175 Moonlight

My APRS station was using a Raspberry Pi Model "1" B, i.e. one of the very early models. The Pi was connected to a Kantronics KPC-9612+, and I was accessing it remotely via SSH. It was fairly easy to change the TNC to operate as a KA-Node and use the minicom terminal package to send and receive mail, etc. It was kind of a klunky setup due to using minimalistic software, and it was awkward to save any messages that were worth saving. It was nice to get on packet, though, and I received several welcoming messages from nice people that could reach my station.

One of the earliest messages was from Ken, W9GM, in LaCrosse, WI. He said he was sending me a message from a BPQ "packet switch". Then a few weeks later I connected to Jim K9VSO's station, and instead of the typical KA-Node response, I was prompted to enter my name and other information into - here we go again - a "BPQ" BBS. In the meantime I had also received a message from Chester KD9JLZ in Beaver Dam indicating he was using the Linux version of BPQ on a Raspberry Pi! At that point I had to take a look at BPQ.

The BPQ software is authored by John Wiseman, G8BPQ. It doesn't seem that complicated now but when first looking at the sample configuration files, etc. it was kinda confusing! Part of it was due to the documenation for the Linux version being more sparse, but the reality was I was venturing into a much larger world consiting of packet nodes that route messages across both radio and Internet links and BBS's that forward and store messages originating from all over the world.

Here are some packet radio programs worth looking into.

G8BPQ

The BPQ application is probaby the most popular among the old school packet radio programs. It's a packet node that also includes an integrated BBS. It packs lots of features including many related to WinLink. There's not only a Windows and a Linux version, but also a version for the Raspberry Pi. Many using BPQ have both HF and VHF radios tied in, and the Webmail BBS interface is hard to beat. There are also some nice utilities available such as QTtermTCP. I understand this software started out as a DOS application, but it's still under active devlopment - in fact VERY active as the author frequently provides new beta releases. This small paragraph does not do it justice as there is a whole lot of functionality here including CAT control for various HF radios, drivers for various modems, etc. The linux version, LinBPQ, is my K5DAT-7 node and K5DAT-1 BBS running on an Odroid XU4. Click the link here for a HowTo on autostarting linbpq or pilinbpq upon boot.

XRouter is actually the name of the original DOS program, but I like to use it as a generic name for the application. Currently it comes in two flavors, XRLin for Linux and XRPi for the Raspberry Pi. There is also an older Windows version that is no longer being developed. This is primarily a packet node - no integrated BBS - and I'd say it's somewhat more complicated to set up than BPQ . XRouter is authored by Paula, G8PZT. It doesn't have the WinLink support that BPQ does, but personally my interest in Winlink has never ramped up. XRouter has it's own TCP/IP stack, and it supports protocols such as IPENCAP. I've found it to be a very good amprnet gateway. XRPi is my K5DAT-5 node running on an Odroid XU4, and it's also k5dat.ampr.org. Here's a HowTO page on interfacing XRouter with the FBB BBS software on the same Linux platform.

Andy UZ7HO has written a soft-TNC application, "Soundmodem", that works with a sound card to decode and encode packets. It's very good and can be used on VHF or HF packet. He's also written EasyTerm, which can be married with Soundmodem and a radio to get a person on connected packet with minmal expense. EasyTerm has a terminal for connecting and leaving messages or having keyboard to keyboard QSO's, and it also has an integrated mailbox. Both Soundmodem and EasyTerm are Windows applications, and they are very user-friendly. There is also "QTSoundmodem", ported by John G8BPQ, that will run in Linux.

The F6FBB application is a popular BBS program that has also been aound since the DOS days. The Linux version is still under active development, (albeit relatively updates are relatively infrequent) and it's available for download on sourceforge, https://sourceforge.net/projects/linfbb. As of this writing I've barely scratched the surface trying out this application, but it seems to be a very capable piece of software. From what I can tell this is not an easy program to set up. No pain no gain, right?

JNOS is both a packet node and a BBS, and it appears it has roots that go back perhaps further in time than either BPQ or XRouter. I understand it is also not an easy program to set up. Similar to XRouter, it has it's own TCP/IP stack and is a good program to use as an amprnet gateway. I am not doing the progam much justice here because I've not played with it much.