TNC2(9) XR32 REFERENCE MANUAL 3/2/2013
NAME
TNC2 -- TNC2 Emulator.
DESCRIPTION
The TNC2 Emulator is a feature which allows RS232 devices
such as weather stations, dumb terminals, GPS and telemetry
devices to send and receive packets as if they were connected
to a real TNC2.
\|/ .------.
| .-----. | | .-----.
'---| Rig |---| XR32 |----<----| GPS |
'-----' | | RS232 '-----'
'------'
For example, imagine you have a weather station which is
designed to be connected to a TNC via an RS232 cable. Now
imagine that you already have an APRS port on your XR32. How
would you get your weather station on air? You could use an
additional TNC, radio and antenna, but that would be a
pointless duplication of equipment. Far better to set up XR32
to emulate a TNC so that it can interface directly to the
weather station, allowing the weather station to send to, and
receive from, the existing APRS port.
Or you may have a dumb terminal connected to XR32 via an RS232
cable, and use it to monitor any port, make connections with
other stations etc. This is completely independent of XR32's
command interface, and does not require a session with the
node.
There are several applications which have TNC2 as one of the
interface options. You may interface them to any of XR32's
radio ports via that means.
Or perhaps you wish to monitor a radio channel with a data
logging program, or send the channel activity to a serial
printer? The possibilities are limited by your imagination.
Configuration
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The emulator requires only an INTERFACE in XROUTER.CFG. It
does *not* require a PORT. It is configured by defining an
INTERFACE with TYPE=ASYNC and PROTOCOL=TNC2. Choose SPEED to
suit the peripherals, and MTU=256.
Example:
INTERFACE=5
TYPE=ASYNC
COM=1
SPEED=19200
PROTOCOL=TNC2
MTU=256
ENDINTERFACE
You can have as many TNC emulators as you wish, providing you
have an RS232 port for each one. You should preferably use a
different MYCALL or SSID for each one if there is any chance
of more than one TNC being used on the same radio port.
Operation
~~~~~~~~~
Standard TNC2 commands currently recognised are Ctrl-C,
AUTOLF, CONNECT, CONVERSE, DISCONNECT, ECHO, FLOW, K, MCON,
MONITOR, MYCALL, PORT, and UNPROTO. Others may be implemented
upon request.
You may set the TNC's callsign (using MYCALL) completely
independently of XR32's callsign, and may select any of XR32's
radio ports using the PORT command. When you select a port,
the TNC2 emulator receives from, and transmits to, the radio
equipment connected to that port.
All settings are saved to the file TNCn.CFG where 'n' is the
interface number. This file is automatically created if it
doesn't already exist. It is read when XR32 starts up, so the
TNC always returns to its previous configuration. The file
contains binary data, so you must not attempt to edit it.
Note: The emulator does not currently accept incoming
connections. That facilitity may be added upon request.
SEE ALSO
WA8DED(9) -- WA8DED TNC Emulator
XROUTER.CFG(8) -- Main Configuraion File
TNC2(9) END OF DOCUMENT
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