1 The DXSpider Administration Manual v1.50
2 Ian Maude, G0VGS, (g0vgs@gb7mbc.net), and Charlie Carroll,
4 February 2003 revision 0.3
6 A reference for SysOps of the DXSpider DXCluster program.
7 ______________________________________________________________________
13 1. Routing and Filtering
16 1.3 The node_default filter
17 1.4 General route filtering
18 1.5 General filter rules
22 1.9 Advanced filtering
23 1.10 Basic hop control
24 1.11 Hop Control on Specific Nodes
25 1.12 Isolating networks
29 2.2 Filtering words from text fields in Announce, Talk and DX spots
30 2.3 Stopping (possibly bad) DX Spots from Nodes or Spotters
39 3.7 Distribution lists
44 5.1 Creating databases
45 5.2 Importing databases
46 5.3 Checking available databases
47 5.4 Looking up databases
48 5.5 Removing databases
50 6. Information, files and useful programs
54 6.4 Other text messages
57 6.7 Updating kepler data
59 6.9 Connecting logging programs
62 8. Web based statistics
68 10.1 CVS from a Linux platform
69 10.2 CVS from a Windows platform
71 11. The DXSpider command set
72 11.1 accept/announce (0)
73 11.2 accept/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
76 11.5 accept/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
78 11.7 accept/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
80 11.9 accept/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
82 11.11 announce full (0)
83 11.12 announce sysop (5)
87 11.16 clear/announce (8)
90 11.19 clear/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
92 11.21 clear/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
94 11.23 clear/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
102 11.31 delete/user (9)
103 11.32 demonstrate (9)
105 11.34 directory (extended for sysops) (5)
109 11.38 export_users (9)
111 11.40 forward/latlong (8)
112 11.41 forward/opername (1)
118 11.47 kill/expunge (6)
120 11.49 load/aliases (9)
121 11.50 load/badmsg (9)
122 11.51 load/badwords (9)
124 11.53 load/cmd_cache (9)
125 11.54 load/forward (9)
126 11.55 load/messages (9)
127 11.56 load/prefixes (9)
134 11.63 read (extended for sysops) (5)
135 11.64 reject/announce
136 11.65 reject/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
137 11.66 reject/route (8)
138 11.67 reject/spots (0)
139 11.68 reject/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
141 11.70 reject/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
143 11.72 reject/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
146 11.75 set/address (0)
147 11.76 set/announce (0)
148 11.77 set/arcluster (5)
150 11.79 set/badnode (6)
151 11.80 set/badspotter (8)
152 11.81 set/badword (8)
163 11.92 set/homenode (0)
165 11.94 set/isolate (9)
166 11.95 set/language (0)
167 11.96 set/location (0)
168 11.97 set/sys_location (9)
169 11.98 set/logininfo (0)
170 11.99 set/lockout (9)
173 11.102 set/obscount (9)
175 11.104 set/password (0)
176 11.105 set/password (9)
177 11.106 set/pinginterval (9)
178 11.107 set/privilege (9)
179 11.108 set/spider (5)
180 11.109 set/sys_qra (9)
183 11.112 set/register (9)
188 11.117 show/baddx (1)
189 11.118 show/badnode (6)
190 11.119 show/badspotter (1)
191 11.120 show/badword (1)
192 11.121 show/configuration (0)
193 11.122 show/configuration/node (0)
194 11.123 show/connect (1)
196 11.125 show/debug (9)
199 11.128 sh/dxstats (0)
200 11.129 show/files (0)
201 11.130 show/filter (0)
202 11.131 show/filter (extended for sysops) (5)
203 11.132 show/hfstats (0)
204 11.133 show/hftable (0)
206 11.135 show/isolate (1)
207 11.136 show/lockout (9)
211 11.140 show/newconfiguration (0)
212 11.141 show/newconfiguration/node (0)
214 11.143 show/prefix (0)
215 11.144 show/program (5)
218 11.147 show/registered (9)
219 11.148 show/route (0)
220 11.149 show/satellite (0)
223 11.152 show/vhfstats (0)
224 11.153 show/vhftable (0)
230 11.159 stat/channel (5)
232 11.161 stat/route_node (5)
233 11.162 stat/route_user (5)
240 11.169 wx (enhanced for sysops) (5)
243 ______________________________________________________________________
245 1. Routing and Filtering
249 From DXSpider version 1.48, major changes were introduced to the way
250 node connections are treated. This is part of an ongoing process to
251 remove problems with loops and to enable talk and other functions to
252 propagate across the whole of the worldwide cluster network. In fact,
253 in a Spider network, it would be useful, perhaps even necessary to
254 have loops. This would give real resilience to the network, meaning
255 that if a link dropped, the information flow would simply come in and
256 go out via a different route. Of course, we do not have a complete
257 network of Spider nodes, there are other programs out there. Some of
258 these do not have any protection from loops. Certainly AK1A does not
259 handle loops well at all. It is therefore necessary to have some form
260 of protection for these nodes.
263 In fact DXSpider has had a simple system for some time which is called
264 isolation. This is similar to what in other systems such as clx, is
265 called passive mode. A more detailed explanation of isolation is given
266 further below. This system is still available and, for simple
267 networks, is probably all that you need.
270 The new functionality introduced in version 1.48 allows filtering the
271 node and user protocol frames on a "per interface" basis. We call this
272 route filtering. This is used instead of isolation.
275 What this really means is that you can control more or less completely
276 which user and node management PC protocol frames pass to each of your
277 partner nodes. You can also limit what comes into your node from your
278 partners. It is even possible to control the settings that your
279 partner node has for the routing information that it sends to you
280 (using the rcmd command).
285 Initially when route filters were being tested we generated a
286 "default" filter. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that this
287 might suit the UK cluster network but didn't really fit anybody else.
288 However using a default filter is an appropriate thing to do. How, is
289 explained further on.
292 The first thing that you must do is determine whether you need to use
293 route filtering at all. If you are a "normal" node with two or three
294 partners and you arranged in an "official" non-looping tree type
295 network, then you do not need to do route filtering and you will feel
296 a lot better for not getting involved. If you are successfully using
297 isolation then you also probably don't need to use route filtering.
300 To put it simply, you should not mix Isolation and Route Filtering.
301 It will work, of sorts, but you will not get the expected results. If
302 you are using Isolation sucessfully at the moment, do not get involved
303 in Route Filtering unless you have a good supply of aspirin! Once you
304 have started down the road of Route Filtering, do not use Isolation
305 either. Use one or the other, not both.
308 You will only require this functionality if you are "well-connected".
309 What that means is that you are connected to several different parts
310 of (say) the EU cluster and, at the same time, also connected to two
311 or three places in the US which, in turn are connected back to the EU.
312 This is called a "loop" and if you are seriously looped then you need
316 I should at this stage give a little bit of background on filters.
317 All the filters in Spider work in basically the same way. You can
318 either accept or reject various options in order to create the filter
319 rules you wish to achieve. Some filters are user settable, others can
320 only be altered by the sysop. Route filtering can only be done by the
325 Anyway, without further discouragement, let me start the process of
329 1.3. The node_default filter
331 All normal systems should have a default routing filter and it should
332 usually be set to send only the normal, unlooped, view of your
333 "national" network. Here in the UK that means nodes from the UK and
334 Eire, in EU it is more complex as the networks there grew up in a more
339 The generic commands are:-
343 reject/route node_default <filter_option>
347 accept/route node_default <filter_option>
351 where filter_option is one of the following ...
360 channel_dxcc <numbers>
361 channel_itu <numbers>
362 channel_zone <numbers>
366 Please be careful if you alter this setting, it will affect ALL your
367 links! Remember, this is a default filter for node connections, not a
371 For the default routing filter then you have two real choices: either
372 a "national" view or the "safe" option of only your own callsign.
373 Examples of each (for my node: GB7DJK) are:-
377 acc/route node_default call_dxcc 61,38
378 acc/route node_default call gb7djk
382 GB7DJK uses the first of these. The DXCC countries can be obtained
383 from the show/prefix command.
386 The example filters shown control output TO all your partner nodes
387 unless they have a specific filter applied to them (see next section).
390 It is also possible to control the incoming routing information that
391 you are prepared to accept FROM your partner nodes. The reason this is
392 necessary is to make sure that stuff like mail, pings and similar
393 commands a) go down the correct links and b) don't loop around
394 excessively. Again using GB7DJK as an example a typical default input
395 filter would be something like:
399 rej/route node_default input call_dxcc 61,38 and not channel_dxcc 61,38
403 What this does is accept node and user information for our national
404 network from nodes that are in our national network, but rejects such
405 information from anyone else. Although it doesn't explicitly say so,
406 by implication, any other node information (not from the UK and Eire)
410 As I imagine it will take a little while to get one's head around all
411 of this you can study the effect of any rules that you try by watching
412 the debug output after having done:-
420 After you have got tired of that, to put it back the way it was:-
428 1.4. General route filtering
430 Exactly the same rules apply for general route filtering. You would
431 use either an accept filter or a reject filter like this ...
435 reject/route <node_call> <filter_option>
439 accept/route <node_call> <filter_option>
443 Here are some examples of route filters ...
447 rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
448 rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
449 acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
450 acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
454 In practice you will either be opening the default filter out for a
455 partner by defining a specific filter for that callsign:-
460 acc/route gb7baa input all
464 or restricting it quite a lot, in fact making it very nearly like an
465 isolated node, like this:-
469 acc/route pi4ehv-8 call gb7djk
470 rej/route pi4ehv-8 input call_dxcc 61,38
474 This last example takes everything except UK and Eire from PI4EHV-8
475 but only sends him my local configuration (just a PC19 for GB7DJK and
476 PC16s for my local users).
479 It is possible to write much more complex rules, there are up to 10
480 accept/reject pairs per callsign per filter. For more information see
485 1.5. General filter rules
487 Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters.
488 From v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set
489 filters for just about anything you wish. If you have just updated
490 from an older version of DXSpider you will need to update your new
491 filters. You do not need to do anything with your old filters, they
492 will be renamed as you update.
495 There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating
496 filters. These are accept, reject and clear. First we will look
497 generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in
498 the DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
501 In general terms you can create a "reject" or an "accept" filter which
502 can have up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
511 where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There
512 are filters for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects.
513 See each different accept or reject command reference for more
516 There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter.
526 There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
529 and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
537 For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply
538 the same principles to all types of filter.
543 There are two main types of filter, accept or reject. You can use
544 either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
545 and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of
546 reject filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each
547 filter has 10 lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a
548 line matches then the action you have specified is taken (ie reject
549 means ignore it and accept means take it)
552 If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match
553 the filter will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use
554 an accept filter, then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted
555 and all else will be dumped. For example if you have a single line
560 accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
564 then you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones 14, 15 and 16.
567 If you set a reject filter like this ...
571 reject/spots on hf/cw
575 Then you will get everything EXCEPT HF CW spots. You could make this
576 single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested
577 in IOTA and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not
578 interested in CW, then you could say ...
582 reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
586 But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
590 accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
594 which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the
595 other until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix
596 them if you wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the
597 same line) but don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you
601 You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your
602 own understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
606 reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
607 reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
611 What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots
612 on VHF which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
615 This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this
616 case), if you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits
617 '0'-'9' are available. This make it easier to see just what filters
618 you have set. It also makes it more simple to remove individual
619 filters, during a contest for example.
622 You will notice in the above example that the second line has
623 brackets. Look at the line logically. You can see there are 2
624 separate sections to it. We are saying reject spots that are VHF or
625 above APART from those in zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or
626 originated there). If you did not have the brackets to separate the 2
627 sections, then Spider would read it logically from the front and see a
628 different expression entirely ...
632 (on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
636 The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets.
637 Whilst we are here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the
638 same as 'and by_zone'.
640 As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible
641 than simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that
642 if you want to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one
643 or more lines of it or one line. For example ...
647 reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
649 would redefine our earlier example, or
657 To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
667 You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in
668 the various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
673 Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects.
674 This can be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be
675 followed, even if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set
676 specifically. Default rules can be set for nodes and users. They can
677 be set for spots, announces, WWV and WCY. They can also be used for
678 hops. An example might look like this ...
682 accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
683 set/hops node_default spot 50
687 This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV
688 and WCY. This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific
689 filter is written to override it for a particular node. You can also
690 set a user_default should you require. It is important to note that
691 default filters should be considered to be "connected". By this I
692 mean that should you override the default filter for spots, you need
693 to add a rule for the hops for spots also.
696 1.9. Advanced filtering
698 Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to
702 The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf
703 spots from EU can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
709 acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
711 Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This
712 will automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have
713 said reject all HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all
714 others at HF. Also accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by
715 operators in the zones 14, 15 and 16. Each filter slot actually has a
716 'reject' slot and an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE
720 It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match,
721 the default for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for
722 'accept'. In the example what happens is that the reject is executed
723 first, any non hf/cw spot is passed to the accept line, which lets
724 through everything else on HF. The next filter line lets through just
725 VHF/UHF spots from EU.
728 1.10. Basic hop control
730 In /spider/data you will find a file called hop_table.pl. This is the
731 file that controls your hop count settings. It has a set of default
732 hops on the various PC frames and also a set for each node you want to
733 alter the hops for. You may be happy with the default settings of
734 course, but this powerful tool can help to protect and improve the
735 network. The file will look something like this ...
740 # hop table construction
745 # default hopcount to use
748 # some variable hop counts based on message type
759 # the per node hop control thingy
791 Each set of hops is contained within a pair of curly braces and
792 contains a series of PC frame types. PC11 for example is a DX spot.
793 The figures here are not exhaustive but should give you a good idea of
797 SHould any of the nodecalls include an ssid, it is important to wrap
798 the whole call in single quotes, like this ...
813 If you do not do this, you will get errors and the file will not work
817 You can alter this file at any time, including whilst the cluster is
818 running. If you alter the file during runtime, the command load/hops
819 will bring your changes into effect.
822 1.11. Hop Control on Specific Nodes
824 You can set a callsign specific hop count for any of the standard
829 set/hops gb7djk spot 4
830 set/hops node_default route 10
831 set/hops gb7baa wcy 5
835 all work on their specific area of the protocol.
838 The set/hops command overrides any hops that you have set otherwise.
841 You can show what hops have been set using the show/hops command.
844 1.12. Isolating networks
846 It is possible to isolate networks from each other on a "gateway" node
847 using the set/isolate <node_call> command.
850 The effect of this is to partition an isolated network completely from
851 another node connected to your node. Your node will appear on and
852 otherwise behave normally on every network to which you are connected,
853 but data from an isolated network will not cross onto any other
854 network or vice versa. However all the spot, announce and WWV traffic
855 and personal messages will still be handled locally (because you are a
856 real node on all connected networks), that is locally connected users
857 will appear on all networks and will be able to access and receive
858 information from all networks transparently. All routed messages will
859 be sent as normal, so if a user on one network knows that you are a
860 gateway for another network, he can still still send a talk/announce
861 etc message via your node and it will be routed across.
864 If you use isolate on a node connection you will continue to receive
865 all information from the isolated partner, however you will not pass
866 any information back to the isolated node. There are times when you
867 would like to forward only spots across a link (maybe during a contest
868 for example). To do this, isolate the node in the normal way and use
869 an acc/spot >call< all filter to override the isolate.
876 In the /spider/msg directory you will find a file called
877 badmsg.pl.issue. Rename this to badmsg.pl and edit the file. The
878 original looks something like this ....
882 # the list of regexes for messages that we won't store having
883 # received them (bear in mind that we must receive them fully before
887 # The format of each line is as follows
889 # type source pattern
890 # P/B/F T/F/O/S regex
892 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
893 # source: T - to field, F - from field, O - origin, S - subject
894 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
896 # Currently only type B and P msgs are affected by this code.
898 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
899 # causes the action to be taken.
901 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
902 # for the action specified
913 I think this is fairly self explanatory. It is simply a list of
914 subject headers that we do not want to pass on to either the users of
915 the cluster or the other cluster nodes that we are linked to. This is
916 usually because of rules and regulations pertaining to items for sale
917 etc in a particular country.
921 2.2. Filtering words from text fields in Announce, Talk and DX spots
923 From version 1.48 onwards the interface to this has changed. You can
924 now use the commands set/badword to add words that you are not
925 prepared to see on the cluster, unset/badword to allow that word again
926 and show/badword to list the words that you have set.
929 If you have a previous /spider/data/badwords, the first time you start
930 the node, it will read and convert this file to the new commands. The
931 old style file will then be removed.
934 2.3. Stopping (possibly bad) DX Spots from Nodes or Spotters
937 There are a number of commands that control whether a spot progresses
938 any further by regarding it as "bad" in some way.
941 A DX Spot has a number of fields which can be checked to see whether
942 they contain "bad" values, they are: the DX callsign itself, the
943 Spotter and the Originating Node.
946 There are a set of commands which allow the sysop to control whether a
957 These work in the same as the set/badword command, you can add any
958 words or callsigns or whatever to the appropriate database. For
959 example, to stop a spot from a particular node you do:
963 set/badnode gb7djk gb7dxc
971 set/badspotter b0mb p1rat nocall
983 You can remove a word using the appropriate unset command
984 (unset/baddx, unset/badspotter, unset/badnode) or list them using one
985 of show/baddx, show/badspotter and show/badnode.
991 DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports
992 both personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands
993 to ensure that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send
994 mail almost immediately, assuming that the target is on line.
995 However, only one mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a
996 mail message is already being sent or recieved, then the new message
997 will be queued until it has finished.
999 The cluster mail is automatically deleted after 30 days unless the
1000 sysop sets the "keep" flag using the msg command.
1005 Personal mail is sent using the sp command. This is actually the
1006 default method of sending mail and so a simple s for send will do. A
1007 full list of the send commands and options is in the command set
1008 section, so I will not duplicate them here.
1013 Bulletin mail is sent by using the sb command. This is one of the
1014 most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a
1015 bulletin mail with s or sp instead of sb and of course the message
1016 never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop by using
1020 Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file.
1025 DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations
1026 needed in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated
1027 differently, there is no need for a list of accepted bulletin
1028 addresses. It is necessary, however, to tell the program which links
1029 accept which bulletins. For example, it is pointless sending
1030 bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK ones. The file
1031 that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg. At
1032 default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename
1033 it to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements. The
1039 # this is an example message forwarding file for the system
1041 # The format of each line is as follows
1043 # type to/from/at pattern action destinations
1044 # P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
1046 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
1047 # to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
1048 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
1049 # action: I - ignore, F - forward
1050 # destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
1052 # if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
1054 # Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
1056 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
1057 # causes the action to be taken.
1059 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
1060 # for the action specified
1062 # If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
1063 # pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
1064 # it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
1065 # you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
1066 # on first connection)
1076 Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you
1077 wish that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to
1078 "UK" will only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
1081 To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
1084 NB: If a user tries to send mail to a bulletin address that does not
1085 exist in this file, they will get an error.
1088 3.4. The msg command
1090 The msg command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the sysop.
1091 It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other changes
1092 to manage the cluster mail.
1094 Here is a full list of the various options ...
1098 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
1099 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
1100 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
1101 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
1102 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
1103 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
1104 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
1105 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
1106 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
1107 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waiting time for this message
1108 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
1109 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
1110 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
1111 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
1115 These commands are simply typed from within the cluster as the sysop
1121 You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the
1122 command stat/msg. This will give you additional information on the
1123 message number including which nodes have received it, which node it
1124 was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of
1129 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
1132 Msg Time: 26-Jan-2001 1302Z
1136 Subject: AMSAT 2line KEPS 01025.AMSAT
1138 Got it Nodes: GB7BAA, GB7ADX
1142 G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
1148 This is described in the section on Other filters so I will not
1152 3.7. Distribution lists
1154 Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
1155 mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
1156 sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called distro. You put
1157 any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
1158 SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
1161 qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
1162 GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
1163 GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
1167 Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this
1173 Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the
1174 sysop of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS
1175 and pushes any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from
1176 Spider to the BBS, the interface is one-way.
1179 Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary
1180 mail. Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by
1181 using the Forward.pl file very carefully.
1186 From 1.48 onwards it will become increasingly possible to control
1187 DXSpider's operation with scripts of various kinds.
1190 The directory /spider/scripts is where it all happens and is used for
1191 several things. Firstly it contains a file called startup that can be
1192 used to call in any changes to the cluster from the default settings
1193 on startup. This script is executed immediately after all
1194 initialisation of the node is done but before any connections are
1195 possible. Examples of this include how many spots it is possible to
1196 get with the sh/dx command, whether you want registration/passwords to
1197 be permanently on etc. An example file is shown below and is included
1198 in the distribution as startup.issue.
1203 # startup script example
1205 # set maximum no of spots allowed to 100
1206 # set/var $Spot::maxspots = 100
1208 # Set registration on
1209 # set/var $main::reqreg = 1
1212 # set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
1217 As usual, any text behind a # is treated as a comment and not read.
1218 To use this file, simply rename it from startup.issue to startup. In
1219 our example above there are three options. The first option is the
1220 amount of spots that a user can request with the sh/dx command.
1221 Normally the default is to give 10 spots unless the user specifies
1222 more. Without this line enabled, the maximum a user can request is
1223 100 spots. Depending on your link quality you may wish to enable more
1224 or less by specifying the number.
1227 The other 2 options are dealt with more fully in the security section.
1230 Secondly, it is used to store the login scripts for users and nodes.
1231 Currently this can only be done by the sysop but it is envisaged that
1232 eventually users will be able to set their own. An example is
1233 included in the distibution but here is a further example.
1250 The lines in between commands can simply insert a blank line or a
1251 character such as a + sign to make the output easier to read. Simply
1252 create this script with your favourite editor and save it with the
1253 callsign of the user as the filename. Filenames should always be in
1257 Commands can be inserted in the same way for nodes. A node may wish a
1258 series of commands to be issued on login, such as a merge command for
1262 Thirdly, there are 2 default scripts for users and nodes who do not
1263 have a specifically defined script. These are user_default and
1269 Spider allows the creation of local or remote databases. It supports
1270 chained databases, allowing several different databases to be scanned
1271 with one simple command. Importing of databases is limited at present
1272 to the standard AK1A databases such as OBLAST and the DB0SDX QSL
1273 database but will expand with time.
1276 5.1. Creating databases
1278 Creating a database could not be more simple. All the commands are
1279 sent from the cluster prompt as the sysop user.
1281 To create a database you use the command dbcreate. It can be used in
1282 3 different ways like so ..
1289 To simply create a database locally, you just tell the command the
1290 name of the database. This does not create the actual database, it
1291 simply defines it to say that it exists.
1295 dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>...]
1299 This creates a chained database entry. The first database will be
1300 scanned, then the second, the third etc...
1304 dbcreate <name> remote <name>
1308 This creates a remote entry. the first name field is the database
1309 name at the remote node, then the remote switch, then the actual
1310 node_call of the remote node, for example...
1314 dbcreate buckmaster remote gb7dxc
1318 Remote databases cannot be chained, however, the last database in a
1319 chain can be a remote database.
1322 5.2. Importing databases
1324 The only databases that Spider can currently import are the standard
1325 AK1A databases such as OBLAST or the DB0SDX qsl and address database.
1326 This will be added to with time.
1328 To import such a database, first put the file somewhere useful like
1329 /tmp and then issue the following command ...
1333 dbimport oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
1337 This will update the existing local oblast database or create it if it
1341 5.3. Checking available databases
1343 Once a database is created, you will want to check that it has been
1344 added. To do this use the dbavail command. This will output the
1345 available databases. For example ...
1350 DB Name Location Chain
1354 G0VGS de GB7MBC 3-Feb-2001 1925Z >
1358 5.4. Looking up databases
1360 To look for information in a defined database, simply use the dbshow
1361 command, for example ...
1365 dbshow buckmaster G0YLM
1369 will show the information for the callsign G0YLM from the buckmaster
1370 database if it exists. To make things more standard for the users you
1371 can add an entry in the Aliases file so that it looks like a standard
1372 show command like this ...
1376 Now you can simply use show/buckmaster or an abreviation.
1379 5.5. Removing databases
1381 To delete an existing database you use the dbremove command. For
1390 would remove the oblast database and its associated datafile from the
1391 system. There are no warnings or recovery possible from this command.
1392 If you remove a database it ceases to exist and would have to be
1393 created from scratch if you still required it.
1396 6. Information, files and useful programs
1400 One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
1401 information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a
1402 banner that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message
1403 of the day" or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in
1404 /spider/data called motd and edit it to say whatever you want. It is
1405 purely a text file and will be sent automatically to anyone logging in
1409 This message of the day file lives in the same directory as the
1410 standard motd file but is only sent to non-registered users. Once
1411 registered they will receive the same message as any other user.
1414 6.3. Downtime message
1416 If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or
1417 maintenance but the machine is still running, a message can be sent to
1418 the user advising them of the fact. This message lives in the
1419 /spider/data directory and is called "offline". Simply create the
1420 file and edit it to say whatever you wish. This file will be sent to
1421 a user attempting to log into the cluster when DXSpider is not
1425 6.4. Other text messages
1427 You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input
1428 the file name. This could be for news items or maybe information for
1429 new users. To set this up, make a directory under /spider called
1430 packclus. Under this directory you can create files called news or
1431 newuser for example. In fact you can create files with any names you
1432 like. These can be listed by the user with the command ....
1440 They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
1448 If the file they want to read is called news. You could also set an
1449 alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type news
1452 You can also store other information in this directory, either
1453 directly or nested under directories. One use for this would be to
1454 store DX bulletins such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed
1455 and read by the user. To keep things tidy, make a directory under
1456 /spider/packclus called bulletin. Now copy any OPDX or similar
1457 bulletins into it. These can be listed by the user in the same way as
1458 above using the show/files command with an extension for the bulletin
1459 directory you have just created, like this ....
1467 An example would look like this ....
1470 bulletin DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
1474 You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory)
1475 there is a file called news and a directory called bulletin. You can
1476 also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file news,
1477 you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to
1478 whether the file has been updated since you last read it. To read the
1479 file called news you would simply issue the command ....
1487 To look what is in the bulletin directory you issue the command ....
1492 opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1493 opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1494 opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1495 opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1496 opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1497 opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1498 opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1499 opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1500 opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1501 opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1502 opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1503 opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1504 opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
1505 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
1509 You can now read any file in this directory using the type command,
1514 type bulletin/opdx391
1515 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
1516 The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
1520 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
1521 Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
1522 Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
1523 Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
1524 Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
1525 & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
1526 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
1530 The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
1533 6.5. The Aliases file
1535 You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. This is the file
1536 that controls what a user gets when issuing a command. It is also
1537 possible to create your own aliases for databases and files you create
1541 You should not alter the original file in /spider/cmd/ but create a
1542 new file with the same name in /spider/local_cmd. This means that any
1543 new Aliases files that is downloaded will not overwrite your self
1544 created Aliases and also that you do not override any new Aliases with
1545 your copy in /spider/local_cmd/. You must remember that any files you
1546 store in /spider/local/ or /spider/local_cmd override the originals if
1547 the same lines are used in both files.
1550 The best way of dealing with all this then is to only put your own
1551 locally created Aliases in the copy in /spider/local_cmd. The example
1552 below is currently in use at GB7MBC.
1557 # Local Aliases File
1564 '^news$', 'type news', 'type',
1567 '^sh\w*/buck$', 'show/qrz', 'show',
1568 '^sh\w*/hftest$', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
1569 '^sh\w*/qsl$', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
1570 '^sh\w*/vhf$', 'dbshow vhf', 'dbshow',
1571 '^sh\w*/vhftest$', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
1577 Each alphabetical section should be preceded by the initial letter and
1578 the section should be wrapped in square brackets as you can see. The
1579 syntax is straightforward. The first section on each line is the new
1580 command that will be allowed once the alias is included. The second
1581 section is the command it is replacing and the last section is the
1582 actual command that is being used.
1585 The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that in the first
1586 section, the new alias command has a '^' at the start and a '$' at the
1587 end. Basically these force a perfect match on the alias. The '^'
1588 says match the beginning exactly and the with similar commands.
1591 I have 3 different types of alias in this file. At the top is an
1592 alias for 'news'. This is a file I have created in the
1593 /spider/packclus/ directory where I can inform users of new
1594 developments or points of interest. In it's initial form a user would
1595 have to use the command type news. The alias allows them to simply
1596 type news to get the info. Second is an alias for the show/qrz
1597 command so that those users used to the original show/buck command in
1598 AK1A will not get an error, and the rest of the lines are for locally
1599 created databases so that a user can type show/hftest instead of
1600 having to use the command dbshow hftest which is not as intuitive.
1603 This file is just an example and you should edit it to your own
1604 requirements. Once created, simply issue the command load/alias at
1605 the cluster prompt as the sysop user and the aliases should be
1612 In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for
1613 the sysop. This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities
1614 and colour for spots, announces etc. To use this program, simply use
1615 console.pl instead of client.
1618 To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and
1619 edit the file with your favourite editor.
1622 6.7. Updating kepler data
1624 Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order
1625 for this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly.
1626 In general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail.
1627 Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a
1628 file. You do this with the export command from the cluster prompt as
1629 the sysop. For example ...
1633 export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
1637 would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the
1638 /spider/perl directory.
1641 Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in
1642 the perl directory called convkeps.pl. All we need to do now is
1643 convert the file like so ...
1647 ./convkeps.pl keps.in
1651 Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
1659 That is it! the kepler data has been updated.
1662 6.8. The QRZ callbook
1664 The command sh/qrz will only work once you have followed a few simple
1665 steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com.
1666 Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the
1667 file /spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match
1668 your user ID and password. You also at this point need to set
1669 $allow=1 to complete the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the
1670 proprieter of qrz.com for allowing this access.
1673 6.9. Connecting logging programs
1675 There appear to be very few logging programs out there that support
1676 telnet especially the popular ones like LogEQF, Turbolog etc. This
1677 can make it difficult to connect to your own cluster! The way to do
1678 it is to make the logging program think it has a TNC attached to a com
1679 port on the logging PC and 'push' a linux login out to it. This is
1680 achieved very simply by the use of agetty.
1683 All that is required is to add a line in /etc/inittab to have the
1684 client ready for a connection on the com port of your choice.
1685 Remember that in Linux, the com ports start at ttyS0 for com1, ttyS1
1690 c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L 9600 ttyS1
1694 Add this after the standard runlevel lines in /etc/inittab. The above
1695 line works on ttyS1 (com2). Now as root, issue the command telinit q
1696 and it should be ready for connection. All that is required is a 3
1697 wire serial lead (tx, rx and signal ground). Tell you logging program
1698 to use 8n1 at 9600 baud and you should see a Linux login prompt.
1699 Login as normal and then telnet from there to the cluster.
1704 In the spider tree will be a directory spider-web. This is a neat
1705 little java web applet that can be run from a website. The applet
1706 must run on the same machine as the cluster. The included README file
1710 I should comment here that the applet is precompiled, that is, ready
1711 to go. It was compiled using JDK1.3.1. If your version is earlier
1712 than this then it may not work. Should that be the case you need to
1713 recompile or update your JDK. To recompile do the following ...
1717 cd /spider/spider-web
1719 /usr/bin/javac spiderclient.java
1723 I have used /usr/bin/javac as an example, your path to javac may be
1729 Completely based on a clx web client written in Java by dl6dbh
1730 (ftp://clx.muc.de/pub/clx/clx-java_10130001.tgz)
1732 The webserver has to run on the same machine as your DxSpider software!
1734 It is assumed that you have Java installed. You need JDK1.3.1 at least.
1736 Installation instructions (Performed as root):
1738 Put all the files in the spider-web directory into a newly created directory
1739 under the DocumentRoot of your websever for instance 'client'. In my case
1740 this is: /home/httpd/html/client/ although ymmv. For Suse the correct
1741 path should be /usr/local/httpd/htdocs/client/ for example.
1743 Move spider.cgi to the cgi-bin directory of your webserver, in my case that is
1744 /home/httpd/cgi-bin/ although ymmv. For Suse the correct path should be
1745 /usr/local/httpd/cgi-bin/ for example.
1747 Change the permissions of the files to ensure they are correct, obviously you
1748 will need to use the correct path the the files according to your system:
1750 chmod 755 /home/httpd/html/cgi-bin/spider.cgi
1751 chmod -R 755 /home/httpd/html/client/
1753 By default the spider.cgi script should pick up your hostname (As long as this
1754 is set correctly). If it does not or your hostname differs from the name that
1755 you attach to the public address that you are using, then edit spider.cgi :
1757 # Uncomment and set the hostname manually here if the above fails.
1758 # $HOSTNAME = "gb7mbc.spoo.org" ;
1762 telnet (see Listeners.pm)
1764 NOTE: If you can start the console but cannot connect to the cluster from it,
1765 then it is possible that the machine you are on cannot resolve the hostname of
1766 your cluster machine. If this is the case, you need to set your hostname
1769 You also need to set the $NODECALL variable. This prints the name of your
1770 choosing (probably your cluster callsign) on the html page.
1772 You now can connect to Spider-Web via http://yourserver/cgi-bin/spider.cgi
1776 8. Web based statistics
1778 From version 1.50, you can use the freeware software MRTG to produce
1779 really nice graphical statistics on your web site. For an example try
1780 http://www.gb7mbc.net/mrtg/stats.html.
1783 The following should help you get it all working.
1786 First you need to download the latest version of MRTG from
1787 http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~oetiker/webtools/mrtg/. You will also need
1788 the following files..
1792 libpng-1.0.14.tar.gz
1798 Login to your machine as the root user, put all the downloaded files
1799 in /usr/local/src/ (or wherever you prefer) and untar and compile
1800 them. All the information to compile and install these sources come
1801 with them. After compilation and installation, you will find MRTG in
1805 Now copy all the files in /usr/local/src/mrtg-2.9.22/images/ to
1809 You now need to make 2 symbolic links like below...
1813 ln -s /usr/local/mrtg-2/bin/mrtg /usr/bin/mrtg
1814 ln -s /usr/local/mrtg-2/lib/mrtg2 /usr/lib/mrtg2
1818 Now login to the cluster with your sysop callsign and run the command
1822 Now you are nearly there! Login as the sysop user and change to the
1823 /spider/html/mrtg/ directory. Now run the command indexmaker as shown
1828 indexmaker --output stats.html --columns=1 --title "MRTG statistics for GB7DJK" ../../mrtg/mrtg.cfg
1832 Changing the callsign for your own cluster callsign of course!
1835 And finally you need to login as the root user and create one last
1836 symbolic link. Where this points will depend on where your html
1837 documents are kept. For RedHat systems you use...
1841 ln -s /home/sysop/spider/html/mrtg /home/httpd/html/mrtg
1845 and for SuSE systems...
1849 ln -s /home/sysop/spider/html/mrtg /usr/local/httpd/htdocs/mrtg
1853 If you now point your browser to your website as below it should all
1858 http://www.xxx.xxx/mrtg/stats.html
1862 Of course, to get the stats to update, you need to add some
1863 information in the spider crontab file as below...
1867 # Update stats for mrtg on website
1868 00,05,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * run_cmd('mrtg all')
1872 This will update the site every 5 minutes.
1877 From version 1.49 DXSpider has some additional security features.
1878 These are not by any means meant to be exhaustive, however they do
1879 afford some security against piracy. These two new features can be
1880 used independently of each other or in concert to tighten the
1886 The basic principle of registration is simple. If a user is not
1887 registered by the sysop, then they have read-only access to the
1888 cluster. The only thing they can actually send is a talk or a message
1889 to the sysop. In order for them to be able to spot, send announces or
1890 talks etc the sysop must register them with the set/register command,
1899 The user g0vgs can now fully use the cluster. In order to enable
1900 registration, you can issue the command ...
1902 set/var $main::reqreg = 1
1906 Any users that are not registered will now see the motd_nor file
1907 rather than the motd file as discussed in the Information, files and
1908 useful programs section.
1911 Entering this line at the prompt will only last for the time the
1912 cluster is running of course and would not be present on a restart.
1913 To make the change permanent, add the above line to
1914 /spider/scripts/startup. To read more on the startup file, see the
1915 section on Information, files and useful programs.
1918 To unregister a user use unset/register and to show the list of
1919 registered users, use the command show/register.
1924 At the moment, passwords only affect users who login to a DXSpider
1925 cluster node via telnet. If a user requires a password, they can
1926 either set it themselves or have the sysop enter it for them by using
1927 the set/password command. Any users who already have passwords, such
1928 as remote sysops, will be asked for their passwords automatically by
1929 the cluster. Using passwords in this way means that the user has a
1930 choice on whether to have a password or not. To force the use of
1931 passwords at login, issue the command ...
1935 set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
1939 at the cluster prompt. This can also be added to the
1940 /spider/scripts/startup file as above to make the change permanent.
1943 Of course, if you do this you will have to assign a password for each
1944 of your users. If you were asking them to register, it is anticipated
1945 that you would ask them to send you a message both to ask to be
1946 registered and to give you the password they wish to use.
1949 Should a user forget their password, it can be reset by the sysop by
1950 first removing the existing password and then setting a new one like
1955 unset/password g0vgs
1956 set/password g0vgs new_password
1964 10.1. CVS from a Linux platform
1966 CVS stands for "Concurrent Versions System" and the CVS for DXSpider
1967 is held at Sourceforge. This means that it is possible to update your
1968 DXSpider installation to the latest sources by using a few simple
1969 commands. A graphical interface to CVS for Windows is explained in
1973 Please be aware that if you update your system using CVS, it is
1974 possible that you could be running code that is very beta and not
1975 fully tested. There is a possibility that it could be unstable.
1978 I am of course assuming that you have a machine with both DXSpider and
1979 Internet access running.
1982 BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER STARTING WITH THIS MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR
1983 ENTIRE SPIDER TREE!!
1986 Assuming you are connected to the Internet, you need to login to the
1987 CVS repository and then update your Spider source. There are several
1988 steps which are listed below ...
1991 First login as the user sysop. Next you need to connect to the CVS
1992 repository. You do this with the command below ...
1995 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider login
1999 You will get a password prompt. Simply hit return here and your
2000 machine should return to a normal linux prompt.
2003 What happens next depends on whether you have an existing installation
2004 that you want to update with the latest and greatest or whether you
2005 just want to see what is there and/or run it on a new machine for
2008 If you are installing Spider from CVS then change directory to
2011 If you are wanting to update Spider then cd to /tmp
2014 The next step will create a brand new 'spider' directory in your
2018 cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider co spider
2022 This command is all on one line.
2025 Hopefully your screen should show you downloading files. The -z3
2026 simply compresses the download to improve speed. When this has
2027 finished, you will have exactly the same as if you had untarred a full
2028 tarball PLUS some extra directories and files that CVS needs to do the
2030 Now if you are doing a new installation, that's it. Carry on as if
2031 you have just downloaded and untarred the lastest tarball.
2034 If you want to upgrade your current installation then do this ...
2038 tar cvfz /tmp/s.tgz spider
2040 tar xvfzp /tmp/s.tgz
2044 This is assuming you downloaded to the /tmp directory of course.
2047 NOTE: the 'p' on the end of the 'xvfz' is IMPORTANT! It keeps the
2048 permissions correct. YOU WERE LOGGED IN AS THE USER SYSOP WEREN'T
2051 Remember to recompile the C client (cd /spider/src; make)
2054 At this point the files have been upgraded. You can (usually) restart
2055 the cluster in your own time. However, if you attempt to use any new
2056 commands or features expect it to be fatal! At least your cluster
2057 will have been restarted then so it will be too late to worry about
2061 Now the magic part! From now on when you want to update, simply
2062 connect to the Internet and then, as the user sysop ...
2071 and your files will be updated. As above, remember to recompile the
2072 "C" client if it has been updated (CVS will tell you) and restart if
2073 any of the perl scripts have been altered or added, again, CVS will
2077 You will find any changes documented in the /spider/Changes file.
2080 10.2. CVS from a Windows platform
2082 After the initial setup, an update to your DXSpider software is no
2083 more than a couple of clicks away. This section is intended to
2084 explain and illustrate the use of the WinCVS application to update
2085 your DXSpider software. The current stable version of WinCVS is Ver.
2086 1.2. You can get this software at:
2088 http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/cvsgui/WinCvs120.zip
2090 Pick your download mirror and then install WinCVS after the download
2094 In this next section I have included a series of links to .jpg files
2095 to take advantage of the picture and 1000 words equivalency. The .jpg
2096 files are in the C:\spider\html directory. If someone using a Linux
2097 system is reading this section from boredom, the files are in
2098 /home/sysop/spider/html. One aside, a Linux user can also get a copy
2099 of gcvs and do your updates graphically as opposed to from the command
2100 line. The following descriptions are almost identical between WinCvs
2101 and gcvs. The following screen shots have duplicate links, depending
2102 upon whether you are viewing this information under the Windows or
2103 Linux operating system.
2105 When WinCVS is installed, running, and you are connected to the
2106 internet, the initial screen looks like:
2110 If you want, you can also look at these .jpg files with another viewer
2111 that might provide some better clarity to the image. On the left is
2112 the directory tree for your hard disk. Notice that the spider
2113 directory has a gray highlight.
2115 To start configuring WinCVS, click on Admin at the top of the screen
2116 and then Preferences. This should get you:
2120 In the top line for CVSROOT, enter:
2123 anonymous@cvs.DXSpider.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/dxspider login
2130 "passwd" file on the cvs server
2134 for Authentication on the General tab.
2136 Next, move to the right to the Ports tab.
2140 In here, check the box on the second line down for the "pserver" port.
2141 Enter a port number of 2401.
2143 Finally, go to the WinCvs tab all the way to the right.
2147 Enter Notepad as the viewer to open files. For the HOME folder, put
2148 "C:\spider" and click OK because the configuration is now complete.
2150 You are now ready to upgrade your copy of DXSpider. Click on the
2151 greyed Spider folder shown in the directory tree on the left of the
2152 WinCVS display. Two things should happen. The Spider folder will be
2153 selected and the greyed-out arrow located just below the word Query in
2154 the top line will turn to solid green.
2156 For anyone using gcvs under Linux, the green arrow is located on the
2157 extreme left of the display, under the word File. A gcvs screen looks
2162 Click on the now green arrow to start the download process. An Update
2163 Settings box will be displayed to which you can simply say OK.
2167 For future reference, the Update Settings box is the place where you
2168 can enter information to revert to a prior version of DXSpider.
2169 Information on reverting to a Before Date is contained in the WinCVS
2172 After a short period of time, a series of file names will scroll by in
2173 the lower pane of the WinCVS window. Eventually you should see
2176 *****CVS exited normally with code 0*****
2180 appear in the lower pane. You're done. The updated files are in
2181 place ready for you to stop and then restart your DXSpider. After the
2182 restart, you're running with the latest version of DXSpider.
2186 To paraphrase from the CVS section... Now the magic part! From now on
2187 when you want to update, simply connect to the Internet and start
2191 Click on the greyed-out Spider directory in the left screen
2192 Click on the green down arrow
2193 Click OK on the Update Settings dialog box
2194 Restart your Spider software
2198 11. The DXSpider command set
2200 Below is a complete list of commands available from the cluster
2201 prompt. Most maintenance tasks are automatic but there are some
2202 commands that are useful for a sysop. These are listed below in
2203 alphabetical order. The number in brackets following the command name
2204 is the permissions level needed to use the command
2207 11.1. accept/announce (0)
2209 accept/announce [0-9] <pattern> Set an accept filter line for announce
2212 Create an 'accept this announce' line for a filter.
2214 An accept filter line means that if the announce matches this filter
2215 it is passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please
2216 read this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief
2219 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2221 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2222 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2224 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2225 origin_itu <numbers>
2226 origin_zone <numbers>
2231 wx 1 filter WX announces
2232 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
2241 acc/ann 2 by_zone 14,15,16
2242 (this could be all on one line: acc/ann dest 6MUK or by_zone 14,15,16)
2254 This filter would only allow announces that were posted buy UK
2255 stations. You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
2263 but this probably for advanced users...
2266 11.2. accept/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
2268 accept/announce <call> [input] [0-9]<pattern> Announce filter sysop
2272 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2273 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2278 accept/ann input node_default by G,M,2
2279 accept/ann user_default by G,M,2
2283 11.3. accept/route (8)
2285 accept/route <call> [0-9] <pattern> Set an 'accept' filter line for
2289 Create an 'accept this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
2292 An accept filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches
2293 this filter it is passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING for
2294 more info. Please read this to understand how filters work - it will
2295 save a lot of grief later on.
2298 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2302 call <prefixes> the callsign of the thingy
2303 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2306 origin <prefixes> really the interface it came in on
2307 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2308 origin_itu <numbers>
2309 origin_zone <numbers>
2317 acc/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (send only UK+EIRE nodes)
2318 acc/route gb7djk call gb7djk (equiv to SET/ISOLATE)
2322 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything eg:
2330 11.4. accept/spots (0)
2332 accept/spots [0-9] <pattern> Set an accept filter line for spots
2335 Create an 'accept this spot' line for a filter.
2338 An accept filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
2339 passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read this
2340 to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief later on.
2343 Please read the following section carefully. Though it looks similar,
2344 reformatting, corrections, and hopefully clarifications have been
2347 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
2351 Filters for the station being spotted:
2352 call <letters of the prefix, but NOT country inclusive>
2353 call G --> G1AAA, GJ2BBB, GU3CCC, etc will be spotted
2354 call K --> K1XX, K1XXX will be spotted
2355 W1XX, W1XXX will NOT be spotted
2356 call PA --> PA3EZL will be spotted
2357 PB2FG will NOT be spotted
2359 call_dxcc <numbers or prefixes>
2360 call_dxcc G --> G1AAA will be spotted
2361 GU1AAA will NOT be spotted (different country)
2362 call_dxcc K --> K1XX, W1XX will be spotted (same country)
2363 call_dxcc 139 --> PA3EZL and PB2FG will be spotted
2368 Filters for the callsign of the station doing the spotting:
2369 by <letters of the prefix, but NOT country inclusive>
2370 by G --> spots from G1AAA, GJ2BBB, GU3CCC, etc will be spotted
2371 by K --> spots from K1XX, K1XXX will be spotted
2372 spots from W1XX, W1XXX will NOT be spotted
2374 by_dxcc <numbers or prefixes>
2375 by_dxcc G --> spots from G1AAA will be spotted
2376 spots from GU1AAA will NOT be spotted (different
2378 by_dxcc K --> spots from K1XX, W1XX will be spotted (same country)
2379 by_dxcc 139 --> spots from PA3EZL or PB2FG will be spotted
2384 Filters for the callsign of the "node" doing the spotting:
2385 origin <letters of the prefix, but NOT country inclusive>
2386 origin K --> spots from a node starting with K will be spotted
2387 spots from a node starting with KK will NOT be spotted
2388 spots from a node starting with W will NOT be spotted
2390 Filters for the callsign of the connected node or user (channel) doing the spotting:
2392 channel W1HR --> spots from the connected node W1HR will be spotted
2393 channel K1QX --> spots from the connected user K1QX will be spotted
2395 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
2396 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
2397 on <range> same as 'freq'
2401 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
2402 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
2403 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
2404 this is more efficient than saying simply: freq HF (but don't get too
2412 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2416 You can use the tag 'all' to accept everything, eg:
2424 but this probably for advanced users...
2427 11.5. accept/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
2429 accept/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> Spot filter sysop version
2432 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2433 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2437 accept/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
2438 accept/spot node_default all
2439 set/hops node_default 10
2441 accept/spot user_default by G,M,2
2445 11.6. accept/wcy (0)
2447 accept/wcy [0-9] <pattern> set an accept WCY filter
2450 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
2451 can filter on the following fields:-
2455 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2457 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2458 origin_itu <numbers>
2459 origin_zone <numbers>
2467 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place
2468 and you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want
2471 This command is really provided for future use.
2473 See HELP FILTER for information.
2476 11.7. accept/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
2478 accept/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WCY filter sysop version
2481 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2482 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2486 accept/wcy node_default all
2487 set/hops node_default 10
2491 11.8. accept/wwv (0)
2493 accept/wwv [0-9] <pattern> Set an accept WWV filter
2496 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
2497 can filter on the following fields:-
2501 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
2503 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
2504 origin_itu <numbers>
2505 origin_zone <numbers>
2517 accept/wwv by_zone 4
2521 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV
2522 broadcasts by stations in the US).
2524 See HELP FILTER for information.
2528 11.9. accept/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
2530 accept/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WWV filter sysop version
2533 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
2534 the default for nodes and users eg:-
2538 accept/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
2539 accept/wwv node_default all
2540 set/hops node_default 10
2542 accept/wwv user_default by W,K
2548 announce <text> Send an announcement to local users
2551 Send an announcement to LOCAL users only, where <text> is the text of
2552 the announcement you wish to broadcast. If you do not wish to receive
2553 announces, use the set/noannounce command. Any announces made by a
2554 sysop will override set/noannounce.
2557 11.11. announce full (0)
2559 announce full <text> Send an announcement cluster wide
2562 This command will send your announcement across the whole cluster
2567 11.12. announce sysop (5)
2569 announce sysop <text>
2572 Send an announcement to Sysops only
2577 apropos <string> Search the help database
2580 Search the help database for <string> (it isn't case sensitive), and
2581 print the names of all the commands that may be relevant.
2586 bye Exit from the cluster
2589 This will disconnect you from the cluster
2594 catchup <node_call> All|[<msgno> ...] Mark a message as sent
2597 When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another
2598 node is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new
2599 partner node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl
2600 file, all outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them.
2601 This may well be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by
2602 using these commmands:-
2607 catchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
2611 and to undo what you have just done:-
2615 uncatchup GB7DJK all
2616 uncatchup GB7DJK 300 301 302 303 500-510
2620 which will arrange for them to be forward candidates again.
2622 Order is not important.
2625 11.16. clear/announce (8)
2627 clear/announce <callsign> [input] [0-9|all] Clear an announce filter
2631 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2632 node_default or user_default.
2635 11.17. clear/route (8)
2637 clear/route <callsign> [input] [0-9|all] Clear a route filter line
2640 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a route filter or
2641 to remove the whole filter.
2643 see CLEAR/SPOTS for a more detailed explanation.
2645 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2646 node_default or user_default.
2649 11.18. clear/spots (0)
2651 clear/spots [1|all] Clear a spot filter line
2654 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a spot filter or
2655 to remove the whole filter.
2656 If you have a filter:-
2661 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2673 you will be left with:-
2677 acc/spot 2 on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
2689 the filter will be completely removed.
2692 11.19. clear/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
2694 clear/spots <callsign> [input] [0-9|all] Clear a spot filter line
2697 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2698 node_default or user_default.
2701 11.20. clear/wcy (0)
2703 clear/wcy [1|all] Clear a WCY filter line
2706 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a WCY filter or to
2707 remove the whole filter.
2709 see CLEAR/SPOTS for a more detailed explanation.
2712 11.21. clear/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
2714 clear/wcy <callsign> [input] [0-9|all] Clear a WCY filter line
2718 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2719 node_default or user_default.
2722 11.22. clear/wwv (0)
2724 clear/wwv [1|all] Clear a WWV filter line
2727 This command allows you to clear (remove) a line in a WWV filter or to
2728 remove the whole filter.
2730 see CLEAR/SPOTS for a more detailed explanation.
2733 11.23. clear/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
2735 clear/wwv <callsign> [input] [0-9|all] Clear a WWV filter line
2738 A sysop can clear an input or normal output filter for a user or the
2739 node_default or user_default.
2744 connect <callsign> Start a connection to another DX Cluster
2747 Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to
2748 the DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process
2749 which will use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the
2750 'chat' exchange necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the
2756 dbavail Show a list of all the databases in the system
2759 The title says it all really, this command lists all the databases
2760 defined in the system. It is also aliased to SHOW/COMMAND.
2765 dbcreate <name> Create a database entry
2766 dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>..] Create a chained database
2768 dbcreate <name> remote <node> Create a remote database entry
2771 DBCREATE allows you to define a database in the system. It doesn't
2772 actually create anything, just defines it.
2774 The databases that are created are simple DB_File hash databases, they
2775 are therefore already 'indexed'.
2777 You can define a local database with the first form of the command eg:
2781 You can also chain databases with the addition of the 'chain' keyword.
2782 This will search each database one after the other. A typical example
2784 DBCREATE sdx_qsl chain sql_ad
2786 No checking is done to see if the any of the chained databases exist,
2787 in fact it is usually better to do the above statement first then do
2788 each of the chained databases.
2790 Databases can exist offsite. To define a database that lives on
2793 DBCREATE buckmaster remote gb7dxc
2795 Remote databases cannot be chained; however, the last database in a a
2796 chain can be a remote database eg:
2798 DBCREATE qsl chain gb7dxc
2800 To see what databases have been defined do:
2802 DBAVAIL (or it will have been aliased to SHOW/COMMAND)
2804 It would be normal for you to add an entry into your local Aliases
2805 file to allow people to use the 'SHOW/<dbname>' style syntax. So you
2806 would need to add a line like:-
2813 '^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
2824 to work as they may be used to.
2826 See DBIMPORT for the importing of existing AK1A format data to
2827 databases. See DBSHOW for generic database enquiry
2832 dbimport <dbname> Import AK1A data into a database
2835 If you want to import or update data in bulk to a database you can use
2836 this command. It will either create or update entries into an existing
2837 database. For example:-
2839 DBIMPORT oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
2841 will import the standard OBLAST database that comes with AK1A into the
2842 oblast database held locally.
2847 dbremove <dbname> Delete a database
2849 DBREMOVE will completely remove a database entry and also delete any
2850 data file that is associated with it.
2852 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
2858 will remove the oblast database from the system and it will also
2859 remove the associated datafile.
2863 There is no warning, no comeback, no safety net.
2865 You have been warned.
2870 dbshow <dbname> <key> Display an entry, if it exists, in a database
2873 This is the generic user interface to the database to the database
2874 system. It is expected that the sysop will add an entry to the local
2875 Aliases file so that users can use the more familiar AK1A style of
2884 but if he hasn't and the database really does exist (use DBAVAIL or
2885 SHOW/COMMAND to find out) you can do the same thing with:
2895 debug Set the cluster program into debug mode
2898 Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the
2899 cluster in debug mode i.e.
2907 It will interrupt the cluster just after the debug command has
2910 11.31. delete/user (9)
2912 delete/user <callsign> Delete a user from the User Database
2915 This command will completely remove a one or more users from the
2918 There is NO SECOND CHANCE.
2920 It goes without saying that you should use this command CAREFULLY!
2923 11.32. demonstrate (9)
2925 demonstrate <call> <command> Demonstrate a command to another user
2928 This command is provided so that sysops can demonstrate commands to
2929 other users. It runs a command as though that user had typed it in and
2930 then sends the output to that user, together with the command that
2935 DEMO g7brn sh/dx iota oc209
2940 Note that this command is similar to SPOOF and will have the same side
2941 effects. Commands are run at the privilege of the user which is being
2945 11.33. directory (0)
2947 directory List messages
2948 directory own List your own messages
2949 directory new List all new messages
2950 directory to <call> List all messages to <call>
2951 directory from <call> List all messages from <call>
2952 directory subject <string> List all messages with <string> in subject
2953 directory <nn> List last <nn> messages
2954 directory <from>-<to> List messages <from> message <to> message
2957 List the messages in the messages directory.
2959 If there is a 'p' one space after the message number then it is a
2960 personal message. If there is a '-' between the message number and the
2962 You can use shell escape characters such as '*' and '?' in the <call>
2965 You can combine some of the various directory commands together eg:-
2971 DIR SUBJECT IOTA 200-250
2975 You can abbreviate all the commands to one letter and use ak1a
2985 11.34. directory (extended for sysops) (5)
2987 Works just like the user command except that sysops can see ALL
2991 11.35. disconnect (8)
2993 disconnect <call> [<call> ...] Disconnect a user or node
2996 Disconnect any <call> connected locally
3001 dx [by <call>] <freq> <call> <remarks> Send a DX spot
3004 This is how you send a DX Spot to other users. You can, in fact, now
3005 enter the <freq> and the <call> either way round.
3015 will all give the same result. You can add some remarks to the end of
3016 the command and they will be added to the spot.
3020 DX FR0G 144600 this is a test
3024 You can credit someone else by saying:-
3028 DX by G1TLH FR0G 144.600 he isn't on the cluster
3032 The <freq> is compared against the available bands set up in the
3033 cluster. See SHOW/BANDS for more information.
3037 export <msgno> <filename> Export a message to a file
3040 Export a message to a file. This command can only be executed on a
3041 local console with a fully privileged user. The file produced will be
3042 in a form ready to be imported back into the cluster by placing it in
3043 the import directory (/spider/msg/import).
3045 This command cannot overwrite an existing file. This is to provide
3046 some measure of security. Any files written will owned by the same
3047 user as the main cluster, otherwise you can put the new files anywhere
3048 the cluster can access. For example:-
3053 11.38. export_users (9)
3055 export_users [<filename>] Export the users database to ascii
3058 Export the users database to a file in ascii format. If no filename is
3059 given then it will export the file to /spider/data/user_asc.
3061 If the file already exists it will be renamed to <filename>.o. In fact
3062 up to 5 generations of the file can be kept each one with an extra 'o'
3065 BE WARNED: this will write to any file you have write access to. No
3066 check is made on the filename (if any) that you specify.
3069 11.39. filtering (0)
3071 filtering Filtering things in DXSpider
3074 There are a number of things you can filter in the DXSpider system.
3075 They all use the same general mechanism.
3077 In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which
3078 can have up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example:-
3080 accept/spots ..... reject/spots .....
3082 where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There
3083 are filters for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects.
3084 See each different accept or reject command reference for more
3087 There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter and
3088 one to show you what you have set. They are:-
3090 clear/spots 1 clear/spots all
3096 There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
3098 For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply
3099 the principles to all types of filter.
3101 There are two main types of filter 'accept' or 'reject'; which you use
3102 depends entirely on how you look at the world and what is least
3103 writing to achieve what you want. Each filter has 10 lines (of any
3104 length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the action
3105 you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
3108 The important thing to remember is that if you specify a 'reject'
3109 filter (all the lines in it say 'reject/spots' (for instance) then if
3110 a spot comes in that doesn't match any of the lines then you will get
3111 it BUT if you specify an 'accept' filter then any spots that don't
3112 match are dumped. For example if I have a one line accept filter:-
3114 accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3116 then automatically you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones 14
3117 15 and 16. If you set a reject filter like:
3119 reject/spots on hf/cw
3121 Then you will get everything EXCEPT HF CW spots, If you am interested
3122 in IOTA and will work it even on CW then you could say:-
3124 reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
3126 But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
3128 accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
3130 which is exactly the same. You should choose one or the other until
3131 you are confortable with the way it works. Yes, you can mix them
3132 (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
3133 don't try this at home until you can analyse the results that you get
3134 without ringing up the sysop for help.
3136 You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your
3137 own understanding or simply convenience. I have one set frequently:-
3139 reject/spots 1 on hf/cw reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone
3140 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3142 What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots (being a class B I can't
3143 read any CW and couldn't possibly be interested in HF :-) and also
3144 rejects any spots on VHF which don't either originate or spot someone
3147 This is an exmaple where you would use the line number (1 and 2 in
3148 this case), if you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits
3150 You can leave the word 'and' out if you want, it is implied. You can
3151 use any number of brackets to make the 'expression' as you want it.
3152 There are things called precedence rules working here which mean that
3153 you will NEED brackets in a situation like line 2 because, without it,
3156 (on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
3158 annoying, but that is the way it is. If you use OR - use brackets.
3159 Whilst we are here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just 'and
3162 If you want to alter your filter you can just redefine one or more
3163 lines of it or clear out one line. For example:-
3165 reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
3171 To remove the filter in its entirty:-
3175 There are similar CLEAR commands for the other filters:-
3177 clear/announce clear/wcy clear/wwv
3181 Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to
3184 my example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
3185 can be written with a mixed filter, eg:
3187 rej/spot on hf/cw acc/spot on 0/30000 acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and
3188 (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3190 each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and an 'accept' slot.
3191 The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot.
3193 It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match,
3194 the default for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for
3195 first, any non hf/cw spot is passed to the accept line, which lets
3196 thru everything else on HF.
3198 The next filter line lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
3201 11.40. forward/latlong (8)
3203 forward/latlong <node_call> Send latitude and longitude information to
3207 This command sends all the latitude and longitude information that
3208 your cluster is holding against callsigns. One advantage of recieving
3209 this information is that more locator information is held by you.
3210 This means that more locators are given on the DX line assuming you
3211 have set/dxgrid enabled. This could be a LOT of information though,
3212 so it is not recommended on slow links.
3215 11.41. forward/opername (1)
3217 forward/opername <call> Send out information on this <call> to all
3221 This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
3222 be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH,
3223 Location and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is
3229 help <cmd> Get help on a command
3233 All commands can be abbreviated, so SHOW/DX can be abbreviated to
3234 SH/DX, ANNOUNCE can be shortened to AN and so on.
3236 Look at the APROPOS <string> command which will search the help
3237 database for the <string> you specify and give you a list of likely
3238 commands to look at with HELP.
3243 init <node call> Re-initialise a link to an AK1A compatible node
3246 This command attempts to re-initialise a link to a (usually) AK1A node
3247 that has got confused, usually by a protocol loop of some kind. It may
3248 work - but you usually will be better off simply disconnecting it (or
3249 better, if it is a real AK1A node, doing an RCMD <node> DISC/F <your
3252 Best of luck - you will need it.
3257 kill <msgno> [<msgno> ..] Delete a message from the local system
3260 Delete a message from the local system. You will only be able to
3261 delete messages that you have originated or been sent (unless you are
3267 kill <msgno> [<msgno> ...] Remove or erase a message from the system
3268 kill from <call> Remove all messages from a callsign
3269 kill to <call> Remove all messages to a callsign
3272 You can get rid of any message to or originating from your callsign
3273 using this command. You can remove more than one message at a time.
3275 As a sysop you can kill any message on the system.
3278 11.46. kill full (5)
3280 kill full <msgno> [<msgno>] Delete a message from the whole cluster
3283 Delete a message (usually a 'bulletin') from the whole cluster system.
3285 This uses the subject field, so any messages that have exactly the
3286 same subject will be deleted. Beware!
3289 11.47. kill/expunge (6)
3291 kill/expunge <msgno> [<msgno>..]Expunge a message
3294 Deleting a message using the normal KILL commands only marks that
3295 message for deletion. The actual deletion only happens later (usually
3299 The KILL EXPUNGE command causes the message to be truly deleted more
3300 or less immediately.
3302 It otherwise is used in the same way as the KILL command.
3308 links Show which nodes are physically connected
3311 This is a quick listing that shows which links are connected and some
3312 information about them. See WHO for a list of all connections.
3316 11.49. load/aliases (9)
3318 load/aliases Reload the command alias table
3321 Reload the /spider/cmd/Aliases file after you have editted it. You
3322 will need to do this if you change this file whilst the cluster is
3323 running in order for the changes to take effect.
3326 11.50. load/badmsg (9)
3328 load/badmsg Reload the bad message table
3331 Reload the /spider/msg/badmsg.pl file if you have changed it manually
3332 whilst the cluster is running. This table contains a number of perl
3333 regular expressions which are searched for in the fields targetted of
3334 each message. If any of them match then that message is immediately
3338 11.51. load/badwords (9)
3340 load/badwords Reload the bad words table
3343 Reload the /spider/data/badwords file if you have changed it manually
3344 whilst the cluster is running. This file contains a list of words
3345 which, if found on certain text portions of PC protocol, will cause
3346 those protocol frames to be rejected. It will all put out a message if
3347 any of these words are used on the announce, dx and talk commands. The
3348 words can be one or more on a line, lines starting with '#' are
3352 11.52. load/bands (9)
3354 load/bands Reload the band limits table
3357 Reload the /spider/data/bands.pl file if you have changed it manually
3358 whilst the cluster is running.
3361 11.53. load/cmd_cache (9)
3363 load/cmd_cache Reload the automatic command cache
3365 Normally, if you change a command file in the cmd or local_cmd tree it
3366 will automatially be picked up by the cluster program. Sometimes it
3367 can get confused if you are doing a lot of moving commands about or
3368 delete a command in the local_cmd tree and want to use the normal one
3369 again. Execute this command to reset everything back to the state it
3370 was just after a cluster restart.
3373 11.54. load/forward (9)
3375 load/forward Reload the msg forwarding routing table
3377 Reload the /spider/msg/forward.pl file if you have changed it manually
3378 whilst the cluster is running.
3381 11.55. load/messages (9)
3383 load/messages Reload the system messages file
3386 If you change the /spider/perl/Messages file (usually whilst
3387 fiddling/writing ne commands) you can have them take effect during a
3388 cluster session by executing this command. You need to do this if get
3391 unknown message 'xxxx' in lang 'en'
3394 11.56. load/prefixes (9)
3396 load/prefixes Reload the prefix table
3399 Reload the /spider/data/prefix_data.pl file if you have changed it
3400 manually whilst the cluster is running.
3405 merge <node> [<no spots>/<no wwv>] Ask for the latest spots and WWV
3408 MERGE allows you to bring your spot and wwv database up to date. By
3409 default it will request the last 10 spots and 5 WWVs from the node you
3410 select. The node must be connected locally.
3412 You can request any number of spots or wwv and although they will be
3413 appended to your databases they will not duplicate any that have
3414 recently been added (the last 2 days for spots and last month for WWV
3420 msg <cmd> <msgno> [data ...] Alter various message parameters
3423 Alter message parameters like To, From, Subject, whether private or
3424 bulletin or return receipt (RR) is required or whether to keep this
3425 message from timing out.
3429 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
3430 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
3431 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
3432 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
3433 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
3434 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
3435 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
3436 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
3437 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
3438 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waitting time for this message
3439 MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
3440 MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
3441 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
3442 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
3446 You can look at the status of a message by using:-
3450 This will display more information on the message than DIR does.
3455 pc <call> <text> Send text (eg PC Protocol) to <call>
3458 Send some arbitrary text to a locally connected callsign. No
3459 processing is done on the text. This command allows you to send PC
3460 Protocol to unstick things if problems arise (messages get stuck etc).
3463 pc gb7djk PC33^GB7TLH^GB7DJK^400^
3465 You can also use in the same way as a talk command to a connected user
3466 but without any processing, added of "from <blah> to <blah>" or
3469 pc G1TLH Try doing that properly!!!
3474 ping <node> Check the link quality between nodes
3477 his command allows you to send a frame to another cluster node on the
3478 network and get a return frame. The time it takes to do this is a
3479 good indication of the quality of the link. The actual time it takes
3480 is output to the console in seconds. Any visible cluster node can be
3487 rcmd <node call> <cmd> Send a command to another DX cluster
3490 This command allows you to send nearly any command to another DX
3491 Cluster node that is connected to the system.
3494 Whether you get any output is dependant on a) whether the other system
3495 knows that the node callsign of this cluster is in fact a node b)
3496 whether the other system is allowing RCMDs from this node and c)
3497 whether you have permission to send this command at all.
3502 read Read the next unread personal message addressed to you
3503 read <msgno> Read the specified message
3506 You can read any messages that are sent as 'non-personal' and also any
3507 message either sent by or sent to your callsign.
3511 11.63. read (extended for sysops) (5)
3513 read <msgno> Read a message on the system
3516 As a sysop you may read any message on the system
3519 11.64. reject/announce
3521 reject/announce [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject filter for announce
3524 Create an 'reject this announce' line for a filter.
3526 An reject filter line means that if the announce matches this filter
3527 it is passed onto the user. See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please
3528 read this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief
3531 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
3535 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
3536 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3538 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3539 origin_itu <numbers>
3540 origin_zone <numbers>
3545 wx 1 filter WX announces
3546 dest <prefixes> eg: 6MUK,WDX (distros)
3554 rej/ann by_zone 14,15,16 and not by G,M,2
3558 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3566 but this probably for advanced users...
3569 11.65. reject/announce (extended for sysops) (8)
3571 reject/announce <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> Announce filter sysop
3575 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3576 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3581 reject/ann input node_default by G,M,2
3582 reject/ann user_default by G,M,2
3586 11.66. reject/route (8)
3588 reject/route <call> [0-9] <pattern> Set an 'reject' filter line for
3592 Create an 'reject this routing PC Protocol' line for a filter.
3595 An reject filter line means that if a PC16/17/19/21/24/41/50 matches
3596 this filter it is NOT passed thru that interface. See HELP FILTERING
3597 for more info. Please read this to understand how filters work - it
3598 will save a lot of grief later on. You can use any of the following
3599 things in this line:-
3603 call <prefixes> the callsign of the thingy
3604 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3607 origin <prefixes> really the interface it came in on
3608 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3609 origin_itu <numbers>
3610 origin_zone <numbers>
3618 rej/route gb7djk call_dxcc 61,38 (everything except UK+EIRE nodes)
3622 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3626 rej/route all (equiv to [very] restricted mode)
3630 11.67. reject/spots (0)
3632 reject/spots [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject filter line for spots
3635 Create a 'reject this spot' line for a filter.
3637 A reject filter line means that if the spot matches this filter it is
3638 dumped (not passed on). See HELP FILTERS for more info. Please read
3639 this to understand how filters work - it will save a lot of grief
3642 You can use any of the following things in this line:-
3646 freq <range> eg: 0/30000 or hf or hf/cw or 6m,4m,2m
3647 on <range> same as 'freq'
3648 call <prefixes> eg: G,PA,HB9
3649 info <string> eg: iota or qsl
3651 call_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3662 For frequencies, you can use any of the band names defined in
3663 SHOW/BANDS and you can use a subband name like: cw, rtty, data, ssb -
3664 thus: hf/ssb. You can also just have a simple range like: 0/30000 -
3665 this is more efficient than saying simply: on HF (but don't get too
3673 rej/spot 2 on vhf and not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
3677 You can use the tag 'all' to reject everything eg:
3685 but this probably for advanced users...
3688 11.68. reject/spots (extended for sysops) (8)
3690 reject/spots <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> Reject spot filter sysop
3694 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3695 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3699 reject/spot db0sue-7 1 by_zone 14,15,16
3700 reject/spot node_default all
3701 set/hops node_default 10
3703 reject/spot user_default by G,M,2
3707 11.69. reject/wcy (0)
3709 reject/wcy [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject WCY filter
3712 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
3713 can filter on the following fields:-
3717 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3719 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3720 origin_itu <numbers>
3721 origin_zone <numbers>
3729 There are no examples because WCY Broadcasts only come from one place
3730 and you either want them or not (see UNSET/WCY if you don't want
3733 This command is really provided for future use.
3735 See HELP FILTER for information.
3739 11.70. reject/wcy (extended for sysops) (8)
3741 reject/wcy <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WCY reject filter sysop
3745 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3746 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3748 reject/wcy gb7djk all
3751 11.71. reject/wwv (0)
3753 reject/wwv [0-9] <pattern> Set a reject WWV filter
3756 It is unlikely that you will want to do this, but if you do then you
3757 can filter on the following fields:-
3761 by <prefixes> eg: G,M,2
3763 origin_dxcc <numbers> eg: 61,62 (from eg: sh/pre G)
3764 origin_itu <numbers>
3765 origin_zone <numbers>
3777 reject/wwv by_zone 14,15,16
3781 is probably the only useful thing to do (which will only show WWV
3782 broadcasts by stations in the US).
3784 See HELP FILTER for information.
3787 11.72. reject/wwv (extended for sysops) (8)
3789 reject/wwv <call> [input] [0-9] <pattern> WWV reject filter sysop
3793 This version allows a sysop to set a filter for a callsign as well as
3794 the default for nodes and users eg:-
3798 reject/wwv db0sue-7 1 by_zone 4
3799 reject/wwv node_default all
3801 reject/wwv user_default by W
3805 reply Reply (privately) to the last message that you have read
3806 reply <msgno> Reply (privately) to the specified message
3807 reply B <msgno> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified message
3808 reply NOPrivate <msgno> Reply as a Bulletin to the specified message
3809 reply RR <msgno> Reply to the specified message with read receipt
3812 You can reply to a message and the subject will automatically have
3813 "Re:" inserted in front of it, if it isn't already present.
3815 You can also use all the extra qualifiers such as RR, PRIVATE,
3816 NOPRIVATE, B that you can use with the SEND command (see SEND for
3822 send <call> [<call> ...] Send a message to one or more callsigns
3823 send RR <call> Send a message and ask for a read receipt
3824 send COPY <msgno> <call> Send a copy of a message to someone
3825 send PRIVATE <call> Send a personal message
3826 send NOPRIVATE <call> Send a message to all stations
3829 All the SEND commands will create a message which will be sent either
3830 to an individual callsign or to one of the 'bulletin' addresses.
3832 SEND <call> on its own acts as though you had typed SEND PRIVATE, that
3833 is it will mark the message as personal and send it to the cluster
3834 node that that callsign is connected to.
3836 You can have more than one callsign in all of the SEND commands.
3838 You can have multiple qualifiers so that you can have for example:-
3842 SEND RR COPY 123 PRIVATE G1TLH G0RDI
3846 which should send a copy of message 123 to G1TLH and G0RDI and you
3847 will receive a read receipt when they have read the message.
3849 SB is an alias for SEND NOPRIVATE (or send a bulletin in BBS speak) SP
3850 is an alias for SEND PRIVATE
3853 11.75. set/address (0)
3855 set/address <your_address> Record your postal address
3858 Literally, record your address details on the cluster.
3861 11.76. set/announce (0)
3863 set/announce Allow announce messages
3866 Allow announce messages to arrive at your terminal.
3868 11.77. set/arcluster (5)
3870 set/arcluster <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call an AR-
3874 Set the node_call as an AR-Cluster type node
3877 11.78. set/baddx (8)
3879 set/baddx <call> Stop words we do not wish to see in the callsign
3880 field of a dx spot being propagated
3883 Setting a word as 'baddx' will prevent spots with that word in the
3884 callsign field of a DX spot from going any further. They will not be
3885 displayed and they will not be sent onto other nodes.
3887 The word must be wriiten in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
3891 set/baddx FORSALE VIDEO FR0G
3895 To allow a word again, use the following command ...
3903 11.79. set/badnode (6)
3905 set/badnode <node_call> Stop spots from this node_call being
3909 Setting a callsign as a 'badnode' will prevent spots from that node
3910 going any further. They will not be displayed and they will not be
3911 sent onto other nodes.
3913 The call can be a full or partial call (or a prefix), eg:-
3921 will stop anything from K1TTT (including any SSID's)
3929 will allow spots from him again.
3931 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by
3935 11.80. set/badspotter (8)
3937 set/badspotter <call> Stop spots from this callsign being propagated
3940 Setting a callsign as a 'badspotter' will prevent spots from this
3941 callsign going any further. They will not be displayed and they will
3942 not be sent onto other nodes.
3944 The call must be written in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
3948 set/badspotter VE2STN
3952 will stop anything from VE2STN. If you want SSIDs as well then you
3953 must enter them specifically.
3957 unset/badspotter VE2STN
3961 will allow spots from him again.
3963 Use with extreme care. This command may well be superceded by
3967 11.81. set/badword (8)
3969 set/badword <word> Stop things with this word being propogated
3972 Setting a word as a 'badword' will prevent things like spots,
3973 announces or talks with this word in the the text part from going any
3974 further. They will not be displayed and they will not be sent onto
3977 The word must be written in full, no wild cards are allowed eg:-
3979 set/badword annihilate annihilated annihilation
3981 will stop anything with these words in the text.
3983 unset/badword annihilated
3985 will allow text with this word again.
3991 set/beep Add beeps to terminal messages
3993 Add a beep to DX and other terminal messages.
3998 set/bbs <call> [<call>..]Make <call> a BBS
4003 set/clx <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call a CLX type
4007 Set the node_call as a CLX type node
4010 11.85. set/debug (9)
4012 set/debug <name> Add a debug level to the debug set
4015 You can choose to log several different levels. The levels are
4017 chan state msg cron connect
4019 You can show what levels you are logging with the show/debug command.
4021 You can remove a debug level with unset/debug <name>
4026 set/dxAllow DX messages to arrive at your terminal
4029 You can stop DX messages with the unset/dx command
4032 11.87. set/dxgrid (0)
4034 set/dxgridAllow grid squares on the end of DX messages
4037 Some logging programs do not like the additional information at the
4038 end of a DX spot. If this is the case, use the unset/dxgrid command
4039 to remove the grid squares.
4042 11.88. set/dxnet (5)
4044 set/dxnet <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call a DXNet
4048 Set the node_call as a DXNet type node
4053 set/echo Make the cluster echo your input
4056 If you are connected via a telnet session, different implimentations
4057 of telnet handle echo differently depending on whether you are
4058 connected via port 23 or some other port. You can use this command to
4059 change the setting appropriately.
4061 You can remove the echo with the unset/echo command
4063 The setting is stored in your user profile.
4065 YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE THIS COMMAND IF YOU ARE CONNECTED VIA AX25.
4068 11.90. set/email (0)
4070 set/email <email_address> Set email address(es) and forward your
4074 If any personal messages come in for your callsign then you can use
4075 these commands to control whether they are forwarded onto your email
4076 address. To enable the forwarding do something like:-
4078 SET/EMAIL mike.tubby@somewhere.com
4080 You can have more than one email address (each one separated by a
4081 space). Emails are forwarded to all the email addresses you specify.
4083 You can disable forwarding by:-
4090 set/here Set the here flag
4093 Let others on the cluster know you are here by only displaying your
4094 callsign. If you are away from your terminal you can use the
4095 unset/here command to let people know you are away. This simply puts
4096 brackets around your callsign to indicate you are not available.
4099 11.92. set/homenode (0)
4101 set/homenode <node_call> Set your home cluster
4104 Tell the cluster system where you normally connect to. Any Messages
4105 sent to you will normally find their way there should you not be
4116 set/hops <node_call> ann|spots|wwv|wcy <n> Set hop count
4119 Set the hop count for a particular type of broadcast for a node.
4121 This command allows you to set up special hop counts for a node for
4122 currently: announce, spots, wwv and wcy broadcasts.
4124 set/hops gb7djk ann 10
4125 set/hops gb7mbc spots 20
4129 Set SHOW/HOPS for information on what is already set. This command
4130 creates a filter and works in conjunction with the filter system.
4133 11.94. set/isolate (9)
4135 set/isolate <node call> Isolate a node from the rest of the network
4138 Connect a node to your system in such a way that you are a full
4139 protocol member of its network and can see all spots on it, but
4140 nothing either leaks out from it nor goes back into from the rest of
4141 the nodes connected to you.
4143 You can potentially connect several nodes in this way.
4145 You can see which nodes are isolated with the show/isolate (1)
4148 You can remove the isolation with the command unset/isolate.
4151 11.95. set/language (0)
4153 set/language <language> Set the language you wish to use
4156 You can select the language that you want the cluster to use.
4157 Currently the languages available are en (English) and nl (Dutch).
4160 11.96. set/location (0)
4162 set/location <lat and long> Set your latitude and longitude
4165 You can set your latitude and longitude manually or alternatively use
4166 the set/qra command which will do the conversion for you.
4170 set/location 54 04 N 2 02 E
4174 11.97. set/sys_location (9)
4176 set/sys_location <lat & long> Set your cluster latitude and longitude
4179 In order to get accurate headings and such like you must tell the
4180 system what your latitude and longitude is. If you have not yet done a
4181 SET/QRA then this command will set your QRA locator for you. For
4185 SET/LOCATION 52 22 N 0 57 E
4189 11.98. set/logininfo (0)
4191 set/logininfo Show logins and logouts of nodes and users
4194 Show users and nodes when they log in and out of the local cluster.
4195 You can stop these messages by using the unset/logininfo command.
4199 11.99. set/lockout (9)
4201 set/lockout <call> Stop a callsign connecting to the cluster
4204 You can show who is locked out with the show/lockout command. To
4205 allow the user to connect again, use the unset/lockout command.
4208 11.100. set/name (0)
4210 set/name <your_name> Set your name
4213 Tell the cluster what your name is, eg:-
4221 11.101. set/node (9)
4223 set/node <call> [<call> ...] Make the callsign an AK1A cluster
4226 Tell the system that the call(s) are to be treated as AK1A cluster and
4227 fed PC Protocol rather normal user commands.
4229 From version 1.41 you can also set the following types of cluster
4240 To see what your nodes are set to, use the show/nodes command.
4244 11.102. set/obscount (9)
4246 set/obscount <count> <node call> Set the 'pump-up' obsolescence
4250 From version 1.35 onwards neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular
4251 intervals (see SET/PINGINTERVAL), usually 300 seconds or 5 minutes.
4252 There is a 'pump-up' counter which is decremented on every outgoing
4253 ping and then reset to the 'obscount' value on every incoming ping.
4254 The default value of this parameter is 2.
4256 What this means is that a neighbouring node will be pinged twice at
4257 (default) 300 second intervals and if no reply has been heard just
4258 before what would be the third attempt, that node is disconnected.
4260 If a ping is heard then the obscount is reset to the full value. Using
4261 default values, if a node has not responded to a ping within 15
4262 minutes, it is disconnected.
4265 11.103. set/page (0)
4267 set/page <n> Set the number of lines per page
4270 Tell the system how many lines you wish on a page when the number of
4271 lines of output from a command is more than this. The default is 20.
4272 Setting it explicitly to 0 will disable paging.
4281 The setting is stored in your user profile.
4284 11.104. set/password (0)
4286 set/password Set your own password
4289 This command only works for a 'telnet' user (currently). It will only
4290 work if you have a password already set. This initial password can
4291 only be set by the sysop.
4293 When you execute this command it will ask you for your old password,
4294 then ask you to type in your new password twice (to make sure you get
4295 it right). You may or may not see the data echoed on the screen as you
4296 type, depending on the type of telnet client you have.
4299 11.105. set/password (9)
4301 set/password <callsign> <string> Set a users password
4304 The password for a user can only be set by a full sysop. The string
4305 can contain any characters.
4307 The way this field is used depends on context. If it is being used in
4308 the SYSOP command context then you are offered 5 random numbers and
4309 you have to supply the corresponding letters. This is now mainly for
4312 If it is being used on incoming telnet connections then, if a password
4315 set/var $main::passwdreq = 1
4317 command is executed in the startup script, then a password prompt is
4318 given after the normal 'login: ' prompt.
4320 The command "unset/password" is provided to allow a sysop to remove a
4321 users password completely in case a user forgets or loses their
4325 11.106. set/pinginterval (9)
4327 set/pinginterval <time> <node call> Set the ping time to neighbouring
4331 As from version 1.35 all neighbouring nodes are pinged at regular
4332 intervals in order to determine the rolling quality of the link and,
4333 in future, to affect routing decisions. The default interval is 300
4336 You can use this command to set a different interval. Please don't.
4338 But if you do the value you enter is treated as minutes up 60 and
4339 seconds for numbers greater than that.
4341 This is used also to help determine when a link is down at the far end
4342 (as certain cluster software doesn't always notice), see SET/OBSCOUNT
4343 for more information.
4346 11.107. set/privilege (9)
4348 set/privilege <n> <call> [<call> ...] Set the privilege level on a
4352 Set the privilege level on a callsign. The privilege levels that
4353 pertain to commands are as default:-
4358 1 - allow remote nodes normal user RCMDs
4359 5 - various privileged commands (including shutdown, but not disc-
4360 connect), the normal level for another node.
4361 8 - more privileged commands (including disconnect)
4362 9 - local sysop privilege. DO NOT SET ANY REMOTE USER OR NODE TO THIS
4367 If you are a sysop and you come in as a normal user on a remote
4368 connection your privilege will automatically be set to 0.
4372 11.108. set/spider (5)
4374 set/spider <node_call> [<node_call> ...] Make the node_call a DXSpider
4378 Set the node_call as a DXSpider type node
4381 11.109. set/sys_qra (9)
4383 set/sys_qra <locator> Set your cluster QRA locator
4388 set/qra <locator> Set your QRA locator
4391 Tell the system what your QRA (or Maidenhead) locator is. If you have
4392 not done a SET/LOCATION then your latitude and longitude will be set
4393 roughly correctly (assuming your locator is correct ;-). For example:-
4403 set/qth <your QTH> Set your QTH
4406 Tell the system where your are. For example:-
4410 set/qth East Dereham, Norfolk
4414 11.112. set/register (9)
4416 set/register <call> Mark a user as registered
4419 Registration is a concept that you can switch on by executing the
4421 set/var $main::regreq = 1
4423 command (usually in your startup file)
4425 If a user is NOT registered then, firstly, instead of the normal motd
4426 file (/spider/data/motd) being sent to the user at startup, the user
4427 is sent the motd_nor file instead. Secondly, the non registered user
4428 only has READ-ONLY access to the node. The non-registered user cannot
4431 The only exception to this is that a non-registered user can TALK or
4432 SEND messages to the sysop.
4434 To unset a user use the 'unset/register' command
4437 11.113. set/talk (0)
4439 set/talk Allow talk messages to be seen at your console
4442 Allow talk messages to arrive at your console. You can switch off
4443 talks with the unset/talk command.
4448 set/wcy Allow WCY messages to be seen at your console
4451 Allow WCY information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
4452 WCY messages with the unset/wcy command.
4457 set/wwv Allow WWV messages to be seen at your console
4460 Allow WWV information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
4461 WWV messages with the unset/wwv command.
4466 set/wx Allow WX messages to be seen at your console
4469 Allow WX information to be seen at your console. You can switch off
4470 WX messages with the unset/wx command.
4473 11.117. show/baddx (1)
4475 show/baddxShow all the bad dx calls in the system
4478 Display all the bad dx callsigns in the system, see SET/BADDX for more
4482 11.118. show/badnode (6)
4484 show/badnode Show all the bad nodes in the system
4487 Display all the bad node callsigns in the system, see SET/BADNODE for
4491 11.119. show/badspotter (1)
4493 show/badspotter Show all the bad spotters in the system
4496 Display all the bad spotter's callsigns in the system, see
4497 SET/BADSPOTTER for more information.
4500 11.120. show/badword (1)
4502 show/badword Show all the bad words in the system
4505 Display all the bad words in the system, see SET/BADWORD for more
4509 11.121. show/configuration (0)
4511 show/configuration [<node>] Show all visible nodes and their users
4514 This command allows you to see all the users that can be seen and the
4515 nodes to which they are connected. With the optional node, you can
4516 specify a particular node to look at.
4518 This command is normally abbreviated to: sh/c
4520 BE WARNED: the list that is returned can be VERY long
4523 11.122. show/configuration/node (0)
4525 show/configuration/node Show all the nodes connected
4528 Show all the nodes connected locally and the nodes they have
4532 11.123. show/connect (1)
4534 show/connect Show all the active connections
4537 This command shows information on all the active connections known to
4538 the node. This command gives slightly more information than WHO.
4541 11.124. show/date (0)
4543 show/date [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show the local time
4546 This is very nearly the same as SHOW/TIME, the only difference the
4547 format of the date string if no arguments are given.
4549 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the
4550 local time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some
4551 prefixes then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not
4552 including DST) at the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
4555 11.125. show/debug (9)
4557 show/debug Show what levels of debug you are logging
4560 The levels can be set with set/debug
4566 show/dx [options] interrogate the spot database
4569 If you just type SHOW/DX you will get the last so many spots (sysop
4570 configurable, but usually 10).
4572 In addition you can add any number of these options in very nearly any
4573 order to the basic SHOW/DX command, they are:-
4577 on <band> - eg 160m 20m 2m 23cm 6mm
4578 on <region> - eg hf vhf uhf shf (see SHOW/BANDS)
4580 <number> - the number of spots you want
4581 <from>-<to> - <from> spot no <to> spot no in
4584 <prefix> - for a spotted callsign beginning with <prefix>
4585 *<suffix> - for a spotted callsign ending in <suffix>
4586 *<string>* - for a spotted callsign containing <string>
4588 day <number> - starting <number> days ago
4589 day <from>-<to> - <from> days <to> days ago
4591 info <text> - any spots containing <text> in the info or remarks
4593 by <call> - any spots spotted by <call> (spotter <call>
4596 qsl - this automatically looks for any qsl info on the call
4597 held in the spot database.
4599 iota [<iota>] - If the iota island number is missing it will
4600 look for the string iota and anything which looks like
4601 an iota island number. If you specify then it will look
4604 qra [<locator>] - this will look for the specific locator if
4605 you specify one or else anything that looks like a locator.
4614 SH/DX on 20m info iota
4615 SH/DX 9a on vhf day 30
4623 11.127. show/dxcc (0)
4625 show/dxcc <prefix> Interrogate the spot database by country
4628 This command takes the <prefix> (which can be a full or partial
4629 callsign if desired), looks up which internal country number it is and
4630 then displays all the spots as per SH/DX for that country.
4632 The options for SHOW/DX also apply to this command. e.g.
4637 SH/DXCC W on 20m info iota
4641 11.128. sh/dxstats (0)
4643 sh/dxstats Show the DX Statistics for last 31 days
4646 Show the total DX spots for the last 31 days
4650 11.129. show/files (0)
4652 show/files [<filearea> [<string>]] List the contents of a filearea
4655 SHOW/FILES on its own will show you a list of the various fileareas
4656 available on the system. To see the contents of a particular file area
4665 where <filearea> is the name of the filearea you want to see the
4668 You can also use shell globbing characters like '*' and '?' in a
4669 string to see a selection of files in a filearea eg:-
4673 SH/FILES bulletins arld*
4677 See also TYPE - to see the contents of a file.
4680 11.130. show/filter (0)
4682 show/filter Show the filters you have set
4684 Show the contents of all the filters that are set by you. This command
4685 displays all the filters set - for all the various categories.
4688 11.131. show/filter (extended for sysops) (5)
4690 show/filter <callsign> Show the filters set by <callsign>
4693 A sysop can look at any filters that have been set.
4696 11.132. show/hfstats (0)
4698 show/hfstats Show the HF DX Statistics for last 31 days
4701 Show the HF DX spots breakdown by band for the last 31 days
4704 11.133. show/hftable (0)
4706 show/hftable Show the HF DX Spotter Table for your country
4709 Show the HF DX Spotter table for your country for the last 31 days
4712 11.134. show/hops (8)
4714 show/hops <node_call> [ann|spots|wcy|wwv|] Show the hop counts for a
4718 This command shows the hop counts set up for a node. You can specify
4719 which category you want to see. If you leave the category out then all
4720 the categories will be listed.
4723 11.135. show/isolate (1)
4725 show/isolate Show a list of isolated nodes
4728 Show which nodes are currently set to be isolated.
4731 11.136. show/lockout (9)
4733 show/lockout Show a list of excluded callsigns
4736 Show a list of callsigns that have been excluded (locked out) of the
4737 cluster locally with the set/lockout command
4740 11.137. show/log (8)
4742 show/log [<callsign>] Show excerpts from the system log
4745 This command outputs a short section of the system log. On its own it
4746 will output a general logfile. With the optional callsign it will
4747 show output from the log associated with that callsign.
4750 11.138. show/moon (0)
4752 show/moon [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show moon rise and set times
4755 Show the Moon rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or
4756 callsigns, together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun
4757 currently at those locations.
4759 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times
4760 for your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or
4761 SET/QRA), together with the current azimuth and elevation.
4763 In addition, it will show the gain or loss dB relative to the nominal
4764 distance of 385,000Km due to the ellipsoidal nature of the orbit.
4766 If all else fails it will show the Moonrise and set times for the node
4767 that you are connected to.
4778 11.139. show/muf (0)
4780 show/muf <prefix> [<hours>][long] Show the likely propagation to
4784 This command allow you to estimate the likelihood of you contacting a
4785 station with the prefix you have specified. The output assumes a
4786 modest power of 20dBW and receiver sensitivity of -123dBm (about
4789 The result predicts the most likely operating frequencies and signal
4790 levels for high frequency (shortwave) radio propagation paths on
4791 specified days of the year and hours of the day. It is most useful for
4792 paths between 250 km and 6000 km, but can be used with reduced
4793 accuracy for paths shorter or longer than this.
4795 The command uses a routine MINIMUF 3.5 developed by the U.S. Navy and
4796 used to predict the MUF given the predicted flux, day of the year,
4797 hour of the day and geographic coordinates of the transmitter and
4798 receiver. This routine is reasonably accurate for the purposes here,
4799 with a claimed RMS error of 3.8 MHz, but much smaller and less complex
4800 than the programs used by major shortwave broadcasting organizations,
4801 such as the Voice of America.
4803 The command will display some header information detailing its
4804 assumptions, together with the locations, latitude and longitudes and
4805 bearings. It will then show UTC (UT), local time at the other end
4806 (LT), calculate the MUFs, Sun zenith angle at the midpoint of the path
4807 (Zen) and the likely signal strengths. Then for each frequency for
4808 which the system thinks there is a likelihood of a circuit it prints a
4811 The value is currently a likely S meter reading based on the
4812 conventional 6dB / S point scale. If the value has a '+' appended it
4813 means that it is 1/2 an S point stronger. If the value is preceeded by
4814 an 'm' it means that there is likely to be much fading and by an 's'
4815 that the signal is likely to be noisy.
4817 By default SHOW/MUF will show the next two hours worth of data. You
4818 can specify anything up to 24 hours worth of data by appending the no
4819 of hours required after the prefix. For example:-
4831 RxSens: -123 dBM SFI: 159 R: 193 Month: 10 Day: 21
4832 Power : 20 dBW Distance: 6283 km Delay: 22.4 ms
4833 Location Lat / Long Azim
4834 East Dereham, Norfolk 52 41 N 0 57 E 47
4835 United-States-W 43 0 N 87 54 W 299
4836 UT LT MUF Zen 1.8 3.5 7.0 10.1 14.0 18.1 21.0 24.9 28.0 50.0
4837 18 23 11.5 -35 mS0+ mS2 S3
4838 19 0 11.2 -41 mS0+ mS2 S3
4842 indicating that you will have weak, fading circuits on top band and
4843 80m but usable signals on 40m (about S3).
4853 will get you the above display, but with the next 24 hours worth of
4863 Gives you an estimate of the long path propagation characterics. It
4864 should be noted that the figures will probably not be very useful, nor
4865 terrible accurate, but it is included for completeness.
4868 11.140. show/newconfiguration (0)
4870 show/newconfiguration [<node>] Show all the nodes and users visible
4873 This command allows you to see all the users that can be seen and the
4874 nodes to which they are connected.
4876 This command produces essentially the same information as
4877 SHOW/CONFIGURATION except that it shows all the duplication of any
4878 routes that might be present It also uses a different format which may
4879 not take up quite as much space if you don't have any loops.
4881 BE WARNED: the list that is returned can be VERY long
4884 11.141. show/newconfiguration/node (0)
4886 show/newconfiguration/node Show all the nodes connected locally
4889 Show all the nodes connected to this node in the new format.
4892 11.142. show/node (1)
4894 show/node [<node_call> ...] Show the type and version number of nodes
4897 Show the type and version (if connected) of the nodes specified on the
4898 command line. If no callsigns are specified then a sorted list of all
4899 the non-user callsigns known to the system will be displayed.
4902 11.143. show/prefix (0)
4904 show/prefix <callsign> Interrogate the prefix database
4907 This command takes the <callsign> (which can be a full or partial
4908 callsign or a prefix), looks up which internal country number it is
4909 and then displays all the relevant prefixes for that country together
4910 with the internal country no, the CQ and ITU regions.
4916 11.144. show/program (5)
4918 show/program Show the locations of all the included program modules
4921 Show the name and location where every program module was load from.
4922 This is useful for checking where you think you have loaded a .pm file
4926 11.145. show/qra (0)
4928 show/qra <locator> [<locator>] Show the distance between locators
4929 show/qra <lat> <long> Convert latitude and longitude to a locator
4932 This is a multipurpose command that allows you either to calculate the
4933 distance and bearing between two locators or (if only one locator is
4934 given on the command line) the distance and beraing from your station
4935 to the locator. For example:-
4942 The first example will show the distance and bearing to the locator
4943 from yourself, the second example will calculate the distance and
4944 bearing from the first locator to the second. You can use 4 or 6
4947 It is also possible to convert a latitude and longitude to a locator
4948 by using this command with a latitude and longitude as an argument,
4953 SH/QRA 52 41 N 0 58 E
4957 11.146. show/qrz (0)
4959 show/qrz <callsign> Show any callbook details on a callsign
4962 This command queries the QRZ callbook server on the internet and
4963 returns any information available for that callsign. This service is
4964 provided for users of this software by http://www.qrz.com
4967 11.147. show/registered (9)
4969 show/registered [<prefix>[ Show the registered users
4972 11.148. show/route (0)
4974 show/route <callsign> Show the route to <callsign>
4977 This command allows you to see to which node the callsigns specified
4978 are connected. It is a sort of inverse sh/config.
4986 11.149. show/satellite (0)
4988 show/satellite <name> [<hours> <interval>] Show satellite tracking
4992 Show the tracking data from your location to the satellite of your
4993 choice from now on for the next few hours.
4995 If you use this command without a satellite name it will display a
4996 list of all the satellites known currently to the system.
4998 If you give a name then you can obtain tracking data of all the passes
4999 that start and finish 5 degrees below the horizon. As default it will
5000 give information for the next three hours for every five minute
5004 You can alter the number of hours and the step size, within certain
5007 Each pass in a period is separated with a row of '-----' characters
5014 SH/SAT FENGYUN1 12 2
5018 11.150. show/sun (0)
5020 show/sun [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show sun rise and set times
5023 Show the sun rise and set times for a (list of) prefixes or callsigns,
5024 together with the azimuth and elevation of the sun currently at those
5027 If you don't specify any prefixes or callsigns, it will show the times
5028 for your QTH (assuming you have set it with either SET/LOCATION or
5029 SET/QRA), together with the current azimuth and elevation.
5031 If all else fails it will show the sunrise and set times for the node
5032 that you are connected to.
5039 SH/SUN G1TLH K9CW ZS
5043 11.151. show/time (0)
5045 show/time [<prefix>|<callsign>] Show the local time
5048 If no prefixes or callsigns are given then this command returns the
5049 local time and UTC as the computer has it right now. If you give some
5050 prefixes then it will show UTC and UTC + the local offset (not
5051 including DST) at the prefixes or callsigns that you specify.
5054 11.152. show/vhfstats (0)
5056 show/vhfstats Show the VHF DX Statistics for last 31 days
5059 Show the VHF DX spots breakdown by band for the last 31 days
5062 11.153. show/vhftable (0)
5064 show/vhftable Show the VHF DX Spotter Table for your country
5066 Show the VHF DX Spotter table for your country for the last 31 days
5069 11.154. show/wcy (0)
5071 show/wcy Show the last 10 WCY broadcasts
5072 show/wcy <n> Show the last <n> WCY broadcasts
5075 Display the most recent WCY information that has been received by the
5079 11.155. show/wwv (0)
5081 show/wwv Show the last 10 WWV broadcasts
5082 show/wwv <n> Show the last <n> WWV broadcasts
5085 Display the most recent WWV information that has been received by the
5090 11.156. shutdown (5)
5092 shutdown Shutdown the cluster
5095 Shutdown the cluster and disconnect all the users. If you have Spider
5096 set to respawn in /etc/inittab it will of course restart.
5101 spoof <callsign> <command> Run commands as another user
5104 This is a very simple yet powerful command for the sysop. It allows
5105 you to issue commands as if you were a different user. This is very
5106 useful for the kind of things that users seem to always get wrong..
5107 like home_node for example.
5112 stat/db <dbname> Show the status of a database
5115 Show the internal status of a database descriptor.
5117 Depending on your privilege level you will see more or less
5118 information. This command is unlikely to be of much use to anyone
5122 11.159. stat/channel (5)
5124 stat/channel <callsign> Show the status of a channel on the cluster
5127 Show the internal status of the channel object either for the channel
5128 that you are on or else for the callsign that you asked for.
5130 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
5132 11.160. stat/msg (5)
5134 stat/msg <msgno> Show the status of a message
5137 This command shows the internal status of a message and includes
5138 information such as to whom it has been forwarded, its size, origin
5142 If no message number is given then the status of the message system is
5146 11.161. stat/route_node (5)
5148 stat/route_node <callsign> Show the data in a Route::Node object
5151 11.162. stat/route_user (5)
5153 stat/route_user <callsign> Show the data in a Route::User object
5156 11.163. stat/user (5)
5158 stat/user <callsign> Show the full status of a user
5161 Shows the full contents of a user record including all the secret
5164 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
5169 sysop Regain your privileges if you login remotely
5172 The system automatically reduces your privilege level to that of a
5173 normal user if you login in remotely. This command allows you to
5174 regain your normal privilege level. It uses the normal system: five
5175 numbers are returned that are indexes into the character array that is
5176 your assigned password (see SET/PASSWORD). The indexes start from
5179 You are expected to return a string which contains the characters
5180 required in the correct order. You may intersperse those characters
5181 with others to obscure your reply for any watchers. For example (and
5182 these values are for explanation :-):
5186 password = 012345678901234567890123456789
5196 aa2bbbb0ccc5ddd7xxx3n
5202 They will all match. If there is no password you will still be offered
5203 numbers but nothing will happen when you input a string. Any match is
5209 talk <callsign> Enter talk mode with <callsign>
5210 talk <callsign> <text> Send a text message to <callsign>
5211 talk <callsign> > <node_call> [<text>] Send a text message to
5212 <callsign> via <node_call>
5215 Send a short message to any other station that is visible on the
5216 cluster system. You can send it to anyone you can see with a
5217 SHOW/CONFIGURATION command, they don't have to be connected locally.
5219 The second form of TALK is used when other cluster nodes are connected
5220 with restricted information. This usually means that they don't send
5221 the user information usually associated with logging on and off the
5224 If you know that G3JNB is likely to be present on GB7TLH, but you can
5225 only see GB7TLH in the SH/C list but with no users, then you would use
5226 the second form of the talk message.
5228 If you want to have a ragchew with someone you can leave the text
5229 message out and the system will go into 'Talk' mode. What this means
5230 is that a short message is sent to the recipient telling them that you
5231 are in a 'Talking' frame of mind and then you just type - everything
5232 you send will go to the station that you asked for.
5234 All the usual announcements, spots and so on will still come out on
5237 If you want to do something (such as send a spot) you precede the
5238 normal command with a '/' character, eg:-
5242 /DX 14001 G1TLH What's a B class licensee doing on 20m CW?
5247 To leave talk mode type:
5257 type <filearea>/<name> Look at a file in one of the fileareas
5260 Type out the contents of a file in a filearea. So, for example, in
5261 filearea 'bulletins' you want to look at file 'arld051' you would
5266 TYPE bulletins/arld051
5270 See also SHOW/FILES to see what fileareas are available and a list of
5276 who Show who is physically connected locally
5279 This is a quick listing that shows which callsigns are connected and
5280 what sort of connection they have
5285 wx <text> Send a weather message to local users
5286 wx full <text> Send a weather message to all cluster users
5289 Weather messages can sometimes be useful if you are experiencing an
5290 extreme that may indicate enhanced conditions
5293 11.169. wx (enhanced for sysops) (5)
5295 wx sysop <text> Send a weather message to other clusters only
5298 Send a weather message only to other cluster nodes and not to general