AXCALL(1)

✨ NAME ✨

axcall — make an AX.25, NET/ROM or Rose connection 💖

(that's axcall(1) bestie, section 1, Linux Programmer's Manual, and yes it's literally the moment your little packet radio era begins)

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

For AX.25:

axcall [-b l|e] [-d] [-h] [-m s|e] [-p paclen] [-s mycall] [-r] [-t] [-T timeout] [-v] [-w window] [-W] port callsign [[via] digipeaters.....]

For NET/ROM:

axcall [-d] [-h] [-p paclen] [-r] [-t] [-T timeout] [-v] port callsign

For Rose:

axcall [-d] [-h] [-r] [-t] [-T timeout] [-v] port callsign address [[via] digipeater]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

axcall is the general purpose AX.25, NET/ROM and Rose connection program. The way it runs entirely in line mode? Iconic. Normal for AX.25, no notes. All your CR/LF translation is handled transparently — you don't have to think about it even once. And the program hands you ASCII, YAPP, YAPP-C and 7+ file transfer facilities, so there's genuinely something for every mood 🎀

Some of the options are only valid in AX.25 mode, and if you drop them in NET/ROM mode or Rose mode, the program will just quietly ignore them. Not a fight, not a warning, just vibes.

This version of axcall incorporates many changes, and those changes include a much improved user interface. We love a glow-up. ✨

The port name is mandatory — no port, no connection, periodt. It's the name of the port the connection will be made on. That port name may be an AX.25 port, a NET/ROM port, or a Rose port, and axcall will work out which one automatically, like the main character it is 👑

When you're using NET/ROM, the use of digipeaters is meaningless and is not supported. Sorry bestie, it's just not a thing there. 🙈

But when you're using Rose, up to one digipeater may be specified — as well as the Rose address of the distant node and the callsign of the remote station. Here's the tea though: the Rose address must be ten digits long and it must exist in the Rose node tables. No fake addresses, the tables will know. And for Rose connects to actually work, axparms must have been used to set a callsign/uid mapping for the userid in use. Do that first, fr fr.

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -8 — UTF-8 encoding, and it's the default btw.
• -b l|e — Sets the method of backoff to use with AX.25 connections. The default is taken from the port specification, but you can override it with this option. Valid values are l for linear backoff, and e for exponential backoff. Pick your fighter. 🔥
• -d — Turn on socket level debugging.
• -h — Selects Slave mode.
• -i — Use IBM850 encoding.
• -m s|e — Sets the AX.25 mode to use. The default is taken from the port specification, but this option can override it. Valid values are s for normal (modulus 8) AX.25 operation, or e for extended (modulus 128) AX.25 operation.
• -p paclen — Specify a specific maximum amount of data to be sent in each AX.25 packet.
• -r — Selects Raw mode.
• -s mycall — Connect using the specified source axcall (you may need to be root).
• -t — Selects Talk mode.
• -v — Display the version.
• -w window — Specify a specific AX.25 window for this connection. Only valid in AX.25 mode.
• -S — Be silent. Useful for using axcall in shellscripts (together with option -r) in order to be really transparent.
• -R — Disable all remote commands like autobin (#BIN#), 7plus downloads, //echo, etc. This is useful for scripting where you just don't like the remote site to trigger uncaught conditions here. 🚫
• -T timeout — Set idle timeout seconds after a connection will be closed automatically when there's no data being transferred (in- and outbound). If timeout is set to 3600, the connection will close after 1h inactivity. A value of 0.5 is 500ms. ⏳
• -W — Wait for remote disconnect even if stdin is closed. Normally, "echo q | axcall ax0 db0fhn" closes immediately after "echo q" terminates; thus we never see the greeting from db0fhn. With the -W option, axcall waits until the ax25-connection is disconnected (i.e. db0fhn disconnects after "q" command). Very useful for scripting. You might like to combine it with the -T option. 🫶

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🧚 the ~ escapes 🧚

The axcall program interprets lines beginning with a '~' specially. The following '~' escapes are available.

• ~? — List escapes
• ~~ — A ~ symbol
• ~. — Close connection
• ~! [command] — Run a command
• ~0 — Change to Raw mode
• ~1 — Change to Slave mode
• ~2 — Change to Talk mode
• ~8 — UTF-8 encoding
• ~a — Start a file transfer (Autobin)
• ~b — Start a file transfer (Binary)
• ~c — Close the logfile
• ~h — List escapes
• ~i — IBM850 encoding
• ~o [filename] — Open a logfile (default 'logfile.txt')
• ~r — Reconnect to remote station
• ~s — Stop an upload
• ~u [filename] — Upload a file (ASCII upload)
• ~yu [filename] — Upload a file (YAPP upload)
• ~yd [filename] — Download a file (YAPP download)
• ~z — Suspend program

Heads up bestie: the program provides no terminal emulation features. Those are left up to the console facilities of the terminal in use. The program is however '8 bit clean'. 🌈

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /proc/net/nr_nodes
• /proc/net/rose_nodes
• /etc/ax25/axports
• /etc/ax25/nrports
• /etc/ax25/rsports

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

axlisten(1), mheard(1), ax25(4), netrom(4), rose(4), axports(5), nrports(5), rsports(5), axparms(8), nrparms(8), rsparms(8).

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💜 AUTHORS 💜

• Alexander Tietzel DG6XA <TIETZE_A@etech.fh-hamburg.de>
• Joerg Reuter DL1BKE <jreuter@poboxes.com>
• Alan Cox GW4PTS <alan@cymru.net>
• Jonathan Naylor G4KLX <g4klx@g4klx.demon.co.uk>
• Steve Henson G6IXS <shenson@nyx.cs.du.edu>

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and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this one's a Linux Programmer's Manual classic from 27 August 1996, and the page itself is AXCALL(1). go make a connection, you've got this 🦋✨