Developed by Dick Newell, AK1A,
during the late 1980's the PacketCluster™
software became the most popular and exciting way
for Ham Radio operators interested in DX'ing
(working the world) to exchange DX
related-information. Over 15 years later the
software is still in use, however many nodes are
replacing it with AR-Cluster™, and other DX
Cluster software including DXSpider, CLX, DxNet,
Clusse, and WinCluster.
One station is set up with DX
PacketCluster and is linked to one or more other
stations who have installed the software. These
Nodes when connected are called a Cluster.
Clusters are connected to clusters, expanding the
network. Individual users connect to the nodes on a
frequency different from what the node stations are
linked on. Users are capable of announcing DX
spots and related announcements, send personal
talk messages, send and receive mail
messages, search and retrieve archived data,
and access data from information databases
among its many features.
THE
INTERNET
The Internet has greatly
augmented the way a DX Cluster network
operates. Amateur radio stations are popping up
worldwide running DX Cluster software, connecting to
one another via the Internet using the telnet
protocol, to collect DX spots, talk messages,
announcements, and mail messages. Most all have RF
access for local hams while a few do not, allowing a
user to connect using telnet.
With the advent of new
internet-aware cluster software (e.g., DXSpider and
ARCluster), users now have the opportunity to
connect to cluster nodes via the internet.
Unfortunately, the old simple TNC connect
command such as
conn k1ea
is no longer sufficient. In most
cases, an internet connection to a cluster node is
done by running what’s known as a "telnet session"
or "telnet client" or even "telnet application."
Telnet is merely the Internet equivalent of
dumb-terminal emulation. But instead of connecting
to the simple call sign used by an RF packet node,
you'll see an Internet address or host name, such
as:
66.189.87.210 [IP
Address]
dxc.k1ea.com
[Host Name]
66.189.87.210 7300 [IP Address and Port Number]
dxc.k1ea.com 7300 [Host Name and Port Number]
Contest and DX logging programs usually include
instructions for opening a telnet session. But you
can always open a plain old terminal window, if you
want. There are a large number of
telnet applications with varying levels of
sophistication. Each of these programs needs to use
the correct form of the connect command for the
respective cluster node.
Perhaps the simplest is telnet.exe, built into
most Windows systems. Check your start menu for
"Telnet," or open the "Run" dialog box and type in
"telnet":
Once you're in, select "Remote System..." from
the "Connect" menu. You'll get a dialog box. This
dialog is easy to use for both the IP Address
and Host Name ways for specifying a node...
just type the information in the top text box:
The third and forth forms add a
port number to the IP address or host name.
This is actually quite simple, once you understand
it.
Each time you telnet to some
address, you are actually using a port number. In
the case of a standard telnet session, the port
number is implicitly provided as port 25. In
the previous two illustrations, the "telnet" entry
on the second line actually means port 25. Many
cluster nodes, however, use port 7300. Just change
the port number to 7300 and you'll have a successful
connection, e.g.:
Finally, you can do it all in one
step... start a Windows telnet session by using
Start > Run and then entering the address as seen in
the following illustration.
Tip: Here's where another
bit of convention can be a problem. In some
cases, the port is included right after the
address, separated by only a space. The Unix
world, web URLs, and some logging programs
specify the address as:
dxc.kb1h.com:7300
But are others Telnet
software so much better than the Windows one. I like
(and this is the one that I use all time) the PuTTY
software:
PuTTY it's absolutely free. Is
tiny, compared to many other Windows applications.
And it's easy to install: it depends on no DLLs, no
other applications, no service packs or system
upgrades. It's just one executable. You install that
executable wherever you want to, and run it.
Only need to configure the ip
address, the port number and selecting also the Telnet Protocol on Session
Caterory in the same way that next image shows:
After that, need to configure
the "Local Echo" typing, selecting the follow
options at Line discipline optionson
TerminalSection in the same way that
next image shows:
After that, return to
Session Caterory clicking on it. Write
the name of node (4M5DX) on Saved session
space. Then press Save button
And that's all!!! Press Load button
(or double click on the session name) to get open
the connection
Maybe you
will prompted to granted the internet access through
your Firewall upon connection has established for
using the first time on your OS.
Group
