Appendix "B - Buck Rogers K4ABT Handbook

; Packet Radio "The Basics"
Section 1

APPENDIX "B"

Configuring nodes and locking node routes and paths is an art. some say the art is
lost, but just ask any dedicated node sysop and you may discover a wealth of
knowledge and learn that the art of node configuration is "alive and well." In this
section we will pass along some of this artistic node knowledge to the new and
aspiring node sysop.
NODE ROUTING BASICS, or "Choosing Your Node's Neighbors":
Nodes are dumb! Several system node operator's (SNO's) and Packet radio author's in other publications have stated that
nodes are intellegent and should be left to attend to the automatic routing to and from all its neighbors. Nothing could be
further from the truth!
What happens when long ground wave and extended night-time "lifts" occur, then later the band changes or daylight
returns the VHF F1 & F2 layers to short-range propogation. The co-called intelligent group of network nodes has gathered
large node tables of nodes that can no longer be heard.
How quickly we learn that nodes are not so intellegent after all. This is where we begin our next level of node education.
Rather than to Lock OUT the Nodes you don't want, why not "lock in" the nodes that we do want as neighbor nodes.
Below, I have listed several ways to make the decision as to which nodes are neighbor nodes and which nodes we should
lock in! This kind of node housekeeping is called "locked routing" and thus removes the guess work that occurs when the
routing is left to the so-called "automatic routing" that is built into the node firmware.
When you first set up your LAN node on the network (not the backbone) or just after performing a "cold-start" (hard reset =
RESET *), set the first seven of the twenty six parameters to:
For 1200 baud nodes; P 100 81 81 255 9 5 1800 16 180 3 2 60 4 4 1800 64 10 4 2 10 200 0 0 0 2 1
For 9600 baud nodes; P 100 162 162 255 9 5 900 16 180 3 2 60 4 4 900 255 1 1 3 15 100 0 0 0 1 1
Let the node run this way for at least 24 hours. Once it has had ample time to gather a reliable routes table, PLEASE notice
that I said "reliable," then look at the MHeard list (not the nodes or routes table) between the hours of 3:00 PM and 6:00
PM EST (I'll explain the time of day bit in the next few paragraphs) also make a record of the routes table that is
displayed.
It is important to note which of the "nodes" in the MHeard list display the highest number of received repeat numbers. By
"received repeat number" I'm referencing the number of consecutive times the node has heard a node that is also listed in
the routes list. In the example below, I've indicated the nodes that have a higher number of NODES HEARD in the
Mheard list. These nodes become the first nodes that I lock into the routes table.
Here is a ROUTES list from node "EVA: WB4EDZ-7," I'm Connected and I issue the "R"outes command; The node
returns:
EVA: WB4EDZ-7} Routes:
0 DFVA:N4OMC-1 60 *4
0 1200:K4ABT-8 60 *12
0 MTLAKE:KD4BNQ-7 60 *9
0 MVA:KC4SUE-7 60 *11
ILLUSTRATION SECTION Charts & Node Drawings TheNET
"2 N 1" Handbook
The Packet Radio
Section 2
LOCKING ROUTES AND SETTING "FIXED" NODE PATHS:
Buck Rogers K4ABT
by
; The X1J4 System Node Operator's (SNO) Handbook
X1J4 System Node Operators Handbook __ Page 46