<html><body><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 <n5zgt@swcp.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> drats_users@intrepid.danplanet.com <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></body></html>