone
5403 10.159. stat/channel (5)
5405 stat/channel <callsign> Show the status of a channel on the cluster
5408 Show the internal status of the channel object either for the channel
5409 that you are on or else for the callsign that you asked for.
5411 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
5413 10.160. stat/msg (5)
5415 stat/msg <msgno> Show the status of a message
5418 This command shows the internal status of a message and includes
5419 information such as to whom it has been forwarded, its size, origin
5423 If no message number is given then the status of the message system is
5427 10.161. stat/route_node (5)
5429 stat/route_node <callsign> Show the data in a Route::Node object
5432 10.162. stat/route_user (5)
5434 stat/route_user <callsign> Show the data in a Route::User object
5437 10.163. stat/user (5)
5439 stat/user <callsign> Show the full status of a user
5442 Shows the full contents of a user record including all the secret
5445 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
5450 sysop Regain your privileges if you login remotely
5453 The system automatically reduces your privilege level to that of a
5454 normal user if you login in remotely. This command allows you to
5455 regain your normal privilege level. It uses the normal system: five
5456 numbers are returned that are indexes into the character array that is
5457 your assigned password (see SET/PASSWORD). The indexes start from
5460 You are expected to return a string which contains the characters
5461 required in the correct order. You may intersperse those characters
5462 with others to obscure your reply for any watchers. For example (and
5463 these values are for explanation :-):
5467 password = 012345678901234567890123456789
5479 aa2bbbb0ccc5ddd7xxx3n
5486 They will all match. If there is no password you will still be offered
5487 numbers but nothing will happen when you input a string. Any match is
5493 talk <callsign> Enter talk mode with <callsign>
5494 talk <callsign> <text> Send a text message to <callsign>
5495 talk <callsign> > <node_call> [<text>] Send a text message to
5496 <callsign> via <node_call>
5499 Send a short message to any other station that is visible on the
5500 cluster system. You can send it to anyone you can see with a
5501 SHOW/CONFIGURATION command, they don't have to be connected locally.
5503 The second form of TALK is used when other cluster nodes are connected
5504 with restricted information. This usually means that they don't send
5505 the user information usually associated with logging on and off the
5508 If you know that G3JNB is likely to be present on GB7TLH, but you can
5509 only see GB7TLH in the SH/C list but with no users, then you would use
5510 the second form of the talk message.
5512 If you want to have a ragchew with someone you can leave the text
5513 message out and the system will go into 'Talk' mode. What this means
5514 is that a short message is sent to the recipient telling them that you
5515 are in a 'Talking' frame of mind and then you just type - everything
5516 you send will go to the station that you asked for.
5518 All the usual announcements, spots and so on will still come out on
5521 If you want to do something (such as send a spot) you precede the
5522 normal command with a '/' character, eg:-
5526 /DX 14001 G1TLH What's a B class licensee doing on 20m CW?
5532 To leave talk mode type:
5547 type <filearea>/<name> Look at a file in one of the fileareas
5550 Type out the contents of a file in a filearea. So, for example, in
5551 filearea 'bulletins' you want to look at file 'arld051' you would
5556 TYPE bulletins/arld051
5561 See also SHOW/FILES to see what fileareas are available and a list of
5567 who Show who is physically connected locally
5570 This is a quick listing that shows which callsigns are connected and
5571 what sort of connection they have
5576 wx <text> Send a weather message to local users
5577 wx full <text> Send a weather message to all cluster users
5580 Weather messages can sometimes be useful if you are experiencing an
5581 extreme that may indicate enhanced conditions
5584 10.169. wx (enhanced for sysops) (5)
5586 wx sysop <text> Send a weather message to other clusters only
5589 Send a weather message only to other cluster nodes and not to general