(B)eacon or (B)ye?
by Charles Brabham N5PVL
A Bit of Confusion:
Many Packet groups around the US are now in the process of upgrading their NetRom/TheNet type networks to FlexNet. A common problem now being encountered is that Packet Ops who are used to the NetRom command set expect to leave the node with the (B)ye command, instead of the (Q)uit command FlexNet utilizes for this purpose.
FlexNet's (B)eacon command only displays the node's beacon text, and this tends to confuse the user. He thought he was leaving, but instead he's looking at this:
=>b
#15 1 ID:
N5PVL FlexNet 3.3g EM13OT
.
For info on FlexNet:
http://home.swbell.net/n5pvl/ .
#
=>
The Fix:
In order to reduce confusion and smooth out the transition from the NetRom command set to FlexNet's, try the following: Append a "dummy" beacon text to PORT 15 at the end of your B.FPR file as shown below, including the message "Press Q to (Q)uit." as the beacon text. This will do no harm, and will gently remind every user who mistakenly uses the (B) command that they must press Q to (Q)uit, just when they need that info the very most:
=>b
#15 1 ID:
N5PVL FlexNet 3.3g EM13OT
.
For info on FlexNet:
http://home.swbell.net/n5pvl/.
#
#60 15 ID:
.
Press Q to (Q)uit
.
#
=>
This should probably be standard practice for FlexNet nodes in the USA...
Try it; You'll like it!
