2 # please put your help in in alphabetical order
4 # a string search is done in the command field (case is ignored)
5 # and all commands matching the asked for command are printed out
7 # the order of the fields in each header is
8 # privilege, command, Description
9 # if the command ends in a - then that line isn't printed, but any
10 # subsequent lines are
12 # Comment lines are indented before printing
14 === 0^ANNOUNCE <text>^Send an announcement to LOCAL users only
16 === 0^ANNOUNCE FULL <text>^Send an announcement cluster wide
17 This will send your announcement cluster wide
19 === 5^ANNOUNCE SYSOP <text>^Send an announcement to Sysops only
22 <text> is the text of the announcement you wish to broadcast
24 === 0^APROPOS <string>^Search help database for <string>
25 Search the help database for <string> (it isn't case sensitive), and print
26 the names of all the commands that may be relevant.
28 === 0^BYE^Exit from the cluster
29 This will disconnect you from the cluster
31 === 5^CONNECT <callsign>^Start a connection to another DX Cluster
32 Start a connection process that will culminate in a new connection to the
33 DX cluster <callsign>. This process creates a new 'client' process which will
34 use the script in /spider/connect/<callsign> to effect the 'chat' exchange
35 necessary to traverse the network(s) to logon to the cluster <callsign>.
37 === 9^CATCH <node call> All|[<msgno> ...]^Mark a message as sent
38 === 9^UNCATCH <node call> All|[msgno> ...]^Unmark a message as sent
39 When you send messages the fact that you have forwarded it to another node
40 is remembered so that it isn't sent again. When you have a new partner
41 node and you add their callsign to your /spider/msg/forward.pl file, all
42 outstanding non-private messages will be forwarded to them. This may well
43 be ALL the non-private messages. You can prevent this by using these
47 catch GB7DJK 300 301 302 303
49 and to undo what you have just done:-
52 uncatch GB7DJK 300 301 302 303
54 which will arrange for them to be forward candidates again.
56 === 9^DEBUG^Set the cluster program into debug mode
57 Executing this command will only have an effect if you are running the cluster
62 It will interrupt the cluster just after the debug command has finished.
63 === 0^DIRECTORY^List messages
64 === 0^DIRECTORY ALL^List all messages
65 === 0^DIRECTORY OWN^List your own messages
66 === 0^DIRECTORY NEW^List all new messages
67 === 0^DIRECTORY TO <call>^List all messages to <call>
68 === 0^DIRECTORY FROM <call>^List all messages from <call>
69 === 0^DIRECTORY SUBJECT <string>^List all messages with <string> in subject
70 === 0^DIRECTORY <nn>^List last <nn> messages
71 === 0^DIRECTORY <from>-<to>^List messages <from> message <to> message
72 List the messages in the messages directory.
74 If there is a 'p' one space after the message number then it is a
75 personal message. If there is a '-' between the message number and the
76 'p' then this indicates that the message has been read.
78 You can use shell escape characters such as '*' and '?' in the <call>
81 You can combine some of the various directory commands together eg:-
85 DIR SUBJECT IOTA 200-250
87 You can abbreviate all the commands to one letter and use ak1a syntax:-
93 Sysops can see all users' messages.
95 === 8^DISCONNECT <call> [<call> ...]^Disconnect a user or cluster
96 Disconnect any <call> connected locally
98 === 0^DX <freq> <callsign> <remarks>^Send a DX spot throughout the cluster
99 <freq> is compared against the available bands set up in the cluster.
100 see show/bands for more information.
102 === 1^FORWARD/OPERNAME <call>^Send out information on this <call> to all clusters
103 This command sends out any information held in the user file which can
104 be broadcast in PC41 protocol packets. This information is Name, QTH, Location
105 and Homenode. PC41s are only sent for the information that is available.
107 === 0^HELP^The HELP Command
108 HELP is available for a number of commands. The syntax is:-
112 Where <cmd> is the name of the command you want help on.
114 All commands can be abbreviated, so SHOW/DX can be abbreviated
115 to SH/DX, ANNOUNCE can be shortened to AN and so on.
117 Look at the APROPOS <string> command which will search the help database
118 for the <string> you specify and give you a list of likely commands
119 to look at with HELP.
121 === 0^KILL <msgno> [<msgno..]^Delete a message from the local system
122 Delete a message from the local system. You will only be able to delete messages
123 that you have originated or been sent (unless you are the sysop).
125 === 5^KILL FULL <msgno> [<msgno..]^Delete a message from the whole cluster
126 Delete a message (usually a 'bulletin') from the whole cluster system.
128 This uses the subject field, so any messages that have exactly the same subject
129 will be deleted. Beware!
131 === 9^LOAD/ALIASES^Reload the command alias table
132 Reload the /spider/cmd/Aliases file after you have editted it. You will need to
133 do this if you change this file whilst the cluster is running in order for the
134 changes to take effect.
136 === 9^LOAD/BANDS^Reload the band limits table
137 Reload the /spider/data/bands.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
138 the cluster is running.
140 === 9^LOAD/CMD_CACHE^Reload the automatic command cache
141 Normally, if you change a command file in the cmd or local_cmd tree it will
142 automatially be picked up by the cluster program. Sometimes it can get confused
143 if you are doing a lot of moving commands about or delete a command in the
144 local_cmd tree and want to use the normal one again. Execute this command to
145 reset everything back to the state it was just after a cluster restart.
147 === 9^LOAD/MESSAGES^Reload the system messages file
148 If you change the /spider/perl/Messages file (usually whilst fiddling/writing new
149 commands) you can have them take effect during a cluster session by executing this
150 command. You need to do this if get something like :-
152 unknown message 'xxxx' in lang 'en'
154 === 9^LOAD/PREFIXES^Reload the prefix table
155 Reload the /spider/data/prefix_data.pl file if you have changed it manually whilst
156 the cluster is running.
158 === 5^MERGE <node> [<no spots>/<no wwv>]^Ask for the latest spots and WWV
159 MERGE allows you to bring your spot and wwv database up to date. By default
160 it will request the last 10 spots and 5 WWVs from the node you select. The
161 node must be connected locally.
163 You can request any number of spots or wwv and although they will be appended
164 to your databases they will not duplicate any that have recently been added
165 (the last 2 days for spots and last month for WWV data).
167 === 9^MSG <cmd> <msgno> [data ... ]^Alter various message parameters
168 Alter message parameters like To, From, Subject, whether private or bulletin
169 or return receipt (RR) is required or whether to keep this message from timing
172 MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
173 MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
174 MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
175 MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
176 MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
177 MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
178 MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
179 MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
180 MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
181 MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waitting time for this message
182 MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
183 MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
185 You can look at the status of a message by using:-
189 This will display more information on the message than DIR does.
191 === 8^PC <call> <text>^Send text (eg PC Protocol) to <call>
192 Send some arbitrary text to a locally connected callsign. No processing is done on
193 the text. This command allows you to send PC Protocol to unstick things if problems
194 arise (messages get stuck etc). eg:-
195 pc gb7djk PC33^GB7TLH^GB7DJK^400^
197 pc G1TLH Try doing that properly!!!
199 === 1^PING <node>^Send a ping command to another cluster
200 This command is used to estimate the quality of the link to another cluster.
201 The time returned is the length of time taken for a PC51 to go to another
202 cluster and be returned.
204 === 0^KILL <msgno> [<msgno> ...]^Remove or erase a message from the system
205 You can get rid of any message to or originating from your callsign using
206 this command. You can remove more than one message at a time.
208 === 5^KILL <from>-<to>^Remove a range of messages from the system
209 === 5^KILL FROM <call>^Remove all messages from a callsign
210 === 5^KILL TO <call>^Remove all messages to a callsign
211 === 5^KILL FULL <msgno> [<msgno]^Remove a message from the entire cluster
212 Remove this message from the entire cluster system as well as your node.
215 As a sysop you can kill any message on the system.
217 === 8^PC <call> <text>^Send arbitrary text to a connected callsign
218 Send any text you like to the callsign requested. This is used mainly to send
219 PC protocol to connected nodes either for testing or to unstick things.
221 You can also use in the same way as a talk command to a connected user but
222 without any processing, added of "from <blah> to <blah" or whatever.
224 === 1^PING <node call>^Find out the delays an a circuit to another node
225 This command will enable sysops to determine the speed of an inter-cluster
228 Any visible cluster node can be PINGed.
230 === 1^RCMD <node call> <cmd>^Send a command to another DX Cluster
231 This command allows you to send nearly any command to another DX Cluster
232 node that is connected to the system.
234 Whether you get any output is dependant on a) whether the other system knows
235 that the node callsign of this cluster is in fact a node b) whether the
236 other system is allowing RCMDs from this node and c) whether you have
237 permission to send this command at all.
239 === 0^READ^Read the next unread personal message addressed to you
240 === 0^READ <msgno>^Read the specified message
241 You can read any messages that are sent as 'non-personal' and also any
242 message either sent by or sent to your callsign.
245 As a sysop you may read any message on the system
247 === 0^REPLY^Reply to the last message that you have read
248 === 0^REPLY <msgno>^Reply to the specified message
249 === 0^REPLY PRIVATE <msgno>^Reply privately to the specified message
250 === 0^REPLY RR <msgno>^Reply to the specified message with read receipt
251 You can reply to a message and the subject will automatically have
252 "Re:" inserted in front of it, if it isn't already present.
254 You can also use all the extra qualifiers such as RR, PRIVATE,
255 NOPRIVATE that you can use with the SEND command (see SEND
258 === 0^SEND <call> [<call> ...]^Send a message to one or more callsigns
259 === 0^SEND RR <call>^Send a message and ask for a read receipt
260 === 0^SEND COPY <msgno> <call>^Send a copy of a message to someone
261 === 0^SEND PRIVATE <call>^Send a personal message
262 === 0^SEND NOPRIVATE <call>^Send a message to all stations
263 All the SEND commands will create a message which will be sent either to
264 an individual callsign or to one of the 'bulletin' addresses.
266 SEND <call> on its own acts as though you had typed SEND PRIVATE, that is
267 it will mark the message as personal and send it to the cluster node that
268 that callsign is connected to.
270 You can have more than one callsign in all of the SEND commands.
272 You can have multiple qualifiers so that you can have for example:-
274 SEND RR COPY 123 PRIVATE G1TLH G0RDI
276 which should send a copy of message 123 to G1TLH and G0RDI and you will
277 receive a read receipt when they have read the message.
279 SB is an alias for SEND NOPRIVATE (or send a bulletin in BBS speak)
280 SP is an alias for SEND PRIVATE
282 === 0^SET/ADDRESS <your address>^Record your postal address
284 === 0^SET/ANNOUNCE^Allow announce messages to come out on your terminal
285 === 0^UNSET/ANNOUNCE^Stop announce messages coming out on your terminal
287 === 0^SET/BEEP^Add a beep to DX and other messages on your terminal
288 === 0^UNSET/BEEP^Stop beeps for DX and other messages on your terminal
290 === 9^SET/DEBUG <name>^Add a debug level to the debug set
291 === 9^UNSET/DEBUG <name>^Remove a debug level from the debug set
293 === 0^SET/DX^Allow DX messages to come out on your terminal
294 === 0^UNSET/DX^Stop DX messages coming out on your terminal
296 === 0^SET/HERE^Tell the system you are present at your terminal
297 === 0^UNSET/HERE^Tell the system you are absent from your terminal
299 === 0^SET/HOMENODE <node> ^Set your normal cluster callsign
300 Tell the cluster system where you normally connect to. Any Messages sent
301 to you will normally find their way there should you not be connected.
305 === 9^SET/ISOLATE^Isolate a node from the rest of the network
306 Connect a node to your system in such a way that you are a full protocol
307 member of its network and can see all spots on it, but nothing either leaks
308 out from it nor goes back into from the rest of the nodes connected to you.
310 You can potentially connect several nodes in this way.
312 === 9^UNSET/ISOLATE^Stop Isolation of a node from the rest of the network
313 Remove isolation from a node - SET/ISOLATE
315 === 0^SET/LANGUAGE <lang>^Set the language you want to use
316 You can select the language that you want the cluster to use. Currently
317 the languages available are en (english) and nl (dutch).
319 === 0^SET/LOCATION <lat & long>^Set your latitude and longitude
320 === 9^SET/SYS_LOCATION <lat & long>^Set your cluster latitude and longitude
321 In order to get accurate headings and such like you must tell the system
322 what your latitude and longitude is. If you have not yet done a SET/QRA
323 then this command will set your QRA locator for you. For example:-
324 SET/LOCATION 52 22 N 0 57 E
326 === 9^SET/LOCKOUT <call>^Stop a callsign connecting to the cluster
327 === 9^UNSET/LOCKOUT <call>^Allow a callsign to connect to the cluster
329 === 0^SET/NAME <your name>^Set your name
330 Tell the system what your name is eg:-
333 === 9^SET/NODE <call> [<call>..]^Make the callsign an AK1A cluster
334 Tell the system that the call(s) are to be treated as AK1A cluster and
335 fed PC Protocol rather normal user commands.
337 === 0^SET/PAGE <lines per page>^Set the lines per page
338 Tell the system how many lines you wish on a page when the number of line
339 of output from a command is more than this. The default is 20. Setting it
340 explicitly to 0 will disable paging.
344 === 9^SET/PRIVILEGE <n> <call> [<call..]^Set privilege level on a call
345 Set the privilege level on a callsign. The privilege levels that pertain
346 to commands are as default:-
348 1 - allow remote nodes normal user RCMDs
349 5 - various privileged commands (including shutdown, but not disc-
350 connect), the normal level for another node.
351 8 - more privileged commands (including disconnect)
352 9 - local sysop privilege. DO NOT SET ANY REMOTE USER OR NODE TO THIS
354 If you are a sysop and you come in as a normal user on a remote connection
355 your privilege will automatically be set to 0.
357 === 9^SET/PASSWORD <callsign> <string>^Set a users password
358 The password for a user can only be set by a full sysop. The string
359 can contain any characters but any spaces are removed (you can type in
360 spaces - but they won't appear in the password). You can see the
361 result with STAT/USER.
363 === 0^SET/QRA <locator>^Set your QRA locator
364 === 9^SET/SYS_QRA <locator>^Set your cluster QRA locator
365 Tell the system what your QRA (or Maidenhead) locator is. If you have not
366 done a SET/LOCATION then your latitude and longitude will be set roughly
367 correctly (assuming your locator is correct ;-). For example:-
370 === 0^SET/QTH <your qth>^Set your QTH
371 Tell the system where you are. For example:-
372 SET/QTH East Dereham, Norfolk
374 === 0^SET/TALK^Allow TALK messages to come out on your terminal
375 === 0^UNSET/TALK^Stop TALK messages coming out on your terminal
377 === 0^SET/WWV^Allow WWV messages to come out on your terminal
378 === 0^UNSET/WWV^Stop WWV messages coming out on your terminal
380 === 0^SET/WX^Allow WX messages to come out on your terminal
381 === 0^UNSET/WX^Stop WX messages coming out on your terminal
383 === 0^SHOW/DX^Interrogate the spot database
384 If you just type SHOW/DX you will get the last so many spots
385 (sysop configurable, but usually 10).
387 In addition you can add any number of these commands in very nearly
388 any order to the basic SHOW/DX command, they are:-
390 on <band> - eg 160m 20m 2m 23cm 6mm
391 on <region> - eg hf vhf uhf shf (see SHOW/BANDS)
393 <number> - the number of spots you want
394 <from>-<to> - <from> spot no <to> spot no in the selected list
396 <prefix> - for a spotted callsign beginning with <prefix>
397 *<suffix> - for a spotted callsign ending in <suffix>
398 *<string>* - for a spotted callsign containing <string>
400 day <number> - starting <number> days ago
401 day <from>-<to> - <from> days <to> days ago
403 info <text> - any spots containing <text> in the info or remarks
405 by <call> - any spots spotted by <call> (spotter <call> is the
408 qsl - this automatically looks for any qsl info on the call
409 held in the spot database.
411 iota [<iota>] - If the iota island number is missing it will look for
412 the string iota and anything which looks like an iota
413 island number. If you specify then it will look for
416 qra [<locator>] - this will look for the specific locator if you specify
417 one or else anything that looks like a locator.
422 SH/DX on 20m info iota
423 SH/DX 9a on vhf day 30
429 === 0^SHOW/DXCC <prefix>^Interrogate the spot database by country
430 This command takes the <prefix> (which can be a full or partial
431 callsign if desired), looks up which internal country number it is
432 and then displays all the spots as per SH/DX for that country.
434 The options for SHOW/DX also apply to this command.
438 SH/DXCC W on 20m info iota
440 === 0^SHOW/FILES [<filearea> [<string>]]^List the contents of a filearea
441 SHOW/FILES on its own will show you a list of the various fileareas
442 available on the system. To see the contents of a particular file
445 where <filearea> is the name of the filearea you want to see the
448 You can also use shell globbing characters like '*' and '?' in a
449 string to see a selection of files in a filearea eg:-
450 SH/FILES bulletins arld*
452 See also TYPE - to see the contents of a file.
454 === 0^SHOW/PREFIX <callsign>^Interrogate the prefix database
455 This command takes the <callsign> (which can be a full or partial
456 callsign or a prefix), looks up which internal country number
457 it is and then displays all the relevant prefixes for that country
458 together with the internal country no, the CQ and ITU regions.
462 === 0^SHOW/PROGRAM^Show the locations of all the included program modules
463 Show the name and location where every program module was load from. This
464 is useful for checking where you think you have loaded a .pm file from.
466 === 0^SHOW/WWV^Show last 10 WWV broadcasts
467 === 0^SHOW/WWV <n>^Show last <n> WWV broadcasts
468 Display the most recent WWV information that has been received by the system
470 === 5^SHUTDOWN^Shutdown the cluster
471 Shutdown the cluster and disconnect all the users
473 === 5^STAT/CHANNEL [<callsign>]^Show the status of a channel on the cluster
474 Show the internal status of the channel object either for the channel that
475 you are on or else for the callsign that you asked for.
477 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
479 === 5^STAT/USER [<callsign>]^Show the full status of a user
480 Shows the full contents of a user record including all the secret flags
483 Only the fields that are defined (in perl term) will be displayed.
485 === 0^SYSOP^Regain your privileges if you login remotely
486 The system automatically reduces your privilege level to that of a
487 normal user if you login in remotely. This command allows you to
488 regain your normal privilege level. It uses the normal system: five
489 numbers are returned that are indexes into the character array that is
490 your assigned password (see SET/PASSWORD). The indexes start from
493 You are expected to return a string which contains the characters
494 required in the correct order. You may intersperse those characters
495 with others to obscure your reply for any watchers. For example (and
496 these values are for explanation :-):
498 password = 012345678901234567890123456789
502 aa2bbbb0ccc5ddd7xxx3n
506 They will all match. If there is no password you will still be offered
507 numbers but nothing will happen when you input a string. Any match is
510 === 0^TALK <call> <text>^Send a text message to another station
511 === 0^TALK <call> > <node> <text>^Send a text message to another station via a node
512 Send a short message to any other station that is visible on the cluster
513 system. You can send it to anyone you can see with a SHOW/CONFIGURATION
514 command, they don't have to be connected locally.
516 The second form of TALK is used when other cluster nodes are connected
517 with restricted information. This usually means that they don't send
518 the user information usually associated with logging on and off the cluster.
520 If you know that G3JNB is likely to be present on GB7TLH, but you can only
521 see GB7TLH in the SH/C list but with no users, then you would use the
522 second form of the talk message.
524 === 0^TYPE <filearea>/<name>^Look at the contents of a file in one of the fileareas
525 Type out the contents of a file in a filearea. So, for example, in
526 filearea 'bulletins' you want to look at file 'arld051' you would
528 TYPE bulletins/arld051
530 See also SHOW/FILES to see what fileareas are available and a
533 === 0^WHO^Show who is physically connected
534 This is a quick listing that shows which callsigns are connected and
535 what sort of connection they have
537 === 0^WX <text>^Send a weather message to local users
538 === 0^WX FULL <text>^Send a weather message to all cluster users
539 === 5^WX SYSOP <text>^Send a weather message to other clusters only
540 Weather messages can sometimes be useful if you are experiencing an extreme
541 that may indicate enhanced conditions