If you are hearing packets that sound strong but are not displayed on
your screen, setting MONITOR to 6 and MPROTO ON should show them. If
you are curious about the packets that do not print, you may find the
command WHYNOT useful. When WHYNOT is turned ON, the PK-232 will give
a reason why each packet was not displayed. If you are interested in
exactly how the packets are represented, turn on the TRACE command.
See the Command Summary for more information about WHYNOT and TRACE.
4.4.5.2 Monitoring Other Stations While Connected
When you are NOT connected to another station, the MONITOR command
discussed above determines what packets are displayed. When you ARE
connected, the MCON command determines what packets are shown.
The default of MCON is 0 which tells the PK-232 NOT to monitor any
packets while you are connected. Most users like this so they are not
disturbed with monitored channel data when they are communicating with
another station. If it is desired to monitor channel activity while
you are connected, then remember to set MCON to an appropriate Monitor
number from the list above or the command summary.
4.4.5.3 Selective Monitoring
After you have monitored channel activity for a while, you may decide
there are only a few stations you wish to display. The PK-232 will
let you do this with the Monitor-TO (MTO) and Monitor-FROM (MFROM)
commands. With the MBELL command, you can even be alerted when a
certain station transmits on the frequency. These commands work in
conjunction with MONITOR and MCON commands.
4.4.5.4 The MFILTER Command
Some terminals and computer programs are sensitive to certain
characters that may appear in monitored packets. You will know this
is happening if occasionally the cursor on your screen moves to
strange places causing the copy to be garbled.
The PK-232 default for MFILTER is $80 which prevents most control
characters from interfering with your display. If you find a terminal
or printer is bothered by certain characters, see the Command Summary
for more information on the MFILTER command.
4.4.5.5 Monitor Without Callsign Headers
Sometimes you may wish to monitor certain stations without wanting to
look at the packet callsign headers. This can be useful when
monitoring message traffic from a large Packet Bulletin Board System
(PBBS). The MBX command allows you to choose the callsign of a
station, or a pair of stations you wish to monitor without seeing the
packet headers. See the Command Summary for details.
4.4.5.6 MSTAMP - The Monitor Time-Stamp Command
Monitored packets can be time-stamped if the real-time clock has been
set with the DAYTIME command. To timestamp monitored packets, turn
the MSTAMP command ON. Turning the DAYSTAMP command ON adds the date
to the timestamp provided by the MSTAMP command.
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