What’s IZ4AFW AGW Packet Engine Telnet Interface?

IZ4AFW AGW Packet Engine Telnet Interface (formerly known as "IZ4AFW Logger <-> AGW Packet Engine Interface", and from now on called "IZ4AFW Interface") is a program which lets you use a TNC or "dumb modem" (like Baycom and YAM) supported by SV2AGW’s AGW Packet Engine for DX Cluster support under Logger, a great logging program written by Bob Furzer K4CY, and, starting with release 1.2.0, also with N1MM Contest Logger, and virtually with any telnet client.

What's new in this version

This release has 2 major improvements:

• Support for virtually any telnet client: previous versions were written only for Logger by K4CY, and this prevented them from working with some other programs and telnet clients. Now the program uses a better algorithm which should guarantee a better compatibility;
• "Connect via digis" feature, which allows you to connect to a cluster via a digipeater, if needed.

How IZ4AFW Interface works?

IZ4AFW Interface is a sort of "pipe program": on one side it is a telnet server, on the other one it interfaces with AGW Packet Engine. In this way you can connect to your "dumb modem" just by telnetting to your machine. The "low level problems" of generating and mantaining the physical connection to the DX cluster is left to AGW Packet Engine.

Configuring IZ4AFW Interface

In order to use IZ4AFW Interface, you need to configure it. These are the required steps (you need to configure the program only once, the first time you use it):

1. Start AGW Packet Engine

2. Start IZ4AFW Interface

Click on Preferences

A new window will open; you need to set your callsign, the DX Cluster callsign you want to connect to, and some more options.
If you want to connect to the cluster via digipeaters you can specify the digi's callsigns in the appropriate text box; remember to separate them with commas (" , ") and that you can specify a maximum of 8 digis to reach the cluster node.
Here you can find some more information about these options:

• Local TCP Port: it is the TCP port number the program will run on. By default it is 4444, but you can change it if you need. A common value is 23, but it works only if a telnet server is not already running on that port. If you don’t know what a TCP port is or you are unsure, just don’t change it.
• AutoMinimize: AutoMinimize is a feature which minimizes IZ4AFW Interface window after a predefined delay. The default delay is 10 seconds, but you can change it by your needs.
• RadioPort: the RadioPort number of the modem you want to use (check Packet Engine to find it)

Monitor Mode: Specifies if the program must connect to the cluster, or it just must monitor it (see What's new)

Once you have configured the program, just press the "OK" button and all the settings will be saved.

Interfacing with K4CY Logger

In order to interface correctly with Logger, you need to modify some options in the Logger program. To do so, just follow these simple steps:

1. Start Logger
2. Click on "Telnet" button
3. Click on "Config" button
4. Add an entry to IZ4AFW Interface. To do so you need to click on an empty row in the list of available clusters, then enter a mnemonic name (like your callsign or "Local" or "IZ4AFW Interface", etc.) and in the address field enter either "localhost" or "127.0.0.1"
5. Click on "Port" button and select the appropriate port number. This is the number you can find in the IZ4AFW Interface Preferences Panel (Local TCP Port).
6. Done!

From now on you will just need to open Telnet and connect to your local machine. For more info about using Logger’s Telnet window, just check Logger Online Help.

Interfacing with N1MM Contest Logger

Interfacing with N1MM Contest Logger is very similar to interfacing with K4CY Logger, so you can refer to N1MM's online help to get more detailed instructions.

Using IZ4AFW Interface

Using IZ4AFW Interface is really simple and straightforward. Once you have configured it you just need to follow these steps:

1. Start AGW Packet Engine
2. Start IZ4AFW Interface
3. Start Logger
4. Click on "Telnet", select the appropriate connection and click on "Connect"
5. Done

From now on you will see all the DX spots on the DX Cluster window in Logger!

Getting Software

Here you can find all the needed software:

You can find my addresses (email and WWW) also on the "About" page in the program.

Licensing

This program is Copyright (C) 1999-2001 by Fabio Mantovani IZ4AFW. All rights reserved.

The program is released as QSLware: if you use it you are encouraged to send me your QSL card (via bureau is OK); anyway if you think that this program is useful / valuable, any sort of donation is welcome HI ;-)

Contacting the Author

You can contact me at the following addresses: