Announcements  AR-Cluster User Manual

Announcements contain general information that may be important to all users connected on the network.   By being connected into a DX Cluster you will get announcements in real-time as they are spotted.  You can also query the database for past announcements.  Additionally, you can post announcements to the network. 

 

Announcements can be made to the whole network, to just the node you are connected to, or to a specific region.

Real-Time Announcements

As soon as you connect into a DX Cluster you will automatically start receiving announcements.  The display of real-time announcements can be controlled with the following commands.

Examples:

set/noannouncements        

set/announcements 

     

Normal Announcement Queries

You can list previous announcements in the standard format with the SHOW/ANNOUNCEMENTS command.  The default number in the listing is set by your sysop.   Announcement user filters will be applied to the resulting display.

Example:

show/announcements
 

If you want to see more announcements than this you can also add an optional number to the end of the command as in SHOW/announcements/nn.    This will allow you to display the last 20 or 30 announcements.

Examples:

show/announcements/20

show/announcements/30

 

Advanced Announcement Queries

AR-Cluster also allows the user to program his own announcement spot queries using SQL.  SQL queries are very powerful and allow you to build custom commands to query the announcement spot database.   With some simple examples, is not too hard to pick up some SQL basics.  The SH/Announcement query commands can be ran against any of the fields in the announcement spot database.  

Examples:

 sh/ann where ANN = 'CQ CQ CQ WSJT, for DXCC via cluster'

 sh/ann where FROMCALL = 'K5UTD'

 sh/ann where FROMNODE = 'K5DX'

 sh/ann where SpotterCty = 'K'

 sh/ann where SpotterSubCty = 'TX'

 sh/ann/30 where SpotterSubCty = 'TX' OR SpotterSubCty = 'OK'

 

You can also use the LIKE operator and the wildcard character "%" to do partial matches. 

Example:

sh/ann where ANN LIKE '%QSL%'

sh/ann/30 where ANN LIKE '%QSL%'

 

The database fields that are available for Advanced Announcement Spot Queries are:

 

FromCall

Callsign that originated the spot

ToFlag

Field indicating who the spot is directed to

Ann

Announcement message

SysopFlag

Flag indicating a sysop announcment

FromNode

Node that originated the announce spot

SrcStation

Node that we received the spot from

DTS

Date-Time-Stamp

SpotterCty

Country of the spotter – follows ARRL.CTY file

SpotterSubCty

State/Province of the spotter

 

 

Making Announcements

The ANNOUNCE command is used to make a general broadcast to a specified portion of the network.  To make an announcement to users on the DX cluster you are connected to.

Example:

announce Ten meters is open to the Pacific

announce/local Ten meters is open to the Pacific

 

To make an announcement to users across the whole network use the FULL operator.

Example:

announce/full anyone know the QSL info for K5K?

announce/full Six is open to Europe

 

To send an announcement to a users connected to a specific DX Cluster use the cluster CALLSIGN can be specified int the announce command.

Example:

announce/K5AB Is anyone hearing the DX on 1.833?

 

Regional Announcements

Regional announcements are used to make directed announcements to selected nodes and users.  In Texas, the following regions are defined:

 

·        AUS – Austin, Tx - Clusters (AB5K, K5NA, K5AB and N5UXT)

·        CTDXCC – Local DX and Contest Club – Clusters (AB5K, K5NA, K5AB and N5UXT)

·        STX – South Texas – Clusters (AB5K, N5UXT,K5NA, K5AB, KA5EYH-2 and W5BE)

·        TX – Texas - Clusters (AB5K, N5UXT,K5NA, K5AB, KA5EYH-2, W5BE and N1EW)

 

Each node has both a routing and a distribution list for each regional announcement command.  The distribution list keeps announcements local and not accessible to out-of-area users who may telnet into a node. 

 

The local Austin users chat back and forth on the 4 Austin nodes as follows.

Examples:

a/aus Good morning!

 

If a user wanted to make a wider announcement to participating nodes and users in the state of Texas as follows.

Examples:

a/tx Anyone in texas hearing the weak signal on 1.833?