AGWPE Over a Network
B. Learning the public IP address of a computer as it is identified on the internet
3. Configure your packet application on the client computer so it can find the host computer and the AGWPE server on the network
Only applications that connect to AGWPE with the TCP/IP protocol can be configured to do this. Those that use the DDE protocol to link to AGWPE cannot, for example, WinPack. As examples, here's how to do it for 4 applications that can, UI-View, WinAPRS, APRSplus and AGWTerm.
a. UI-View: From UI-View's top menu bar, select Setup>Comms Setup. In the Comms Setup window, for Host Mode select AGWPE. When you do, a Setup button will appear next to the AGWPE field. Press that button to reveal the AGWPE Setup window.
Please -- as the screen note suggests -- press F1 to read the Help file. Roger, G4IDE, the program author, has some terrific
additional information in the file.
For the Host Machine, fill in the IP address of the host computer running AGWPE which you identified in #1.
above.
The Port number should be 8000 unless you elected a different port in #2. above.
The Password can be left blank unless you turned on security in AGWPE as described in #2. above. If you did, enter the password. (Note for UI-View users: if AGWPE is using security, UI-View sends your call sign as the LOGIN name all in upper case letters, minus any SSID number, for example, KC2RLM-4 is sent as KC2RLM.
Therefore, when you create a LOGIN name in AGWPE, it should be the callsign used in UI-View in upper case letters, minus any SSID.)
The Text to send on connection can be left blank.
Generally, the Multiple Systems check box can be left blank unless you want to connect to more than one remote instance of AGWPE. Press F1 for more info about this feature.
The Remote check box can be left blank unless the AGWPE host is not on your LAN. Again press F1 for more information; also see #4. below).
The Port Mask need not be changed. By default, no ports are masked, i.e. UI-View will use all AGWPE ports it finds. You would use this option only to limit the AGWPE ports that UI-View will use to get data. For example, if AGWPE Port 1 is on a VHF frequency and AGWPE Port 2 is on an HF frequency and you want only VHF data, you would use the Port Mask to limit data to just AGWPE port 1.
b. WinAPRS: You first need to create a new .prt file in the PORTS folder under the main WINAPRS folder. It might be helpful to read the basic WinAPRS/AGWPE configuration page on this site for advice on how to do this.
The name of this file might be AGWPE_LAN.prt or something similar -- your choice. The file contents would similar to:
// Created by Me on 10/1/2002 NAME AGWPE on My LAN
TYPE TCP PARSER AGWPE
HOST 192.168.0.101:8000 BAND VHF
PATH WIDE,WIDE2-2 AGWTNC 0
Remember that the field name -- the first word in each sentence ( e.g. PARSER) is separated from the following word ( e.g. AGWPE) by a TAB character not a space.
The key items in this file are:
NAME: Enter your choice of a port description. This is what will be displayed in WinAPRS.
HOST: Enter the IP address of the host computer (see #1. above ) and the AGWPE server TCP port number (see #2. above)
PATH: Enter the PATH you want AGWPE to use when it sends out a packet.
AGWTNC: Enter the AGWPE radio port you want to use. Use 0 for AGWPE port 1; 1 for AGWPE port 2; etc.
After this file is created and saved in the PORTS folder, restart WinAPRS. From WinAPRS's top menu, select Settings, then Port List. In the resulting Port Definitions List window, you should now see a port with the NAME you entered in .prt file. Click on that port and then click on the Open button at the top of the window to activate it. If everything works correctly, then the Status, Open # and Comments fields will all fill in, indicating that WinAPRS has successfully found the AGWPE server (if the Comments field remains blank, there is a problem):
<-- Click to enlarge
Note that WinAPRS has no way to send a LOGIN or PASSWORD to AGWPE, so it will not work with AGWPE over a network if you have AGWPE set to check for passwords.
You can create additional .prt files to link to additional remote computers.
c. APRSplus: The critical setting is in the KipSSPE program. Start that program and look for the IP Address field at the bottom of the screen.
Enter the host's IP address (as determined in #1. above) in this field.
Note that APRSplus has no way to send a LOGIN or PASSWORD to AGWPE, so it will not work with AGWPE over a network if you have AGWPE set to check for passwords.
d. AGWTerm: First, please note that SV2AGW has created two versions of AGWTerm. If you want to run AGWTerm over a network, you must use the TCP/IP version (download Agwtermtcp.zip dated 14Feb2002 to find a AGWTerm.exe file dated 16Aug2001) .
In the folder where install AGWTerm, you will find a file called AGWterm.ini (this file is only created after you run AGWTerm for the first time). Use a text editor, such as Notepad, to open this .ini file. By default, AGWTerm creates an IP address entry (what it calls SOCKSADR) that assumes the AGWPE will be running on the same computer as AGWTerm, i.e. localhost. This is a alias for an IP Address of 127.0.0.1, which is a special IP address that means "this computer". It also assumes that you are using the default AGWPE server TCP port address (what it calls
SOCKSPORT) of 8000 (see #2. above).
[Packet]
SOCKSPORT=8000
SOCKSADR=localhost <-- change
"localhost" to IP address of host
example: 192.168.0.2 see #1. above
Note that AGWTerm has no way to send a LOGIN or PASSWORD to AGWPE, so AGWTerm will not work with AGWPE across a network if you have AGWPE set to check for passwords.