NAME

       axcall - make an AX.25, NET/ROM or Rose connection.

SYNOPSIS

       For AX.25
       axcall [-b l|e] [-d] [-h] [-m s|e] [-p paclen] [-s mycall] [-r] [-t] [-T timeout] [-v] [-w
       window] [-W] port callsign [[via] digipeaters.....]

       For NET/ROM
       axcall [-d] [-h] [-p paclen] [-r] [-t] [-T timeout] [-v] port callsign

       For Rose
       axcall [-d] [-h] [-r] [-t] [-T timeout] [-v] port callsign address [[via] digipeater]

DESCRIPTION

       Axcall is the general purpose AX.25, NET/ROM and Rose connection program. As is normal  in
       AX.25  it  runs  entirely  in  line mode. All CR/LF translation is done transparently. The
       program provides ASCII, YAPP, YAPP-C and 7+ file transfer facilities. Some of the  options
       are  only  valid  in  AX.25 mode, the program will quietly ignore them if given in NET/ROM
       mode or in Rose mode.

       This version of axcall incorporates  many  changes  that  include  a  much  improved  user
       interface.  The  port  name  is mandatory and is the name of the port which the connection
       will be made on. The port name may be either an AX.25, a NET/ROM  port  or  a  Rose  port,
       axcall will determine which automatically.

       When  using  NET/ROM  the  use of digipeaters is meaningless and is not supported. However
       when using Rose up to one digipeater may be specified, as well as the Rose address of  the
       distant  node  and the callsign of the remote station. The Rose address must be ten digits
       long and it must exist in the Rose node tables. For Rose connects  to  work  axparms  must
       have been used to set a callsign/uid mapping for the userid in use.

OPTIONS

       -8        UTF-8 encoding (default)

       -b l|e    Sets  the  method of backoff to use with AX.25 connections. The default is taken
                 from the port specification, but can be overridden by this option.  Valid values
                 are l for linear backoff, and e for exponential backoff.

       -d        Turn on socket level debugging.

       -h        Selects Slave mode.

       -i        Use IBM850 encoding

       -m s|e    Sets  the  AX.25  mode to use. The default is taken from the port specification,
                 but can be overridden by this option. Valid values are s for normal (modulus  8)
                 AX.25 operation, or e for extended (modulus 128) AX.25 operation.

       -p paclen Specify a specific maximum amount of data to be sent in each AX.25 packet.

       -r        Selects Raw mode.

       -s mycall Connect using the specified source axcall (you may need to be root).

       -t        Selects Talk mode.

       -v        Display the version.

       -w window Specify a specific AX.25 window for this connection. Only valid in AX.25 mode.

       -S        Be  silent. Useful for using axcall in shellscripts (together with option -r) in
                 order to be really transparent.

       -R        Disable all remote commands like autobin (#BIN#), 7plus downloads, //echo,  etc.
                 This  is  useful  for  scripting  where  you  just don't like the remote site to
                 trigger uncaught conditions here.

       -T timeout
                 Set idle timeout seconds after a connection will be  closed  automatically  when
                 there's no data being transferred (in- and outbound). If timeout is set to 3600,
                 the connection will close after 1h inactivity. A value of 0.5 is 500ms.

       -W        Wait for remote disconnect even if stdin is closed. Normally, "echo q  |  axcall
                 ax0  db0fhn" closes immediately after "echo q" terminates; thus we never see the
                 greeting from db0fhn. With the -W option, axcall waits until the ax25-connection
                 is  disconnected  (i.e.  db0fhn  disconnects after "q" command). Very useful for
                 scripting. You might like to combine it with the -T option.

       The axcall program interprets lines beginning with a '~'  specially.   The  following  '~'
       escapes are available.

       ~?              List escapes

       ~~              A ~ symbol

       ~.              Close connection

       ~! [command]    Run a command

       ~0              Change to Raw mode

       ~1              Change to Slave mode

       ~2              Change to Talk mode

       ~8              UTF-8 encoding

       ~a              Start a file transfer (Autobin)

       ~b              Start a file transfer (Binary)

       ~c              Close the logfile

       ~h              List escapes

       ~i              IBM850 encoding

       ~o [filename]   Open a logfile (default 'logfile.txt')

       ~r              Reconnect to remote station

       ~s              Stop an upload

       ~u [filename]   Upload a file (ASCII upload)

       ~yu [filename]  Upload a file (YAPP upload)

       ~yd [filename]  Download a file (YAPP download)

       ~z              Suspend program

       The  program  provides  no  terminal  emulation features. These are left up to the console
       facilities of the terminal in use. The program is however '8 bit clean'.

FILES

       /proc/net/nr_nodes
       /proc/net/rose_nodes
       /etc/ax25/axports
       /etc/ax25/nrports
       /etc/ax25/rsports

SEE ALSO

       axlisten(1), mheard(1), ax25(4), netrom(4), rose(4), axports(5),  nrports(5),  rsports(5),
       axparms(8), nrparms(8), rsparms(8).

AUTHORS

       Alexander Tietzel DG6XA <TIETZE_A@etech.fh-hamburg.de>
       Joerg Reuter DL1BKE <jreuter@poboxes.com>
       Alan Cox GW4PTS <alan@cymru.net>
       Jonathan Naylor G4KLX <g4klx@g4klx.demon.co.uk>
       Steve Henson G6IXS <shenson@nyx.cs.du.edu>