APRS Server Setup Remove the Background Image

PLEASE NOTE - It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that if you operate an IGATE, it meets your local amateur radio licensing regulations!

Select A Server - Check the internet server(s) you want to use to connect to APRServe. The server(s) you check will automatically move to the top of the list. These are the servers that will be used when you use the "Connect To APRS Server" option on the Action menu. How the selelcted servers are used depends on how many you check -

If you check only one server, this is the only server that will ever be used. If a connection fails, and "auto reconnect" is enabled, then UI-View32 will attempt to reconnect to the same server.

If you check two servers, the first one in the list will be the primary server, but if a connection to it fails, and "auto reconnect" is enabled, then the second server will be used.

If you check more than two servers, one will be randomly selected. If a connection fails, and "auto reconnect" is enabled, then a different server will be randomly selected.

To add extra servers to the list, click on the list, press the Insert key on the keyboard, key in the new server name, and press Return. The format for a server name is "host_name:port", e.g. "ahubswe.net:2023", or "ip_address:port", e.g. "213.180.75.122:2023". If you wish, you can add a comment, which will be used as the tooltip text, by putting it after a semicolon, e.g. "ahubswe.net:2023;Full feed".

To remove a server from the list, highlight it in the list and press the Delete key.

You can rearrange the servers in the list by dragging them with the mouse but the selected server(s) will always be moved to the top.

If you want to replace the whole list with a more up-to-date list or servers, then use the "Download APRS Server List" utility, available on the File menu. PLEASE read the help for the download utility before you use it.

One server in the default list is special - AFilter:3033. This is KC9XG's AFilter program. If you wish t o use this server, you must have AFilter installed and running on your PC. (The server address is automatically translated by UI-View32 to localhost:3033.)

Many servers have more than one port available, with different ports providing different feeds. The ports listed for the default servers should all provide an unbuffered "whole world" feed. Many servers have an associated web page with information about the server and the ports available - e.g. information about aprsca.net can be found on http://www.aprsca.net. Unfortunately sometimes the web page name isn't directly related to the server name, so a little searching of the net may be needed.

If you connect to a server and get a connection error, then the most likely problem is that the server isn't running, so select another server.

NOTE - some server ports provide an unbuffered feed (usually port 23, 2023 or 10152), but some ports provide a buffered feed (e.g. port 10151), which means that, when you first connect, you will immediaterly receive a large amount of bufferd data. If you choose to use a buffered port, then it is very important that you follow the advice at the top of the APRServe section of the help!

APRServe logon required - this should be checked unless your server is a local server, such as another copy of UI-View32 with "local server" enabled.

Text to send on connection - This allows you to specify a command to be sent to the server when the connection occurs. It is designed for use when connecting via a proxy , and should normally be left blank - see "Connecting via a proxy" below.

Validation number - Input your APRServe validation number. See APRServe Validation Numbers for information on how to obtain one. This option is locked out (a) If "APRServe logon required" isn't checked. (b) If your UI-View32 isn't registered.

Enable auto reconnect - If you check this option, then UI-View32 will automatically attempt to reconnect to the APRS server if the connection is lost. (It won't attempt to reconnect if you use the Disconnect menu option, or cancel a connection attempt.)

Extra log on text - Any text you out here is sent to the internet APRS server when you log on. It is intended to be used with servers that support user-defined filters. For more information, see FILTER.TXT.

Gateway - RF To Internet, Open the gateway - If you check this option, then, when you are logged on to an internet server, all APRS traffic heard on your radio port(s) will be sent to the server.

Gate local messages - If you check this option, then any messages seen in the internet data stream for stations local to you will be transmitted on the appropriate radio port. A local station is one that is being heard on a radio port but not being heard on the internet. When messages are gatewayed to RF, the format used is as described by Steve Dimse, K4HG in http://www.aprs.net/inetmsg.html

. This format ensures that the frame transmitted by your station is addressed as coming from you, and the actual frame containing the message is encapsulated in the information portion of the frame you transmit.

Use reverse digi path - If you check this option, then messages gated for local stations will be transmitted using the reverse digi path of the last frame heard from the station. If the option isn't checked, then the default unproto path for the radio port is used. If most local digis support alias substitution, then it is worth experimenting with checking this option.

Transmit IGATE Status - If this option is checked, then, when UI-View32 is logged on to an internet server and operating as an IGATE, it will transmit IGATE capabilities frames. For more information see IGATE Station Capabilities. If your server is another local system on your LAN, then you should uncheck this option.

Max silence - If UI-View32 is connected to an internet server, and hears no data for this number of minutes, then it will force a disconnect on the assumption that either the server or the connection has developed a problem. If you have checked "Enable auto reconnect", then a reconnection will occur. A value of zero disables the feature.

Enable local server - Check this option if you want UI-View32 to be able to act as a local APRS Server for other UI-View32 systems. See Local APRS Server for more information.

Additional IGATE configuration options are available in IGATE.INI.

Connecting via a proxy
The only proxy I have ever used is Wingate, so the following is based on my experience with that, plus comments I have received about other proxies.

If you wish to connect UI-View32 to an APRS server via a telnet proxy on your LAN, then you must do the following:-

· Edit UIVIEW32.INI and put in the [APRS] section an entry for your proxy. Say the proxy is running on a machine called "master" and uses port 23 (the default telnet port), then the entry would be "master=23".

· In "Options", "Setup", "APRS Server", select your proxy as the server, and put in "Text to send on connection" the command that your server requires to connect to the real APRS server you wish to use. The documentation for your proxy will give the required command format. Using Wingate as a proxy server, an example command would be "aprs.net 23".

· You may find it necessary to put an entry for the proxy machine in the HOSTS file on the PC running UI-View32. (The Wingate help says you don't need to use the HOSTS file, but I can't get it to work as a proxy without it!) The HOSTS file lives in the Windows directory (Win95/8), or in the \system32\drivers\etc directory (NT). If it doesn't exist, you will need to create it. Put in a line like -

192.168.0.1 master

Where "192.168.0.1" is the ip address of the proxy on your LAN, and "master" is the proxy machine name.

Note that, when you connect to APRServe, all the text appears in the UI-View32 Terminal window, which can be useful when trying to sort out a connection via a proxy.

Line terminator - in sending the command to the proxy, UI-View32 uses linefeed (^J) as the line terminator. If your proxy requires something different, e.g. a carriage return, then edit UIVIEW32.INI and change LINE_TERMINATOR in the [APRSERVE] section to whatever is required. For carriage return you would put "^M".