SpotCollector Online Help Contents
The TNC Serial Port tab lets you specify and configure the serial port by which your
TNC is connected:
| Port | Specifies the serial port to which your TNC is attached |
| Baud rate | Specifies the serial port's speed in baud |
| Word length | Specifies the serial port's word length in bits |
| Stop bits | Specifies the number of stop bits used in serial port transmission and reception |
| Parity | Specifies the serial port's parity |
| Flow control | Specifies the serial port's flow control |
SpotCollector determines what commands to send to your TNC via command files present in the TNCs subfolder. Each command file present in this folder is presented as a choice in the TNC model listbox. SpotCollector opens and reads a command file
By convention, a command file is named model.txt, where model represents the name of the modem -- e.g. KPC.txt or PK232.txt. Files in SpotCollector's TNCs subfolder having an extension other than .txt will not appear as a choice in the TNC model listbox.
A command file contains one or more commands separated by newline characters; you can create or edit command files using a text editor like Notepad or EMACS; if you use an word processor like Microsoft Word, be sure to save as "text only with line breaks", or SpotCollector will be unable to parse the command file.
The basic command syntax is
CommandName = CommandString
CommandString is a sequence of ASCII characters sent to the TNC to accomplish a function denoted by CommandName. To facilitate the inclusion of control characters, the sequence <N> within a CommandString, will be replaced by a single byte of value N; N must be 0 or greater, and 255 or smaller. <3>, for example, would be replaced by Ctrl-C.
SpotCollector defines the following commands:
| CommandName | Function |
| InitCmd | initialize the TNC |
| TermCmd | place the TNC in command mode and enable character echo |
| PacketConnectCmd | direct the TNC to connect to a node |
| PacketDisconnectCmd | direct the TNC to disconnect |
| ConverseCmd | direct the TNC to enter converse mode |
| PacketConnectMsg | the message emitted by the TNC when a connection has been made |
| PacketConnectMsg | the message emitted by the TNC when a connection has been broken |