AEA PAKRATT PK-232 Operating Manual page 5

USER'S GUIDE PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the exciting world of digital Amateur Radio! You've joined the ranks of the fastest
growing modes in Amateur Radio since the FM repeater.
Your AEA PK-232 Data Controller is the connection between your computer and radios. The PK-232
performs all the "magic" of establishing data and text communications between your station and
many other communication facilities equipped for digital communications.
With packet-Radio and AMTOR, you'll have a "private channel" while sharing a frequency with oth-
er packet and AMTOR stations; you'll be able to "read the mail" of other Morse, RTTY and AMTOR
QSOs. log on to computer-based "bulletin board" or "mailbox" sations, handle message traffic – in
short, you're now equipped to enjoy the advantages of digital communications and error-correcting
radio techniques in your ham shack.
Your new AEA PK-232 is the heart of your digital radio station. The PK-232's packet system soft-
ware is derived from the original TAPR TNC; it presents many of the advenced features of that de-
sign, coupled with significant enhancements based on the experience gained by thousands of
TAPR-equipped amateur packet stations worldwide.
This manual is your guide into the realm of digital Amateur Radio.
Join a Packet Club - Sbscribe To Newsletters - Join a Voice Net
Join a Packet-Radio club - they exist in all states as of this writing. You might also subscribe to the
ARRL publication "Gateway", which describes all the "going on" in Packet-Radio, and to the TAPR
"Packet Status Register", which describes the technically interesting happenings in the movement.
There are many voice nets on VHF and HF; they usually meet weekly. They are usually dedicated
to making the newcomer feel at home.
Acknowledgement
AEA, Inc. gratefully acknowledges the Tucson Amateur Packet-Radio Corporation, Tucson, AZ for
permission to include excerpts from their TNC-2 documentation in this manual.
The original User's Guide to the PK-232 was developed and written by Norm Sternberg, W2JUP,
and Barbara Argilo on a Tandy 1000HD computer with IBM's DisplayWrite 3 program and an IBM
Displaywriter using TextPack 6. It was re-written in February 2016 by DC7XJ. Our thanks also go to
Alan Chandler, Steve Stuart and Joe Schimmel.
AEA, Inc. dedicates itself to the development of digital radio communications.