PACKET RADIO: Line Lengths
Steve Wolf, W8IZ@W8IZ.#NEOH.OH.USA.NA
(This text from the W8IZ packet radio bulletin
board. It's formatted to fit a 80 character screen.)
TITLE: PACKET\LONGBULL.NO!
From: Steve, NO8M@NO8M
Date: October 4, 1990
Subject: The Reason Bulletins MUST Be Short
HEADERS ADD LENGTH TO THE MESSAGE
Every time a bulletin passes through a PBBS, another forwarding header
is added to its list of headers. You do not normally see these headers. If
you would like to take a look, find a bulletin from California and instead of
reading it with the "R" command, use "RH".
Almost all bulletins are passed on VHF. A California bulletin must pass
through many, many systems on its way here. By the time the bulletin makes it
to NO8M, it may have more stored in the headers than in the message.
If your ALLUS is long to start with, it will be huge by the time it gets
to California. Actually, it will not make it. Many stations will not forward
bulletins over a certain length.
WHEN BUSY NODES ARE USED
When busy nodes are used to transfer a message, the node itself may
cause the message to be cancelled. The nodes allow the sending station to
send information until it's memory is filled. (The node might have many other
users using it at the same time! Backups do occur!) It then tells the PBBS
to back off by sending a RNR (Receiver Not Ready) packet. The bulletin board
will either sit there and wait or count the RNR as a NACK (Negative
Acknowledge) and decrement its retry counter. When the counter goes to zero
the PBBS disconnects. Hence, the node may never allow the message through.
ON HF
There is some HF forwarding that occurs. When a long bulletin faces HF
forwarding, it will normally not make it due to the changing band conditions.
300 baud packet is MUCH slower than the 1200 baud we use on HF. HF may just
not allow the forwarding.
WHAT HAPPENS
If a longer bulletin can not be forwarded, it will lock out any bulletin
that came in before itself. The bulletin board sends bulletins it just
received first. This is called First In, First Out or FIFO.
The board looks at all the bulletins that are to go and starts at the
one it most recently received. It then works backwards. If it constantly
hits one that can not be forwarded, then all the ones before it are locked
out, also.
ON NO8M
On NO8M, we are forwarding bulletins less than 2.5K in length to the
Caribbean. We are forwarding bulletins of any length through VHF routes. I
am in favor of limiting VHF forwarding to bulletin of 5k or less.
Should a bulletin be received that are over 10k in length, I will
manually mark it as being forwarded effectively killing it off here.