Kantronics KAM Operation Manual
Also see for KAM: ManualCommand manualInstruction manualInstallation manual
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Contents
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INTRO2Intro / Getting StartedNow that you have your new Kantronics unit connected to your radio and computer, let's take amoment to see what it is and how to make it understand what you want to do. A Terminal NodeController (TNC) is very similar to a telephone modem because it receives digital signals from thecomputer (Terminal) and converts them to tones suitable for transmission to distant location. TheTNC also receives tones from your radio and converts them into the digital signals understood byyour computer. A TNC, however, does much more, because it controls the push-to-talk line of yourtransmitter, keying the radio whenever it needs to send data. It also converts the data into a"packet", adding the required addressing, error checking and control information to insure the datagets from one Node to the next. The error checking implemented in your TNC must be the sameas the error checking used by any other station you want to talk to and this standard method iscalled a protocol. The protocol used in Amateur Radio Packet TNCs is called AX.25. Different proto-cols are used for other modes of operation, such as AMTOR.In order for your TNC to do something, you must issue instructions to it, letting it know exactlywhat you want done. In order to accomplish this, the TNC must be in the Command Mode (expect-ing you to give it instructions) and any time you want to change the way your TNC operates, youmust be in this mode. The TNC tells you that it ready for your commands by sending you theprompt cmd:.When you first turn on your TNC out of the box (or after a hard reset) you may see some garbagecharacters on your screen. The TNC is performing an autobaud routine. It is sending the samemassage over and over again at different baud rates. When the TNC baud rate matches the baudrate set in your terminal (communications) program, the display will read:PRESS (*) TO SET BAUD RATEWhen these words are readable press the asterisk, *, on your keyboard. This will set the baud rateuntil the TNC is turned off; keep reading for how to avoid having to do this all the time. Then theTNC will display the following:ENTER YOUR CALLSIGN =>At this point enter your amateur callsign. This callsign will be used by the TNC for many differentthings, including being in every packet you send and deciding if a packet it receives is specificallyfor you. Now you should see the sign-on message and command prompt on your screen, as:KANTRONICS sign-on-messagecmd:In some cases (notably Commodore-64 users with the Kanterm program and some dumb termi-nals) the cmd: prompt may not appear. This is due to the TNC sending lower case characters andthe terminal doesn't recognize them. In these cases, you will probably see only the colon (:). Thiscan usually be resolved by turning the LCOK command OFF.The cmd: prompt means the TNC is ready to listen to you. Anything you type will be be inter-preted as a command. If the TNC doesn't understand, it will display:EH?To change a command setting you type the command, a space, the argument (a number or what-ever is appropriate) and then the RETURN or ENTER [↵] key. If you turn the TNC off and back on |
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