PACKET.OBJ


  PACKET.OBJ is essentially a dumb terminal emulator for the Atari 8 bit
  which is customized somewhat for ham radio use.

  Recall that the Atari has a full featured UART (POKEY) and therefore can
  communicate in full duplex at the popular serial baud rates.  However, the
  output of the Atari SIO port is TTL (0 to +5 Volts) not RS-232 (-10 to +10
  volts), so it is not compatible with a standard PC serial port without
  hardware conversion similar to that made by my SIO2PC hardware.  Also,
  POKEY may not have the same handshaking lines (nor as many) as a standard
  RS-232 port, but most systems don't require them.

  Many ham packet radio terminals (essentially a modem which connects to a
  radio instead of a phone) will accept TTL inputs.  This is the case with my
  MFJ-1278.

  As I said, PACKET.OBJ is essentially a dumb terminal.  That is, it takes
  incoming serial data and puts it to the screen, and it gets data from the
  keyboard and sends it out the serial port.  It is coded to run at 9600
  baud, although it could easliy be reassembled for other bauds.  It also has
  a few simple macros to automate packet radio commands to the MFJ-1278.  By
  going through my source code, I will attempt to remember what they are and
  include them in this doc.  As you have guessed by now, PACKET.OBJ is bare
  bones with minimal features.







  This excerpt is probably self-explanatory:

  ; SCRIPTS TO SEND TO PACKET CONTROLLER
  ; FOR MODE CHANGES:
  ;
  ; THE "ATARI" KEY FOLLOWED BY THE
  ; INDICATED LETTER WILL SELECT THE
  ; DESIRED MODE OR FUNCTION:

  ; V: VHF PACKET
  ; H: HF PACKET
  ; M: MORSE
  ; R: RTTY
  ; A: AMTOR

  ; FOR VHF PACKET:

  SCRPTS:   DB 'V' + $80,03,13,'MODE VP',13
       DB 'RETRY 4',13,'RADIO 1',13,'TX 20',13,'DW 25',13
       DB 'MAX 4',13,'FR 3',13,'CH 30',13

  ; NOW FOR HF PACKET:

       DB 'H' + $80,03,13,'RE 0',13,'MODE HP',13,'RADIO 2',13,'MAX 1',13,'DW
  0',13
       DB 'TXDELAY 2',13,'AXHANG 0',13
       DB 'CH 0',13,'RESPTIME 0',13
       DB 'FRACK 10',13

  ; SCRIPT FOR MORSE:

       DB 'M'+$80,03,13,'MODE CW 25',13, 'RADIO 2',13,'K',13

  ; SCRIPT FOR HF RTTY:

       DB 'R' +$80,03,13,'MODE HB',13,'RADIO 2',13,'K',13

  ; SCRIPT FOR AMTOR:

       DB 'A' + $80,03,13,'MODE AM',13,'RADIO 2',13,'MYSELCALL WBDU',13

  ; IDENTIFY END OF SCRIPTS:

       DB $FF

  In other words press the Atari key (next to the right Shift key), then the
  letter V, H, A, M, or R to send a script to the MFJ-1278 for its various
  modes of operation.

  The following tells what incoming characters are translated to ATASCII
  equivalent:






  Essentially, it's CR/LF, right and left square braces, and the bell (beep)
  character.


  Some outgoing bytes are also treated differently.  Usually bytes are not
  sent until the return key signals time to send a complete record.  However,
  some special control keys should be, and are, sent out immediately.  They
  tell the packet controller to take some action.

  CTRL-C means enter command mode

  CTRL-S means stop sending data

  CRTL-Q means restart sending data

  CTRL-X means cancel line

  CTRL-Y means cancel packet

  PACKET.OBJ could be easily customized to include other features and / or
  work with other packet controllers.  It is freeware and source code is
  available on request.  Use at your own risk.

  73,

  Nick Kennedy, WA5BDU
  300 South Vancouver
  Russellville, AR 72801
  (501)-967-3843