Chatting on the DX Cluster

A new mode has been added to the DX Cluster to make chatting (an extension of the Announce command) simpler to use. You probably know that you can talk to anyone listed on any cluster anywhere with the Talk command. The format is simple: t k1bi Hi there. It does however require you type the precise call sign of the station you want to talk to including any ssid (e.g. k1bi-8). That gets to be a handful of typing sometimes. A simpler way is to use the chat mode now available in the Spider DX Cluster.

The FARA chat group

We've established a chat group called fara for your convenience. Just type the command join fara and you're in. If the group is not active, it will create one on the K1RK server. To see who's in the group use sh/chat fara this will also display the last chat messages that were sent on the channel. sh/chat by itself will show you all the chat groups (and conversation) that's been going on. I warn you in advance - there is a very active chat group in Sweden that seems to be on all of the time. They are vhf/uhf fanatics and they're called loggernet. Most of the chatting is in Swedish so don't bother to figure out what they're saying - hi. Only the Swedes seem to have embraced the chat channels. The rest of the Europeans remain they're rude old selfs and carp away using announces to all.

Once your in the group, instead of using talk, just type chat fara I'm here now! and your message will be broadcast to the FARA group. No call signs, no ssids, nut'n (as they say in Newark). I would recommend that everyone join the group when they're on line using the cluster. When you ready to leave, type leave fara - that's it. That way if you want to make a comment to the FARA group it's simple. I don't think members of our group will be as gregarious as the Europeans. If they do get annoying, just leave fara.

Those Annoying Announcements from outside the country

If you haven't noticed, many Europeans insist on using the Announce command as a chat mode. This is actually the reason the chat group was developed. They talk to each other but announce it to the world! It's the equivalent of Hola when trans-equatorial skip is in. You can actually stop that steady stream of nonsense from appearing on your screen, if you already didn't know that. You just need to set an announce filter on your cluster account. something like  reject/announce by_zone 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 should restrict the announcements you see to just Canada, North and Central America. This will cut down the announces (pronounces in the case of the Europeans) to almost zero. It's rare indeed that hams in this hemisphere use announces. If you want to get really selective about filtering announcements (and/or DX spots), check the manual out. Look for accept/announce - it's all there.

Ultimately you will probably forget how you set up your filters - especially if you dabble in filtering DX spots. sh/filter is nifty way to see how the cluster has stored your filters for spots and announces. All of the filter settings are saved under your account on the K1RK server. That way, whenever you connect with the cluster your filter settings are retained. If you change them, the new settings are saved. By the way, the command to filter DX spots is accept/spots - it's exactly like filtering announces.

73, de Saul K1BI
Sysop

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Updated: 10/15/2007