QRU
QRU
Overview
The intention of QRU is to allow remote stations to send a query to the call QRU and retrieve objects of interest local to themselves, not necessarily local to the QRU server.

For example sending RPT2M to QRU (at least in the UK) will get the nearest 2M repeaters to your location, with the frequency and tone, in a format compatible with the tune function of some radios. So send a query and you have the nearby repeater objects on your map or described in text.

Client use
QRU servers display on your map with QRUcallsign and an Info Kiosk symbol.

To query a server to see which if any have objects within range of your station and what groups they hold, send INFO to QRU. Servers with objects in range will respond with a list of supported groups: de CALL-SSID:group(#) group(#)… Max O@Mmi/km where group isthe name of the group, # is the number of objects in the group within range of the querying station, O is the maximum number of objects sent in response to a query, and M is the default (soon) range configured for that QRU server.

Appending a distance to the query (in miles or kilometers based on individual QRU server settings) will override each server's default range setting. INFO 20000 for example will get a response from QRU servers worldwide.

Once you have determined which groups are available sending GROUP to QRU where GROUP is the name of the group, should get a server to respond with the objects it has local to you, subject to the maximum amount of objects limit set on the server and also the range from your station. Again appending a distance to the query will override the server's default distance, but will not override the max objects that the server will send.

QRU servers can also be queried directly. For servers with a low amount of objects per group they will respond with a list of objects, servers with a large amount of objects will respond with an error message listing the number of objects per group the server holds.

Servers will attempt to limit the number of objects sent in a combination of max objects and range.

Servers will send item as message objects where ever possible, in an attempt to avoid large amounts of objects showing and also to better pass through remote igates.

Recommended Common Groups
In order for QRU servers to most effectively provide local information to visitors, a set of common group names is necessary. The list below serves as a starting point for groups you may want to configure.

Group Description
AMBU Ambulance
FIRE Fire Departments
FOOD Local Restaurants
FUEL Gas/Diesel stations
HOSP Hospitals
POLI Police Departments
POST Post Offices
VETE Veterinarian
CLUB Amateur Radio Clubs
STOR Amateur Radio Shops
ECHO EchoLink
LTHS Lighthouses
RP23 23cm repeaters
RP70 70cm repeaters
RP2M 2m repeaters
RP6M 6m repeaters
RP10 10m repeaters
RP23 23cm repeaters
RP13 13cm repeaters
RP3C 3cm repeaters
RD3C 3cm D-Star repeaters
RD13 13cm D-Star repeaters
RD70 D-Star 70cm repeaters
RD2M D-Star 2m repeaters
RD23 D-Star 23cm Repeaters
RT23 23cm Television repeaters
RT13 13cm Television repeaters
RT3C 3cm Television repeaters
LIFEBOAT Lifeboats
SRAIL Steam Railways
T2SRV Approximate locations of Tier2 APRS Servers
WOTA Wainwrights On The Air peaks

Server Setup
To enable access to the QRU server configuration, there must first be at least one object created, within a query group folder (queryable groups start with a ? in the local configuration).

Create Object

Object creation is done via the configure/objects menu.

To configure an object move the map until the location is centred on the map, it very useful to have crosshairs enable for this (configure/screen/crosshairs) and zoom in as appropriate. Remember to enable and set an interval and the vias. If you only want the objects to go out as a result of a query make sure the interval is set to 0, otherwise they will be sent on the scheduled interval also.

When you are centred, create the object via the configure/objects/create menu, you will get a popup menu. Enter a unique name, comment and select a symbol.

QRU Settings
The difference with QRU is that created objects must be within a group beginning with ? such as ?HOSP. Once the group is created with the first object, the group will be available from the drop down box. QRU settings will be available under configure/objects after the first queryable group is created, it will be greyed out until then.

  • Configure/objects/Max Group objects
    sets the limit to the amount of objects that will go out to a direct query to your callsign. If you have more objects in a group than this, a message will be sent with the total number of objects, but not the objects themselves.
  • Configure/objects/qru/enabled
    Enable or disable QRU server functionality
  • Configure/objects/qru/interval
    set the broadcast interval for both the QRU symbol and the groups that the server holds
  • Configure/objects/qru/max objects
    This option sets the amount of objects to be sent per QRU request it works to an extent with the range option.
    Objects within range of the querying station will be sent up to the max objects setting, querying stations can override the range setting at which point max objects will be sent.
  • Configure/objects/qru/range
    Sets the maximum range for each object, stations querying QRU must be within this distance of an object, the server holds for the server to respond with the object. (this can be overridden by the client's request)
  • Message Retry
    Retry messages if no ack received

Next objects query the next max objects amount of objects
Object dup checking and warning if other object created.
Repeater objects can make use of the Radio Tune Format

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