2 Meter Packet
Operates 24/7

BARK PACKET Stations on 2 Meters

BERRY on 145.050 MHz

Packet Radio is Still Alive

These Packet Stations operate full time as nodes and digipeaters so that they can relay messages for other Ham operators who wish to use them and need the signal relay capability to reach a distant packet station. More than one station can be used to relay messages and may be linked in a relay chain.

FREQUENCIES.... Packet radio operates on the 2 Meters band or Very High Frequency (VHF) at a 145.05 MHz, , 144.91 MHz & 144.93 MHz frequencies, and are similar to the internet, but primarily text and at a much slower transfer rate of 1200 baud. Both my Home and Cabin stations also have High Frequency (HF) transceivers that operate on the 3 to 30 MHz Ham bands on Phone and Morse Code.

Contact Information for K-Net Packet Stations
and Nodes in the Sacramento and East Bay area:

Station MBX Network Node KaNode Location
Call Call Node Call Call
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WB6YNM, Al - Web Page: http://www.varmintal.com/ahamp.htm
On 145.05 HHz
WB6YNM WB6YNM-1 DELTA WB6YNM-2 BETHEL Bethel Island Base Station
WB6YNM-6 CBOX CABIN Near Wallace Ridge
WB6YNM-10 PBOX TROUT Portable Packet
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WA6QPU, Mary Ann - Web Page: http://www.varmintal.com/amaxp.htm
On 145.05
WA6QPU-4 TBOX TRACY WA6QPU-5 HOWL Wallace Ridge 15 mi S of Tracy
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K6JAC, Jack - Web Page: http://www.jhendrick.com/
ON 145.05 MHz
K6JAC K6JAC-1 Woodland Base Station
K6JAC-6 BBOX BERRY K6JAC-4 VINE Berryessa Peak
K6JAC-8 JBOX Portable
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N6QDY, Dave - Web Page: http://home.att.net/~n6qdy/index.html
On 145.05 MHz
N6QDY-9 QDY05 PLACE N6QDY-5 SWANS Sacramento
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
K4WRM, Jack - In Nevada City
On 145.05 MHz
K4WRM-10 K4WRM-1 GRSVLY KF6DQU-4 GRASS Grass Valley 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WD6EZC WD6EZC-1 PINOLE WD6EZC-5 CC4CC Pinole 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KG6POM KG6POM-4 SAC KG6POM-5 KSAC South East Sacramento 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KG6BAJ GVBOX GVCITY KG6BAJ-2 GVARES Wolf Peak Grass Valley 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W6DHN W6DHN-1 GTN W6DHN-2 GTOWN George Town
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W6PJD, Bud in Eldor County
On 145.05 MHz
W6PJD W6PJD-1 ELDOR W6PJD-3 GOLD El Dorado County
-------------------------END--------------------------------------------------

Give Packet Radio a try.... A PC or Laptop, TNC, and a 2m HT and you can enjoy the fun of Packet Radio.<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbJfuQnnBfY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbJfuQnnBfY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbJfuQnnBfY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbJfuQnnBfY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Sending and Receiving Internet Email via Packet Radio

Bob, WH6IO has been gracious enough to put his BENCA network node on the 145.05 packet frequency. Packet users now have the capability to send and receive email. Yes! Regular Internet email can be sent and received with your packet station!!!

SENDING Internet EMAIL

You can send email to anyone who has an email address by simply connecting to the BENCA node and using the Send command. Instead of putting the Callsign after the Send command you put the email address. Fill in a Subject and the text of the message as usual and close with a Ctrl-Z. That is all there is to it.

RECEIVING Internet EMAIL

To receive Internet email, you will need to register at BENCA. Connect to BENCA and type the REGISTER command. You will be asked your name and HOME BBS. Fill in WH6IO for your HOME BBS. You will be asked for your Internet email address but that is optional. After registering, your new email address is:

YOURCALLbenicia.ampr.org

Example: My email address is wb6ynmbenicia.ampr.org

From anywhere on the Internet if someone sends email to YOURCALLbenicia.ampr.org it will be directed to BENCA and to read your email you merely connect to BENCA and read your email like a packet message.

This is a very useful capability for packet users who are operating from remote locations. From such locations, one can send and receive email to people who have an email address but no packet capability.

Network Nodes on 145.05,   144.91 & 144.93 MHz

BENCA:WH6IO-7 Routes :
Neighbour Port Qual Obs Dest Tries Retries Perc Irtt
PLACE:N6QDY-5 ax3 192 3 1 0 0 0 %
ORGATE:WB7AWL-15 ip1 222 5 71 0 0 0 %
KSOLA:NW0I-6 ip11 220 6 5 0 0 0 %
PPINES:W6LSW-8 ax3 192 4 1 0 0 0 %
TRACY:WA6QPU-5 ax3 192 5 1 0 0 0 %
ELDOR:W6PJD-3 ax3 192 1 1 0 0 0 %
BBGATE:AA6HF-4 ip2 220 5 2 4 0 100 %
DIA:K6UCB-2 ax3 192 5 1 69 3 95 %
VDAGW:N5VDA-3 ip4 220 6 4 0 1 0 %
LPRC1:K6TAM-1 ax3 192 5 1 0 0 0 %
#SAW:KC6IKE-10 ip8 220 4 3 64 0 100 %
PINOLE:WD6EZC-5 ax3 192 5 1 0 0 0 %
OH105:N8DA-7 ip7 220 6 15 20 0 100 %
ROCKY:K6TPK-5 ax1 229 6 1 48 2 96 %
DSNGW:VK1DSN ip10 222 5 42 176 25 87 %
YRGTN:N7LPT-1 ax3 192 2 1 0 0 0 %
AZGATE:N7OO-15 ip3 220 5 2 0 0 0 %
GRSVLY:KF6DQU-4 ax3 192 3 1 0 0 0 %
IXINET:UX0IXI-11 ip6 198 6 11 0 6 0 %

Available ports:
ip13 : axip link to ALWGW:WA7V-8 Walla Walla, WA
ip12 : axip link to aa6qn.ampr.org
ip11 : axip link to KSOLA:NW0I - Olathe, KS
ip10 : axip link to DSNGW:VK1DSN - Canberra, Aus.
ip9 : axip link to SCGATE:KJ6EO - Santa Claria, CA
ip8 : axip link to SAW:KC6IKE - San Diego, CA
ip7 : axip link to OH105:N8DA - Beloit,Ohio
ip6 : axip link to IXINET:UX0IXI - Ukraine
ip5 : axip link to CAMPGW:PY2ZE-5 Brazil
ip4 : axip link to VDAGW:N5VDA - Houston, TX
ip3 : axip link to AZGATE:N7OO - Arizona
ip2 : axip link to BBGATE:AA6HF - Big Bear,CA.
ip1 : axip link to ORGATE:WB7AWL - Talent, OR.
ax5 : 9600bd tcpip port 51.62
ax4 : 300bd ax.25 port 7.103
ax2 : 1200bd ax.25 port 144.99
ax0 : 9600bd tcpip port 433.43
ax3 : 1200bd ax.25 port 145.05

If you can connect to any single node on the list, then in theory, you can connect to any other node on the list.
Here is an explanation of what is listed in the table. Take the BERRY node for example:

BERRY :K6JAC} Routes:
1 N7SCQ-6 192 3!
1 N6CDF-5 192 7!
0 K6JAC-4 195 20!
1 W6ABC-9 192 4!
1 N6QDY-8 192 3!
1 W6CO-3 192 1!

The top line of each entry lists the Net Work Node's Name (BERRY) and Callsign (K6JAC).
Below that is the other network nodes that it can directly connect to. Each line is a Network node that
can be connected to with a given connection quality. The first number is the Port. On the fourth  line
above the Port is 0. The node is K6JAC-4 (BERRY) and the quality is 195. A quality of 192 is
a standard reliable connection. Less than 192 means poor reliability. Higher quality means hard wire
reliability. The last number is the number of additional nodes that particular route leads to. In this case
 K6JAC-4 (BERRY) can connect to 20 additional nodes by that route. The
(!) means that the route's quality has been manually locked in. Info on 144.93 MHz nodes.

Give it a try. A Laptop, TNC, and a 2m HT and you can enjoy the fun of Packet Radio. Or you can use you PC instead of the Laptop.

What is Packet Radio? Here is an excellent summary.

SHERMAN TANK OF LAPTOPS.... The Toshiba T1000SE Laptop computer. These are the Sherman Tanks of old Laptop computes. They are perfect for portable packet. They appear on eBay for auction form $10 to $20+ and are well worth it! If you grew up with DOS, it will bring back fond memories of the Good Old Days. The Toshiba T1000SE's model number is PA8003U. They use a 7.2 Volt battery pack PA8812U and the AC adapter is PA8713U or the AC adapter PA8706U is a little larger, but will also work. If you are really lucky, and can find a 2Mb memory card PA8312U, then you can create a 3Mb Hard Ram Drive and run just about any DOS based terminal program from the Ram Drive on them. Here are the specifications on the Toshiba T1000SE. If anyone has more information on the new price of a Toshiba T1000SE Laptop when they were first introduced, I would sure like the information so I could post it here.

Norm (NO7RM), another ham radio operator, purchased a new Toshiba T1000SE from Whole Earth Access in the San Jose, Calif. area on March 22, 1991 for $1029.29. He also purchased the three position battery charger and a spare battery for $271.78. Norm says that these may have been discount prices.

You wanted to know the original market price of the computer. I got mine on 7/17/90 for $1,285.93, brand new, of course. --- Mike O'Connor

Here is a list of the files that are on the T1000SE's ROM:

Autoexec.bat   Graphics.com
Assign.com     Keyb.com
Ansi.sys       Keyboard.sys
Backup.com     Label.com
Biosver.com    Mode.com
Chad.com       More.com
Chkdsk.com     Nlsfunc.exe
Command.com    Now.com
Config.sys     Print.com
Country.sys    Restore.com
Debug.com      Select.com
Diskcopy.com   Setup10.com
Edlin.com      Sys.com
Emm.sys        Test10.exe
Fdisk.com      Xcopy.exe
Format.com

EXPERIENCE WITH THE T1000SE.... I run the Setup10.com program and set aside 380K of ram for the Hard Ram Drive and then format it with the format d: command. The T1000SE allows you to copy the autoexec.bat file over to the Hard Ram Drive D:\ and customize it. When it boots up, it looks to see if there is an autoexec.bat file on the D: drive and uses it. I was able to find my old Norton Utilities 3.1 floppies (on a 5-1/4" floppy) and copy them over to a 3-1/2" floppy so I can use them on the T1000SE. They work great. One thing I have found out is that inside the computer there is a 3/8" dia by 8" long 6V Sub battery that is usually dead. Its only function is to provide power when you change batteries so you won't lose your Ram Drive. If you leave the 12V power supply plugged in and switch batteries with he computer tuned off, it seems to preserve the Ram Drive. The dead Sub battery will drain the main battery when the compute is not in use because it appear as a dead short. I just remove the Sub battery and the computer works fine and the main battery lasts much longer. I have yet to find a Toshiba T1000XE (with a 20Mb HD and no floppy) or a T1000LE (with a 20Mb HD and a 1.44Mb floppy) that works. These two models are not worth the expense or trouble in my view.

SOFTWARE TO GET STARTED ON PACKET.... If you get a Toshiba T1000SE and want to operate 2m Packet Ham Radio with it, here are four files that will get you on the air with a KPC-3 and a 2m transceiver:

pacfast.exe The smallest packet terminal program I have found and it is very easy to use. F1 gives you all the commands.
go1.bat A batch file that starts pacfast running at 9600 baud on com 1 (default setting for the T1000SE).
ted.com The tiny editor for use on old DOS systems. It works very well.
scan.com A tiny program <1K for reading text files. To view a text file, merely type SCAN name and use the arrow keys and Page Up and Page Down keys. Esc to exit.

Some Information On the the Net Work Nodes and how they work:

DELTA:WB6YNM-2}* BERRY:K6JAC-4} BERRY3:WA6QPU-3} & TRACY:WA6QPU-5}
All four nodes are K-Net Network Nodes. DELTA, BERRY, & TRACY are on
145.05 MHz and BERRY3 is on 145.03 MHz. KPC-3 TNC's running the 6.0N
K-Net Firmware from Kantronics
* DELTA has been deactivated. BERRY, TRACY & DIA provide ample coverage.

New Cross-Frequency nodes BERRY-BERRY3:

The BERRY, BERRY3, DELTA, and TRACY Network nodes are running 
KPC-3's with Kantronics' K-Net firmware which is 100% compatible 
with TheNet Network nodes. BERRY, DELTA, and TRACY are on 145.05 
MHz and BERRY3 is on 145.03 MHz. BERRY3 and BERRY are both on 
Berryessa Peak in the same metal box running separate 
transceivers and antennas. The connection from BERRY to BERRY3 is 
via an RS-232 cable connecting the two TNC's. BERRY3 "sees" BERRY 
as another Network node through the RS-232 port. This is how the 
two TNC's can operate on different frequencies at the same 
location. The firmware does not allow them to transmit at the 
same time or when the other node is receiving.

Once you connect to a Network Node on either 145.05 or 145.03 MHz 
and you see a Node listed in the Node Table, for example RNO, 
that indicates that you can merely type C RNO and you should be 
connected to RNO in a few seconds. It does not matter which 
frequency you are on. The Network will automatically select the 
best Route. Also, the Node Tables are updated every few hours. If 
a Node has not responded within a certain length of time, 
approximately 4 hours, it will be dropped from the Node Table.

Here is an example. Say, you are on 145.03 and you connect to 
BUTTE. You look in the Node Table and you see RDG listed, which 
you know is on 145.05 and you want to connect to it. You merely 
type C RDG. The BUTTE node will connect to BERRY3 which will 
connect to BERRY (through the 2 foot long RS-232 cable) and then 
BERRY will connect to RDG. It is that easy. It is usually better 
to let the Network select the Route instead of making each 
connect manually.

The Route command at a Node will show you the Route Table which 
is a list of Nodes that can be connected to directly and the 
quality of the connection. A quality number of 192 is a good 
quality connection. Sometimes one Node hears another distant Node 
on rare occasions but cannot make a reliable connection. Such 
Routes will also appear, but with a low or zero quality in the 
Route Table. This prevents the Nodes from attempting an 
unreliable connection and forces the use of a less direct, but 
high quality connection.

Finally, BERRY, BERRY3, DELTA, and TRACY have a Help Command. 
With a Help H, or (H H) command you get even more help 
information. Also each of the four nodes has a 50K Mail Box for 
short personal messages. If yours or your ham contact's station 
does not have a Mail Box or he doesn't leave his TNC on all the 
time. You can put short messages to other stations in the Node's 
Mail Box. You can activate it by using the BBS command and it 
then works like any other packet Mail Box. Old messages will be 
deleted after a few weeks or a month to save space. You can also 
send Bulletin Messages to the Mail Box for all to read. Just like 
this one.

All four nodes are controlled remotely by K6JAC, Jack in 
Woodland and WB6YNM, Al on Bethel Island.


Network Node Terms, A Short Course:
NODE - The term node refers to a network node such as a G8BPQ, 
X1-J, K-Net, or NET/ROM type node. Non-network nodes such as KA-Node,
conference bridges, and digipeaters do not apply to this concept
of operation.

USER - A user is either a real, live person using a TNC to
connect to and use a node, or a server (BBS) that is basically
doing the same thing under computer control.

NEIGHBOR NODE - A neighbor node is a node that DELTA (for example) can
connect to "directly", without using an intermediate node. Note
that digipeater operation is allowed (2 max.). This means that a
node can be "out of range", but can still be considered a
neighbor since the connect path does not use any other nodes. All
known neighbor nodes ARE displayed with the ROUTES command.

DISTANT NODE - A distant node is a node that is too far away from
DELTA to connect to "directly", requiring the use of one or more
network nodes to reach. Distant nodes will NOT be displayed with
the ROUTES command.

DESTINATION NODE - A destination node is a node that DELTA
knows how to connect to - either directly (i.e. neighbor node),
or, in the case of a distant node, by using one or more
intermediate network nodes. All known destination nodes (neighbor
nodes and distant nodes) are displayed with the NODES command.

NODES AUTOMATICALLY LISTED
All neighbor nodes are destination nodes, but all destination
nodes are not necessarily neighbors. Destination nodes will
automatically appear in the nodes table by virtue of the node's
monitoring of neighbor node's broadcasts. A neighbor node will
automatically be listed in the nodes table and routes table.
Neighbor node broadcasts also contain information about other
nodes that DELTA may or may not be able to hear "directly".
These distant nodes will also be listed in the nodes table if
they pass the criteria for being listed (MINQUAL), and if there
is sufficient room for them to be listed (NETDEST)
Note: This information is the way it was about 6 mo. ago:
See below, the Neighbor Nodes to DELTA are: LAKOES, NAPA, PAC, & TRACY
(Quality 195). The second number is the number of nodes it has listed.
Nodes that DELTA can connect to directly sometimes are: DONNER, RDG,
LPRC2, MONO1, SNS, SIMEON, SKUNK, SWEET, YRGTN (Quality 91). All the
rest are Distant Nodes. The Node table and Routs will change with
changing conditions.
N (Node command sent to DELTA)
DELTA:WB6YNM-2} Nodes:
ALM:KB6EVD-1 CAHTO:K7WWA-8 CRANCH:WA6RWM-6 DONNER:W7TA-5
EKA:KA6ROM-2 FOT:KB6ZJS-2 GBV:KA6ROM-1 KENO:K7DDI-2
KLMTH:KA6ROM-3 LAKOES:KA7HQS-10 LPRC2:K6TAM-2 MODOC:K6JKC-5
NAPA:N6GBU-10 PAC:WA6TOW-1 RDG:KR6EY-1 RNO:W7TA-4
SHASTA:KJ6RA-2 SKUNK:K7WWA-6 SNS:K6JE-3 STOREY:KD6JUG-2
TRACY:WA6QPU-5 YREKA:KJ6RA-3 YRGTN:N7LPT-1

R (Route command sent to DELTA)
DELTA:WB6YNM-2} Routes:
1 KA7HQS-10 195 14!
> 1 N6GBU-10 195 17!
1 WA6TOW-1 195 13!
1 WA6QPU-5 195 12!
1 KR6EY-1 91 0!
1 N6LYF-10 0 0!
1 K6TAM-2 0 0!
1 KB6EVD-1 91 0!
1 W7TA-5 91 1!
1 KB6MDG-1 91 0!
1 K7WWA-6 192 2
1 W7TA-10 91 0!
1 K7WWA-8 91 0!
1 N7LPT-1 91 0!
1 K6JE-3 91 0!

The > means that this route is/was in use recently.

ROUTE TO A DISTANT NODE: If for example, you want to see what route
will be taken to a distant node that DELTA can not connect to directly,
you can enter the N RNO (assuming you want to connect to RNO). Here is
what you will see. This info tells you that the first choice will be to
connect to NAPA:N6GBU-10 and hand over the connect request to NAPA. Then
NAPA will take over from there. If NAPA fails, then LAKOES:KA7HQS-10 will
take over etc. If none of the routes succeeds, you will get a failure reply.

N RNO (Command sent to DELTA)
Routes to RNO:W7TA-4
113 4 1 N6GBU-10
112 5 1 KA7HQS-10
110 4 1 WA6TOW-1

SUGGESTED USAGE:
Let's assume you want to talk to a distant station that can hear some
distant node, for example RNO. And let's assume you can hear DELTA.
After you connect to DELTA, look in the NODE list. If RNO is listed,
then enter the command C RNO. This will allow the network to
automatically select the best route from DELTA to RNO. This will
usually work much better than doing your own node hopping, selecting
the intermediate nodes between DELTA and RNO. Give it a try.
USER COMMANDS at DELTA & TRACY:
BYE causes this node to disconnect you
BBS [/S] causes internal connect to BBS
CONNECT [[port] call|alias [/S]] to host or another node or enduser
CQ [UI text] puts you in CQ mode
CQBC enables UI broadcasting for CQ command
INFO Information about the station location etc.
LINKS Status of level 2 links
HELP List of commands available
HELP HELP List of commands with one line explanation of each
MHEARD [LONG|SHORT] Displays list of callsigns heard
NODES [{* | alias | call}]
PORTS Displays message about radio port
ROUTES Displays neighbors
STATS Displays L3 and L4 information
USERS Displays users connected to node
SYSOP allows login of authorized sysop
MANUAL SYSOP NODE COMMANDS I Use: 
ADDNODE [alias:]call port neighbor [via digi1[,digi2]] qual [obscnt]
ADDROUTE port call [via digi1[,digi2]] quality [!]
DELNODE [alias:]call port neighbor [via digi1[,digi2]]
DELROUTE port call [via digi1[,digi2]] qual

K-NET SETTINGS & CURRENT VALUES I have set:
CTEXT TEXT Text sent to someone connecting to NETALIAS (usually blank)
INFO TEXT Text up to 128 characters sent in response to INFO command
IDINT 90 Number of minutes between node id (0-255)
L3TTL 40 Max # of L3 hops (0-255)
L4DELAY 5 Level 4 acknowledge delay in seconds (1-60)
L4LIMIT 900 No activity timeout in seconds (0-65535)
L4N2 4 Level 4 retry count (1-127)
L4T1 60 Level 4 retry timer in seconds (5-600)
L4WINDOW 4 Max # of unacked packets for each circuit (1-127)
MINQUAL 110 Minimum quality in order to add to Nodes table
NODESINT 90 Number of minutes between node broadcasts (0-255)
OBSINIT 5 Initial L4 obsolescence value (1-127)
OBSMIN 3 Minimum obsolescence count in order to broadcast (1-127)
QUALITY 255/192 Port quality
NET SETTINGS & MEMORY ALLOCATION:
NETcall WB6YNM-2 WA6QPU-5 The station's callsign
NETAlias DELTA TRACY The Node's Name
NETBuffs 40 40 Number of buffers for node info
NETCIrcs 8 8 Number of Network Circuits available
NETDests 30 30 Maximun # of destination nodes
NETLinks 15 15 Maximun # of uplinks, downlinks, & crosslinks
NETRoute 20 20 Maximun # of routes to neighbor nodes
NETUsers 8 8 Maximun # of uplinks & downlinks from the node
XKchksum OFF OFF Who Knows?
XKPolled OFF OFF Who Knows?