The Messages menu provides access to the APRS message-based features of APRSISCE/32. If you're not familiar with APRS messaging, you may also want to read aprs-messaging-explained.
Brings up the highest priority unread message for a preview or directly into an existing chat window.
Allows entry or selection of a station for which a new Chat window will be opened.
Allows entry or selection of a destination e-mail address to which a short message may be sent. Total character count email address and message body must not exceed 64 characters. See also aprs-messaging-explained.
If messages are pending, will initiate a popup menu of sent messages for which an ack has not been received. This will color the Message yellow or orange. See also Message Retries.
This messaging option is designed to easily allow use of the ANSRVR server. The idea being that groups are created for sending announcements to others in the group.
Active Groups
This option requests a message from ANSRVR listing the Active Groups and the number of members of each group.
Describe Groups
This option requests a message from ANSRVR listing the Active Groups, number of members, the description of the group, (if it has one) and the owner of the group.
My Groups
This option requests a message from ANSRVR listing the Groups you are currently a member of, includes number of members of each group.
Join Group
This option allows you to join a group or create a group if it does not exist. Selecting this option will popup a config box
- Keep Alive
This tick box enables the keep alive function, a request will be sent every few hours as selected. Recommended to leave this at the default 8 Hours.
ANSRVR will drop you from a group if no keep alive or message sent within 12 Hours.
- Quietly
This tick box allows you to keep your group connection alive, without sending your CQ Text to every member of the group. If unselected your CQ Text will be sent to every member of the group.
- use CQSRVR
Select this tick box to use CQSRVR instead of ANSRVR. The only difference between the two is that CQSRVR does not allow quiet keep alives.
- Only if present
Currently not in use
- IS Only
Only send messages and keep alives via the IS stream if selected, otherwise send via IS and RF.
- CQ Text
The text you wish to send to the group and use as a keep alive.
- Accept
Update settings and CQ Text quietly. Not sent to every member.
- Send
Update settings and CQ Text, send the CQ Text to every member of the group. Can be used in conjunction with CQ Text to send short messages to the group.
- Delete
Remove yourself from the group. Note If you are the owner of a group and wish to remove the group, make sure you are the only member of the group.
and you will need to send U group via a normal message to ANSRVR.
Long messages can be sent via ANSRVR but these need to be done via the normal messaging system.
- Group membership list
Clicking on the list will bring up the same box as the join group box, you can however temporarily suspend your activity within a group
To send a message to an announcement group, you can either change the
Announcement's CQ Text and poke Send, or send "CQ <Group> Announcement
Text" to ANSRVR via a Send Message / Chat.
ANSRVR supports the following APRS message-based commands:
? - Show all groups (# in parens is number of members)
? group - Show member count in group
L - List groups you are a member of (with member count including self)
J group - Join group quietly
CQ group text - Join group and send text to all current members, also used to send a message to a group you already belong to.
U group - Unjoin group
ANSRVR is like CQSRVR except for the following:
Currently no minimum time between submissions to the group. This is in keeping with the "Announcement" intended use.
Ability to monitor a group without sending periodic messages to everyone.
Directly supported in APRSISCE/32! (although CQSRVR is just as supported)
From the release notes:
Configure / Messages / RF Eavesdrop supports eavesdropping on just RF-received (not -IS) messages. This lets you display only "locally" heard messages rather than All. Clear Eavesdrops clears these as well.
Messages / Auto-Reply has Message (what to send) and "Inactive For" and "No More Than" sub-menus. "InActive For" is a delay since the last interaction with APRSISCE/32 before a configured Auto-Reply will be sent. "No More Than" sets the minimum interval between Auto-Replies to a single station.
And expanding on them…
The definition of "activity" is any mouse clicks, menu selections, or messaging activity in the client. If you have an "Inactive For" then any configured Auto-Reply Message won't be sent to anyone until after that time has elapsed. Eventually I hope to go back and notify every one that send you messages after the last activity when the "Inactive For" times out, but I haven't figured out where to do that yet. If you set "Inactive For" to Forever, you can see how that would effectively disable the Auto-Reply while still allowing you to have a preferred text selected (rather than None).
Once a station has received an Auto-Reply message, that station won't receive another one until at least "No More Than" has elapsed. However, if you change the Auto-Reply message, all remembered station times are cleared to allow them to receive the new "away" status on their next message (assuming the "Inactive For" has elapsed since you changed the Message.
Clear as Mud? I thought it might be. Play with it and let me know if it's working for you. Oh, and the Auto-Reply messages will show up in your Chat window(s) as well so you will hopefully be able to tell when they fired.
Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32
PS. The possible values for "Inactive For" are Immediate, 1, 5, 10, 30 minutes or Forever (effectively disabled)
The possible values for "No More than" are 1, 10, 30, 60 minutes, 1 day, 1 year (doubt you'll get there) or Forever (effectively one shot per message text change).
The minimum of 1 in "No More Than" works around the 30 second APRS-IS dupe detector, but still might flood the RF channel if someone sends you a multi-line message. Each line is a separate APRS message and will receive an Auto-Answer via RF. Not a pretty picture, but that's what Kenwood does when you enable Auto-Answer as far as I can tell, with no delays either! One reply sent for each message received.
Creation and viewing of Bulletins
View
This option opens a new window to view the currently received Bulletins. Bulletins will age and disappear from this window over a period of 48 Hours, if they have not been retransmitted. The ageing can be changed, currently only be editing the XML file
Notify
Selecting this option will cause a pop notification balloon to appear when a new bulletin is received.
Create
Selecting this will create a popup window to allow creation of a bulletin.
The length of a bulletin line is limited to ? Characters, multi line bulletins can be created by assigning a line number to each comment. This is done with the unlabeled drop down menu, next to the enabled tickbox.
Interval selects how often the bulletin is sent out, 0 disables
Via-IS/RF tickboxes select to send via IS RF or both
Clicking send message from the message menu brings up a box to enable entering of the callsign of the station you wish to message. You then proceed to the message window. (clicking a station and selecting send message bypasses the callsign selection box)
The message window allows entering of up to 300 characters, which are split automatically into 64 character APRS messages.
There several options on this window.
- Clear
Clears the message window - Copy
Copys the text in the window to the buffer for pasting into another application - Multitrack
Opens a new tracking window centered on the station being messaged - Ack
unselect this if you do not wish to have an acknowledgement of your message. (useful for satellite work) - Best
This option changes it's title. and can be slightly confusing at first
Best
use RF or IS as the program determines the best option.
RF Only
Unticked this will send the message via IS only, Ticked the message will go RF only (useful for Satellite work)
See also Message Retries Messaging Explained