[Packet] A Couple of Questions

[Gerald]

On Sun, 2006-01-22 at 19:35 -0600, KA5KAB wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> The name here is Carl and I am just starting out in packet radio.
> 
> My first question is, what frequencies on 40 meters are normally used 
> for keyboard to keyboard QSOs? Is there anyone on the list who regularly 
> gets on 40 packet whom I might be able to connect with on the air? I'm 
> in SE Texas by the way.

Packet at 300 baud on HF is not very effective, phase stability is too
poor due to multipaths of propagation. That's what makes other modes
more popular on HF.
> 
> The second question is, is there anyone on the list who has used a PK-88 
> TNC with a 68k Macintosh? I have a Mac Classic II that I have been 
> trying to use with the PK-88. The Mac will receive from the PK-88 but 
> for some reason the TNC will not respond to commands sent from the Mac. 
> I have wired my cable from the Mac to the TNC based on some info on the 
> 'net several different ways, but nothing seems to work. This leads me to 
> believe that there is something that I need to do to the PK-88, such as 
> jumper settings or something else. I have also tried several different 
> terminal programs but that didn't work either. Any info on this would be 
> appreciated. By the way, the PK-88 works fine with a PC.

There need be nothing special in the cable, though it can have too many
wires. But if you start with an 8 or 9 pin interface at the computer and
ordinary external modem cable is all that's needed. Nothing special or
odd. At the TNC end it needs pins 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 20 if I
remember correctly. 2 and 3 for send and receive data, 4, 5, 8, and 20
for handshaking, and 7 for signal ground.

You do need to set the terminal program and the TNC for the same
handshaking, either hardware, or software, not one of each.
> 
> Thanks for reading this,
> 
> 73,
> Carl KA5KAB

-- 
73, Jerry, K0CQ
Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer
All content copyright, Dr. Gerald N. Johnson