NET/ROM, developed by Software 2000, quickly became a standard that
others imitated. Many networking "Nodes" today use a similar if not
identical set of commands. We will discuss the "Typical" NET/ROM
commands you will likely encounter when connecting to a packet switch.
When you connect to a NET/ROM Node you will not initially get any
prompt. Since NET/ROM commands are few and easily memorized, they did
not see a need to clutter the channel with prompts. Like other
automatic systems however, if you send an "H" or a "?" for Help you
can expect to get a response similar to the following:
SEA:N7HWD-8> Invalid Command (CONNECT INFO NODES ROUTES USERS)
In our example, the line above is from the Seattle node, simply known
as SEA. The callsign for the node is N7HWD-8. "Invalid Command"
means that the node did not understand the command you sent, so it
returned the above "help" line to remind the user of the commands it
knows. These are CONNECT, INFO, NODES, ROUTES and USERS.
Most often you will use the nodes CONNECT command to connect to other
stations. Once you have connected to the node, simply send the
command "CONNECT (callsign)" or simply "C (callsign) where (callsign)
is the call of the packet station you want to connect to that is in
range of the node.
Not everyone you want to talk to is in range of your local Node.
Fortunately, NET/ROM will learn about other nodes it can reach and
allow you to connect to these nodes as well. To find out what other
nodes your local station can reach, simply type the command "NODES"
after you connect. This will display something like the following:
SEA:N7HWD-8> Nodes:
BALDY:WB6VAC-8 BOI:W7SC BOISE:N7FYZ-8 COE:KK7X-4
ELN:N7HHU-8 EVT:KA7VEE-8 LSO:K7ZVV-8 MCW:WB7DOW-12
MSO:W7DVK-5 OLY:K7APT-8 PDT:N7ERT-5 PDX7:KA7AGH-8
PTN:K7TPN-8 RLIMB:W0RLI-2 SALEM:AF7S-1 SEAW:N8GNJ-8
SPOKN:WB7NNF-8 SVBBS:KA7RNX TAC:W7DK-8 YKM:K3GPJ-8
When you connect to a node (either directly or through another
node) you may want to know who else is using that particular node.
Type the command "USERS" to find out who is using the system. You
will see your own call in the list as well as anyone else who is using
the node. An example is shown below:
SEA:N7HWD-8> NET/ROM Version 1.3 (662)
Uplink(W7MCU) <--> Downlink(W7MCU-15 WA7ZUE)
Circuit(SEAW:N8GNJ-8 KA7RZK)
Uplink("your callsign")
The IDENT command simply sends you an identification packet from the
node that may give its location and owner as shown below:
SEA:N7HWD-8> NORTHWEST AMATEUR PACKET RADIO ASSOCIATION
145.01 MHZ, USER LAN, GRASS MTN.
Local BBS is N7HFZ
4/91 4-10
