[PPRAANet] FW: [PPDXG] Live IRC/Chat server now online for the Rocky Mountainregion

[Roger NØVR]

FYI: Forwarded to PPRAA also by request from N0VD.

-----Original Message-----
From: ppdxg-bounces at ppdxg.com [mailto:ppdxg-bounces at ppdxg.com] On Behalf Of
Kelly Jones
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:16 PM
To: ppdxg at ppdxg.com; gmc at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [PPDXG] Live IRC/Chat server now online for the Rocky
Mountainregion

What started out as a thread on the PPDXG reflector regarding "email
spotting" turned into a conversation about real time local spotting.
Back "in the day" when there were no internet connected DX Clusters,
most DXers would connect to their local DX Cluster.  One of the
advantages of everybody being on the same cluster is that you could all
chat in real time - more or less.  However, with the advent of internet
linking, you can connect to any cluster you want regardless of location.
 
So, in an effort to move some of the "email spotting" off of email,
PPDXG is sponsoring an IRC server (chat room) that will allow anybody
connected to talk in real time.  Because email spotting only benefits
those that are checking email within a few minutes of the "spot", it's
not very practical to send "dx xxxx loud on 3505".  However, it *is*
practical to have a regional "chat" channel available and anybody logged
on to the server can benefit from this announcement - in real time.
 
This is not just a PPDXG chat channel.  I think the feeling is that
Rocky Mountain wide participation is key to making this thing
successful.  I am posting this email to the PPDXG and GMCC reflectors.
If you are on other reflectors or know somebody that might be interested
in this, please forward this email along.
 
So, there are several ways in which you can connect to the chat server:
 
By web -  I have created a link on the PPDXG website (www.ppdxg.com)
that will take you there.  Look in the footer for "Live Chat".
Alternatively the direct url is:
http://qrz.rockymountainhfchat.com:8000.  Just login with your callsign.
Email is not required.  FrequencyCop is a bot to keep the channel alive
- he won't say much (unless you start to QweRM the DX).  :-)
 
By IRC Client - Chat rooms have been around for well over 10 years.  The
granddaddy of all chat clients is MIRC and can be found at
http://www.mirc.com.  This is program you download and install.  It's a
bit more friendly than the web interface but requires you to know how to
install a program and configure it to use.  Should you want to try this
out, the server is:  qrz.rockymountainhfchat.com.  Be sure to set the
port to 6667 (should be already the default).
 
By IM Client - If you are "new school" kind of guy, you may already be
using an IM (Instant message) client.  If you use one of the many multi
client IM applications (Trillian and Gaim come to mind) you should be
able to configure an IRC server in your IM client.  The server and port
are the same as in the IRC client description above.
 
I am working on prettying up the web interface.  It should be usable as
is, but I want to make a few more tweaks to the interface.  Oh, you will
also have to have a JVM (Java) installed on your PC in order to use the
web interface.  If, for whatever reason, it complains that you don't
have Java enabled, you can visit http://java.sun.com and look for the
latest JVM download - you only need the runtime, not the full JDK
(unless you are going to develop in Java).  Unfortunately Windows XP
does not come with Java installed due to the love-hate relationship
between Bill Gates and Scott McNealy (although McNealy is no longer at
Sun).
 
Based on the feedback on the PPDXG reflector, this type of thing seemed
to get positive feedback.  I hope that it becomes another tool in which
to chase DX.  If you have any question, I'll try to answer them the best
I can.  I ran several IRC servers eons ago (10+ years ago), but have not
done so since moving to Colorado.  I have to remember all of the tricks
of the trade all over again.
 
73
Kelly - N0VD
 
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