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Last Updated November 16, 2008

Telephone Pioneers Amateur Radio Club

How To Use The TPARC Network

Switch Overview

Connecting to Applications

All service or drop switches (TNC modems) have three (3) user applications that you can connect to and receive information about the switch:

• INFO - Displays information about the switch and services available through the network.
• USERS - Displays a list of the users on the switch and adjacent switches.
• HEARD - Displays a list of stations recently heard by the switch.

To run one of these user applications, use its application name as the call sign in a standard connect request and quote the address of the switch for which you want the information from while you are listening on one of the drop frequencies. You can find our drop frequencies by looking at the Network Map or the switch overview (above).

As an example, suppose you were entering the network from the UHF drop at Vancouver and you want to see which users were using the VHF service in Victoria. You would enter a connect request as follows:

	c users v ve7tel-6,250380
	   ^        ^       ^
	   |        |       |
	   Service  |       |
	   or       |       |
	   Callsign |       TPARC Exit Switch
	   (far end)|       (far end) ADDRESS
	            |       
	            |       
                TPARC Entry 
                Switch (local) CALLSIGN
	

The "c" is the call request

Folowed by "users" which is the SERVICE we are trying to connect to. If you were trying to connect to a distant ham, you would put their callsign in here. If you were connecting to a RMS node, you would put the node callsign in here that is listening on the distant repeater's frequency.

The "v" is shorthand for VIA. We are setting up the call to SERVICE VIA the path that follows.

The local TPARC switch (repeater) we are entering the network through is VE7TEL where the "-6" identifies it as the UHF Port (make sure your radio is on the UHF repeater frequency).

The 250380 is the ROSE Address (SSID) of the far end TPARC switch (repeater) that you are requesting the information from, or trying to connect through. If you are trying to connect to a distant ham, they need to be monitoring the repeater associated to this address to receive your call. If you are connecting to a distant RMS node, it must be monitoring the repeater associated to the address too.

In the above example, we are trying to connect to the USERS service on the 250380 (VE7TPV-3) switch in Victoria. The local repeater we are entering the network on is VE7TEL-6 (the UHF drop repeater).

You will then see "Call being Setup". This simply means that the repeater you are using has accepted you request and is now forwarding your request along the route to Victoria.

The next line you see will say, "Call complete to USERS - 0 @ 3020250747" which contains the complete international ROSE Address (SSID) of the switch you queried. Soon after, you should receive the users list and an option at the end.

If you are calling a RMS node, you should see it eventually accept your call and process your request.

Connecting to Other Users

Sending a message to a friend in Victoria is very similar. Just replace "users" for the call sign of your friend, and if that station is on the air a contact will occur. In the event that the station is not on the air a message will come back after several seconds telling you that the station you are attempting to contact is either busy or not answering.

At the present, we have not yet set up a server to keep track of the various user stations heard throughout the network, and make this information available automatically to someone looking for them. This "white pages server" is a future consideration. You could connect to the HEARD applications at various points throughout the network and see if their call sign had been heard.