[drats_users] D-RATS email

[Dan Smith]

Hi Will,

> My goal – Send an email from a Radio connected D-RATS client to an
> internet email account. 

Let me just start out with a level-set.  It might be obvious, and I
think you understand this, but it's worth saying for everyone else on
the list I think:

In order to send a message to an internet email account, you need a
gateway station through which to send.  If you're on the ratflector then
you can probably find someone there.  If you're on RF (repeater,
simplex, etc) then you need to be able to reach a D-RATS station
suitably configured to do that.

Make sense?

Also, let me also say this:

There are three ways you can get a message to an internet recipient:

1. Your station is connected to the internet (like a gateway station)
   and sends it directly.
2. Your station is connected to the ratflector via the internet and the
   message is sent "via" another station on the ratflector
3. Your station is connected to a radio and your message is sent "via"
   another station on frequency

Just so we're clear, which of the first two have you been successful in
doing?

If your station has an internet connection and is configured as a
gateway, then it will send a message directly to the internet without
going through another station unless explicitly directed otherwise.

> - I link my local repeater W6DHS__B to REF015C and get the voice
> notification that it is linked
> 
> - I verify the link by looking at the REF015C dashboard and see the
> linked repeater in the list
> 
> - Go into the ‘Chat’ mode and ‘Ping’ and see that the radio keys and
> that it looks to be talking.

Good, so there are other stations on frequency that you can reach.  You
need them to be enabled for gateway operation for anything that you're
trying to do to work.

> - Disable my internet connection by turning off the WiFi in the notebook
> and ‘un-check’ the Connect To Internet selection (if I don’t do this the
> email come and go with no radio activity so it has to be going over the
> internet connection)
> 
> - Compose an email and try to send it as I do when  connected via the
> internet.
> 
> - Nothing ever is sent, message sits in the Outbox.

Okay, good.  This is because D-RATS doesn't know where it should go
(since it can't send it by itself).  It doesn't know that the other
people are any better equipped than you are (i.e. an internet connection).

> So, I know that I am close; What I think I am doing wrong is that I am
> not sending my email via the right path.  Actually I don’t know what
> path to use. 

So, you can do one of two things.  You can tell the message which path
it should take or you can just force it to go to a specific station.
When it arrives at the gateway station, that machine will look at the
addressee and see if it can send it any further.  If it has an internet
connection then the answer will be "yes" and it will go out.

Lets say you want to send the message to "foo at bar.com".  Right now you
should be addressing your message just to that address.  If you want to
have it go somewhere first, then you should address it like this:

  KK7DS;foo at bar.com

assuming "KK7DS" is the gateway station you want to use.

Alternately, you can force this first hop by selecting the message in
the outbox and clicking the "force this message" button on the toolbar.
 Then type in "KK7DS" in the destination box.  This doesn't change the
addressing of the message, but rather just forces it to go to a specific
station.

The two methods are roughly equivalent, with the exception that the
first one could contain a chain of stations to move through before
reaching the gateway.  Also, the first has the ability to sit in the
outbox pre-addressed, waiting for the first hop station to come online,
after which it will be sent automatically.

> Q: IS there a device out in the D-STAR universe that I can rout emails
> through when using the Radio Link?

Not a formally accepted one that is intended to be up all the time (that
I know of).

> Q: Can I set up my own device to send the email to that will then
> forward them on to the internet? 

If you have an internet connection and an RF path to the reflector, then
your station can be a gateway for anyone else wanting to do this.  Might
be good to state the fact that you're offering this service to people in
your ping reply or with a QST.

> Q: Can I use a second computer running the D-RATS Network Proxy
> application with no Radio connection, Internet only to rout the emails
> through? 

I'm not sure I fully understand the question here.  Without a radio
somewhere along the way, you can't provide this service to other people.
 However, you can "practice" this on your own with two computers
connected to a private proxy instance simulating an RF channel, one
being a gateway and the other being the client.  (The proxy knows
nothing of gatewaying, email, etc).

> *Q: Once I connect to the REF015C link, how do I rout my emails to the
> internet?*

I think I've answered this above, but let me use the opportunity to make
one more clarifying statement: the repeaters and D-STAR gateways
(distinct from a D-RATS gateway) know nothing about D-RATS traffic and
cannot gateway anything to the internet for you, other than what they do
for your regular DV stream.  Does that make sense?

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have other questions :)

-- 
Dan Smith
www.danplanet.com
KK7DS