180 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
180 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
# The PACTOR-TCP-BRIDGE
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<img src="pics/ptb.png" alt="logo" width="200" style="float: right">
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by Torsten Harenberg (DL1THM)
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## What is the PACTOR-TCP-BRIDGE (ptb)
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It's a tool that
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- talks via a serial line (USB or Bluetooth) to [PACTOR modems](https://scs-ptc.com/modems.html) made by [SCS](https://scs-ptc.com) using the extended WA8DED hostmode [(see the manual, chapter 10)](https://www.p4dragon.com/download/SCS_Manual_PTC-IIIusb_4.1.pdf) protocol these modems offer
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- offers two TCP sockets which can be used by [Pat](https://getpat.io/) (and other tools)
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## What it is used for
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The main purpose is to build a connection between Pat and PACTOR modems. In order to establish a "listen" mode for PACTOR in Pat,
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the modem needs to be kept in the WA8DED hostmode. I found it easiest to create a separate program
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for that - in the same way, the VARA modem is a separate program.
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On the long run, this tool will replace the current PACTOR driver in Pat.
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## How to use it
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In order to use this tool, you'll need to configure it.
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If you start it for the first time, it will create a default configuration file and will tell you its location:
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```bash
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% ./ptb
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new Config file /Users/harenber/.config/dl1thm.pactortcpbridge/Config.yaml created. Please edit the Config file and restart the application
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```
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Now edit the file and configure it accordingly:
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```yaml
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device: /tmp/ttyUSB0
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baudrate: 9600
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mycall: N0CALL
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server_address: 127.0.0.1:8300
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data_address: 127.0.0.1:8301
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gpsd_address: 0.0.0.0:2947
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cmdline_init: ""
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vara_mode: false
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```
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Next time ptb will start using the settings in your config file.
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## Settings
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The meaning of the vables in the config file are as follows:
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| Variable | Meaning |
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|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| `device` | Path to the serial device where the modem is connected **or** `tcp://address:port` (useful for Android) |
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| `baudrate` | baud rate of the modem |
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| `mycall` | The callsign to be used on HF |
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| `server_address` | server socket address for the **commands** |
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| `data_address` | server socket address for the **data** |
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| `gpsd_address` | **optional** See the chapter about GPS below |
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| `nmeapassthrough` | **only when gpsd_address has been set** bool value: if true pass NMEA data trough instead of interpreting them |
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| `cmdline_init` | extra commands sent to the modem before going into hostmode, separated by semicolons, Ex: `DISP BR 1;DISP A 1;DISP DIMMOFF` |
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| `vara_mode` | see the chapter about the VARA mode |
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## VARA mode
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The VARA mode translate WA8DED commands into VARA commands and vice versa. See the VARA homepage for the "VARA TNC Commands"
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doumentation.
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If enabled, software which is written to interact with the VARA software TNC to work
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with PACTOR as well. It was used by the author to use the [VARA driver for Pat](https://github.com/n8jja/Pat-Vara)
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with the PACTOR-TCP-Bridge.
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If you plan to you Pat with the VARA driver, your `data_address` you **must** use a port number one number higher than the `server_address`. This is a limitation of Pat's
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VARA driver.
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A matching Pat config using VARA for the example above would look like:
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```yaml
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"varahf": {
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"addr": "localhost:8300",
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"bandwidth": 2300,
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"rig": "",
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"ptt_ctrl": false
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}
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```
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Using PACTOR, the PTT is triggered through the modem, so you need to set `ptt_ctrl` to `false`! If you configure a `rig`, it
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needs to be connected in a way that `rigctl` can configure it. Configure your rig through the PACTOR modem
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is **not** supported in VARA mode.
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## GPS(d) mode
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The PTC offer the possibility to attach a NMEA compatible GNSS receiver to them. To use them with Pat, the
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PACTOR-TCP-bridge contains a small server which provides a [gpsd](https://gpsd.gitlab.io/gpsd/) compatible server.
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So your setup looks like this:
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GNSS-receiver <--serial line--> PTC <--bluetooth or USB--> PC/tablet/phone running ptb
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Please note, that this builtin server does the bare minimum needed to get your position forwarded to Pat. It's
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by far no full-featured gpsd. However, it eliminates the need to run an additional process (gpsd) just
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to make your position visible to Pat (or any other gpsd client).
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To configure it you just need to add a line like
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```yaml
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gpsd_address: 0.0.0.0:2947`
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```
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to the config file. In Pat, a possible counterpart could look like this:
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```yaml
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"gpsd": {
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"enable_http": true,
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"allow_forms": true,
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"use_server_time": false,
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"addr": "192.168.188.37:2947"
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},
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```
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### NMEA Pass-Through
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If you need the **raw** NMEA data (for example if your GPS is not supported by the built-in mini-gpsd, or you want to
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run your own gpsd), set `nmeapassthough` to `true`, for example:
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```yaml
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gpsd_address: 0.0.0.0:8888
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nmeapassthough: true
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```
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Note that if you plan to use Pat, you'd need to run `gpsd` to use
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the position of the GNSS receiver.
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## How to run
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As a rule of thumb, you have to start the PACTOR-TCP-bridge before you want to use
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Pat and stop it after you finished using Pat.
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So a typical session works like this
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1. start the PACTOR-TCP-Bridge
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2. wait for it to finish configure your modem
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3. use Pat (or any other software)
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4. quit Pat
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5. stop the PACTOR-TCP-Bridge
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The software supports command line options:
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```bash
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% ./ptb --help
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Usage of ptb - the PACTOR-IP-Bridge:
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-c, --configfile string Name of config file (default "Config.yaml")
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-d, --daemon Daemon mode (no TUI)
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-l, --logfile string Path to the log file (default "/tmp/ptb.log")
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```
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which should be rather self-explaining.
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A typical session (without using the daemon mode, see below) looks like this:
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- on the upper left you will see all **payload** from and to the PACTOR modem
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- on the lower left the **commands** (with VARA translations, if switched on) to and **answers** from the modem
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- on the right hand side you'll see a clock, then a mode indicator (showing `VARA` or `TCP`). Furthermore, you'll see two indicator (`TCP CMD` and `TCP DATA`) which will turn green when a client is connected. The 4 counters below show the usage of the buffers.
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## "Daemon"-mode
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The "daemon"-mode will omit the terminal UI ("TUI") and might be useful if you have no full terminal (or you want to run the tool with systemd).
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Instead of the UI, you will only see a message saying that you may quit with CTRL-C.
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## Keys
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- **CTRL-C**<br />Quits the program
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- **CTRL-V**<br />swtiches between the VARA and normal mode
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