[drats_users] D-Rats Project

[Nate Duehr]

Hey Dennis,

For this to be a "complete" error report for Dan (hopefully he 
appreciates me jumping in here), he'll need to know how everything was 
routed.

Were you on simplex, or repeater?

Callsign routing, or Dplus linking?

Reflector involved, or direct Dplus linking between two repeater ports?

Maybe just a summary of how all the users were set up for their :

UR Field
RPT1
RPT2

Would be good...

Meanwhile... I think you guys did the right thing by upgrading so that 
everyone's on the same version.  Dan's a very prolific software author 
and the "curve" of the development cycle is still pretty steep on D-RATS 
right now, since he's fixing things and adding stuff on a pretty regular 
basis.

You may want to make it a commonly known thing within your group which 
versions you've tested and what works and what doesn't as a good way to 
"manage" the complexity until the development cycle slows a bit, or 
becomes less "bug fixes" and more "feature enhancements", which is 
normal for all new software over time...

Better to be on later versions right now than anything old.  Dan's 
making some good/neat changes, and it's well worth the upgrade in almost 
every case I've seen so far.

Good bug report (I've been working on bugs commercially for over 15 
years... seen good reports and seen bad ones... yours had almost all of 
the important details.  Dan will ask for other clarifications if he 
needs them, I'm sure!)

Is your group interested in doing some more testing through the 
Gateways?  I'm kinda "fired up" to try some of the newer versions of 
D-RATS but local support/interest has kinda waned.  I think it's a 
mixture of time constraints and burn-out on the part of the ARES folks 
over the DNC being here last week, and also a SMALL twinge of 
disappointment that was somewhat unwarranted by folks who didn't really 
understand where D-RATS was in its development for repeater use, back a 
month or more ago when we did some of the initial trials through 
repeaters.  They kinda thought it was "this stuff should just work", and 
it wasn't quite there yet.  I ran out of time to cajole and push them to 
help Dan out with more testing, and it kinda died on the vine here 
locally.

So if I want to get back "into the game", I'd need to find some willing 
folks to test with that are elsewhere... which also means doing it 
through Gateways... and the added complexity of that... but I'm willing 
to give it a go anytime...

I'm also VERY curious if direct callsign routing works better through a 
Gateway timing (and maybe buffering) wise, than Dplus linking or 
Reflectors.

I'd be willing to run a series of tests with some folks starting with 
direct callsign routing and moving on "up" the options from there... 
Dplus linked, then via Reflector... to see if/where/when it falls apart.

All data would be forwarded to Dan for review.

Anyone want to build Dan a "test team" and schedule some testing dates?

Also Dan, if there's anything the "world at large" can do to help you 
get a Gateway... I'd be willing to cheerlead a bit on the main mailing 
lists for that.  Anyone willing to work as hard as you do on D-STAR 
software shouldn't have to worry about not having a Gateway to test 
with!  (See, I'm already cheerleading!)  I know you already have a 
repeater -- but not knowing the circumstances of how long you can use 
it, etc... I don't want to offer to go beating the bushes for support 
for you for a Gateway, if you can't really use it.  What'cha think?


Nate WY0X


Dennis Rogers wrote:
> Dan and Group,
> 
>        I was one of the Dstar Users during Hurricane Gustav using D-Rats 
> v0.2.3 at first with other users using various versions. A real mix of 
> versions
> and D*Chat v???. So, Evan, KD4EFM and others all were having various 
> problems with text messaging coming through with extra characters and/or
> the last few characters from the text message send through the SEND 
> message line.
> 
>        We all upgraded to v0.2.4 and all above issues were resolved. 
> Next we tried to send a small file of the bulletin via SEND Text file. 
> It had errors
> so that finally the transfer failed due to hitting the retry count. We 
> also tried sending a FORM filled out and same problem occurred with 
> transfer failed.
> This transfer is through a gateway via a reflector hooked up to multiple 
> users. The reason for the information being sent was to support 
> Hurricane Gustav
> from EOC to EOC via the NHC in Florida who wa sending the Public Advisories.
> 
>        Next, Evan, KD4EFM tried a neat trick to get us the bulletins by 
> sending them through CUT/PASTE into the SEND field of D-Rats, then 
> hitting SEND
> button to send the text. This method worked flawlessly. However, as all 
> of us D-Rats Users would like to see the FORMS, SEND FILES, and other modes
> work.
> 
>        I have played around a little with the GPS and MAP part of D-Rats 
> via simplex frequency, but not through the gateway or reflector/gateway mode
> of operation. I intend on doing this after testing the new release(beta) 
> v0.2.5b6 using simplex first, then moving forward a step at a time. So, 
> much to
> do with D-Rats, but it will and already is a GREAT application.
> 
>        Let me say with my last statement that you have ALL the necessary 
> pieces in your application that an emergency group or marathon, bike 
> race, etc.
> would be looking for to use. FORMS are great, D-PRS is necessary, and 
> text/file transfers are very important. Its layout is easy to use and I 
> have needed
> no HELP file to guide me. Setting up the radio to computer serial cable 
> could be covered with the one document I have showing a user how to make one
> from scratch. Then, using a USB converter to connect to a COM port on 
> the laptop or desktop. This needs to be incorporated into your wiki 
> pages somehow.
> I am not used to doing this other than text messaging, but I can send 
> you a nice clean file. I believe it is PDF document.
> 
> Looking forward to testing you application and getting back to you with 
> remarks.
> 
> -- 
> Regards,
> 
> Dennis, N5VRP
> n5vrp.satx at gmail.com <mailto:n5vrp.satx at gmail.com>
> 
> Dstar User / Gateway Admin / D-PRS Provider
> ARRL Member
> Cactus-Intertie Member
> AMSAT Member, President's Club
> 
> 73's from SATX, EL09rk
> 
> 
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