<html><head></head><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>Can we get the designer to "fix" them? <br><br><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Ralph (Bud) Stephens (N7USC)</span></div><div><div><a href="mailto:Budstephens@msn.com">Budstephens@msn.com</a><br><div>Cell: 801-879-9545</div></div></div><div>Photos: <a href="http://www.fluffy.smugmug.com">www.fluffy.smugmug.com</a></div></div><div><br>On Nov 12, 2012, at 3:36 PM, "Craig Gunther" <<a href="mailto:craiggunther@yahoo.com">craiggunther@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div style="RIGHT: auto"><span style="RIGHT: auto">These are very good questions. Thank you for taking the time to ask them in writing. I run a reflector for our city and have observed many of the same issues you mentioned. I anxiously await the answers as well.</span></div>
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<div style="RIGHT: auto"><span style="RIGHT: auto">- Craig KE7YLZ<var id="yui-ie-cursor"></var></span></div>
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<div style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0; MARGIN: 5px 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 0px; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 0px" class="hr" contenteditable="false" readonly="true"></div><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</span></b> Brian Mileshosky <<a href="mailto:n5zgt@swcp.com">n5zgt@swcp.com</a>><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com">drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com</a> <br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</span></b> Monday, November 12, 2012 2:02 PM<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</span></b> [drats_users] D-RATS questions, suggestions<br></font></div><br>Dan --<br><br>I'm beginning to use D-RATS and am trying to generate interest <br>throughout New Mexico for its use as well. Some questions and <br>suggestions for improvement:<br><br>1) It would be VERY helpful if the "Stations" screen on the
right side <br>of the Chat tab reflected stations on a particular Chat channel ONLY <br>(when viewing a Channel tab). That is, if I create a channel called <br>"NM", and I click on its tab, then the callsigns on the right side of <br>the screen should only show those on the NM channel. If I want to see <br>EVERYONE on a given ratflector, then I can click on the default "Main" <br>chat tab. This way, if during an emergency event that requires a number <br>of tactical "chat nets" via chat channels (i.e. a channel where the EOC <br>is found, another for where shelters are found, etc), I can see exactly <br>(and only) who is on each channel, and not have to wonder who is on one <br>channel and who is not. Right now, when I set up a channel I have no <br>idea who is on it since the list is cluttered with callsigns of people <br>who are NOT on that channel as well.<br><br>2) In the log screen, when filtering for file transfers, it
would be <br>nice if a file transfer log listing also included the callsign of <br>whoever grabbed a file from my "Shared" folder. This way, if I ask a <br>station to grab a file from me, I have record that they in fact did, so <br>I don't need to consume additional time following up with them and <br>asking. Right now all I can see is that a file was transferred at a <br>certain time, but I have no clue who transferred it.<br><br>3) Is there any reason why transferring files via internet can't occur <br>at internet speeds? It would be nice if D-RATS knew the method of <br>transfer based on whether it's connected to the internet, or via RF <br>(even if a future release made each message user selectable via a radio <br>button or pull-down menu): Internet would occur at internet speeds, but <br>if via radio it would automatically throttle the speed settings for that <br>particular medium accordingly. If the internet is up in an
emergency, I <br>say leverage it as fully as possible to unburden the limited RF <br>channels. Somehow this should be seamless (based on the software <br>detecting the medium across which a file or message is to be sent) and <br>not require the user to change blocksize when sending via the internet <br>vs RF.<br><br>4) I noticed, when sending multiple NTS forms in version 0.3.3, that <br>after I click on "Send" within the message screen, the message(s) isn't <br>actually sent. I have to secondarily click "Send/Receive" on the main <br>program screen before the message actually gets sent. Additionally, if <br>I have multiple messages queued up for sending, I need to click <br>"Send/Receive" for each message in the queue before each is sent <br>individually. It would seem that the "Send" within the message screen <br>would be sufficient, and that multiple messages in the queue would be <br>sent on their way automatically.<br><br>5)
We recently set up a ratflector here in New Mexico and our initial <br>testing revealed that, if a ratflector went down temporarily, then any <br>D-RATS user out there who was connected to it would manually have to <br>reconnect to it. I can see a situation where a user, perhaps in an ARES <br>tactical net, might not be aware that his connection was lost and might <br>consequently miss out on important action. Is there not a way for the <br>D-RATS application to sense that a connection has been lost and <br>automatically reconnect? It could be as simple as, when D-RATS hasn't <br>seen data from a ratflector for n-minutes, the D-RATS application sends <br>a ping or keep-alive message to the ratflector. If no response from the <br>ratflector, it assumes it went down and automatically tries to <br>re-establish connection with it. If the ratflector is down for a long <br>duration, D-RATS would attempt a reconnect every
n-minutes until a <br>connection is re-established or until the user switches to a new <br>ratflector.<br><br>If you wouldn't mind sharing your thoughts I'd appreciate it. Thanks <br>for an excellent software application!<br><br>73,<br>Brian N5ZGT<br>_______________________________________________<br>drats_users mailing list<br><a href="mailto:drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com" ymailto="mailto:drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com">drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com</a><br><a href="http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/drats_users" target="_blank">http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/drats_users</a><br><br><br></div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>drats_users mailing list</span><br><span><a href="mailto:drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com">drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com</a></span><br><span><a href="http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/drats_users">http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/drats_users</a></span><br></div></blockquote></body></html>