TOC | Quick Reference | Network Types | Private Messages | NTS Traffic | Bulletins
The following provides a quick reference for the various address formats that are supported by the Santa Clara County ARES/RACES BBS network. For more information about different network types, consult the details further down the page.
| Legend: | usercall | The FCC call sign or tactical call sign of the recipient |
| bbscall | The FCC call sign of the BBS used by the recipient: W1XSC, W2XSC, W3XSC, W4XSC, W5XSC or W6XSC | |
| W6XRL4 | The fictitious FCC call sign of Herman Munster, a character in a 1960's TV sitcom. | |
| XNDEOC | A fictitious tactical call sign for the fictitious City of Xanadu's Emergency Operations Center. |
BBS Assignments: Santa Clara County BBS users are assigned a primary and secondary (backup) BBS, according to city/agency, for load balancing purposes. The examples below assume that the primary BBS assigned to Herman Munster is W1XSC and the primary BBS assigned to the City of Xanadu is W4XSC. For a list of all BBS assignments, consult the Packet Frequency and BBS Info page.
| To: Address Format | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| From: Any Santa Clara County BBS (W1XSC, W2XSC, W3XSC, W4XSC, W5XSC, W6XSC) | ||
| usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org | w6xrl4@w1xsc.scc-ares-races.org xndeoc@w4xsc.scc-ares-races.org |
The complete address is always best |
| usercall@bbscall |
w6xrl4@w1xsc xndeoc@w4xsc |
Within the Santa Clara County network, works equally as well as the complete address |
| From: The same BBS as the recipient | ||
| usercall | w6xrl4 xndeoc |
With no "@...", message will stay on the same BBS |
| From: Any BBS on the Worldwide AMPRnet | ||
| usercall@bbscall.ampr.org | w6xrl4@w1xsc.ampr.org xndeoc@w4xsc.ampr.org |
Use of the complete address is recommended when sending from outside the Santa Clara County network. |
| From: Any BBS on the Worldwide BBS Network | ||
| usercall@bbscall.#nca.ca.usa.noam | w6xrl4@w1xsc.#nca.ca.usa.noam xndeoc@w4xsc.#nca.ca.usa.noam |
Use of the complete address is recommended when sending from outside the Santa Clara County network. |
| From: Winlink 2000 | ||
| SMTP:usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org | SMTP:w6xrl4@w1xsc.scc-ares-races.org SMTP:xndeoc@w4xsc.scc-ares-races.org |
Winlink requires the use of the "SMTP:" prefix. |
| From: Internet E-mail | ||
| usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org | w6xrl4@w1xsc.scc-ares-races.org xndeoc@w4xsc.scc-ares-races.org |
Be sure to set your e-mail client to "plain text". |
There are two worldwide networks that carry amateur radio packet network traffic between BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems): the AMPRnet and the traditional BBS network. The Santa Clara County ARES/RACES BBS network is connected to both networks and can handle both address formats. Our BBS network also has e-mail gateways to allow communication with Internet e-mail users. Winlink 2000 is another amateur radio network which can be reached via Internet e-mail.
An important point to remember is that each of these networks (AMPRnet, BBS Network, Internet, Winlink 2000) operates differently. The Santa Clara County ARES/RACES BBS network connects to all of these networks. Therefore, our users can exchange messages with users on all of these networks by using the address format appropriate for each network. But be aware that many other BBSs are only connected to one or two of these networks. So BBSs outside of the Santa Clara County network may not be able to use all of the address formats shown here.
How do you know which type of address to use? It's simple.
Internet network 44 (44.0.0.0/8) is known as the AMateur Packet Radio network or AMPRnet (pronounced amper-net). The AMPRnet network is a worldwide IP network that consists of both RF and Internet links between gateways which serve local networks of BBSs. The Internet links are created using IP/IP tunnels so that all BBSs can communicate directly with each other using 44/8 IP addresses. A gateway at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) provides connectivity between the AMPRnet and the commercial Internet.
The network itself simply provides connectivity. Most systems on the network are capable of sending messages using SMTP (the Internet e-mail protocol). So, by joining the network, most BBSs should be able to send messages to any other BBS on the network fairly easily. The connectivity provided by AMPRnet can also be used for other BBS networking functionality such as traditional BBS network forwarding (see below).
Users on BBSs which are connected to the AMPRnet can typically be reached by sending to an address in the form of:
usercall@bbscall.ampr.org
For a list of the AMPRnet names associated with our BBSs, see the Packet Frequencies and BBS Info page.
The traditional BBS network is a worldwide network consisting of amateur radio BBS systems interconnected by RF and Internet links. Some of the Internet links may use the AMPRnet for connectivity. The BBS sysops coordinate how private messages and bulletins are forwarded throughout the network. A link to any one BBS in the network is sufficient to be able to send or receive traffic to or from any other BBS in the network. Links to more than one BBS generally results in faster and more reliable delivery of all traffic.
Users on BBSs which are connected to the BBS network can typically be reached by sending to an address in the form of:
usercall@bbscall.#area.region.country.continent
The area, region, country and continent components of the address are described in more detail below. For a list of the BBS network names associated with our BBSs, see the Packet Frequencies and BBS Info page.
Winlink 2000 is a network of servers that allow amateur radio packet users to send and receive Internet e-mail. It originally started as a way for sailers to send and receive e-mail while at sea, using HF radio. The connection to the end-user packet station can be RF, but the rest of the Winlink 2000 infrastructure is dependent upon the Internet. Amateur radio users connect via packet radio to an RMS (Radio Mail Server) in their local area. The RMS then communicates via an Internet connection to a CMS (Common Message Servers). The CMS routes the message to the recipient's RMS via another Internet connection. The CMS can also send messages to Internet e-mail users.
Users on Winlink 2000 can typically be reached by using an address in the form of:
usercall@winlink.org
Winlink has no connection to either the AMPRnet or the BBS network. But BBSs which support Internet e-mail can communicate with Winlink 2000 users via Internet e-mail.
The Internet e-mail system is worldwide and just about everyone has at least one e-mail address. All Santa Clara County packet network BBSs have an Internet e-mail gateway. The gateway is two-way, allowing both outbound (packet to e-mail) and inbound (e-mail to packet) connectivity.
Internet e-mail addresses typically have the following format:
user@domain or user@hostname.domain
Internet e-mail addresses for users of Santa Clara County packet BBSs have the form:
usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org
Private messages are messages intended for one or more specific people. The word "private" is used to distinguish the message from other types of messages (NTS and bulletins) which are expected to be read by a group of people; it does not indicate any type of security.
By default, Outpost sends all messages as private messages, unless another message type is selected by the user. Outpost users can also click on the "Pvt" button in the message window to specifically identify the message as a private message. Private messages are sent using the "SP" (Send Private) command on a BBS.
Full Address Format
usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org
where:
Example: To send to user W6XRL4 on the W1XSC BBS: w6xrl4@w1xsc.scc-ares-races.org
Shortened Domain
Within the Santa Clara County network, the "scc-ares-races.org" part of the address can be dropped.
The shortened address becomes:
usercall@bbscall
where:
Example: To send to user W6XRL4 on the W1XSC BBS: w6xrl4@w1xsc
User on Same BBS
Messages sent to a call sign (FCC or tactical) will stay on the same BBS unless the "@..." part of the address is included.
For example, if I am on the W1XSC BBS and I wish to send to Herman Munster (call sign W6XLR4) who is also on W1XSC, I could address the message to:
w6xrl4
... and, because no @... was specified, the message will stay on W1XSC waiting for Herman to pick it up.
The Santa Clara County packet network is connected to the AMPRnet, the traditional BBS network, and the Internet. The BBSs within the Santa Clara County network are all configured to accept all of those address formats.
Full Address Format
Messages can be addressed to any Santa Clara county BBS user from most BBSs connected to the AMPRnet using SMTP-style addresses of the following format:
usercall@bbscall.ampr.org
where:
Notes:
Full Address Format
Messages can be addressed to any Santa Clara County BBS user from any BBS connected to the traditional BBS network using standard BBS network addresses in the following format:
usercall@bbscall.#nca.ca.usa.noam
where:
Note: Some BBSs may not allow a tactical call sign to be used in the address. Others may only allow certain tactical call signs to be used. If you anticipate needing to send to tactical call signs, be sure to send a test message and/or check with the BBS sysop to verify that this feature will work when you need it.
Shortcuts
For the most reliable delivery, always use the complete address. However, here are some shortcut address formats that usually work:
Note: Because the traditional BBS network relies on hop-by-hop forwarding, these and any other shortcuts are highly dependent upon how each BBS in the forwarding path is configured. When in doubt, or when the message is important, use the full address.
According to the Winlink 2000 website, Winlink users must include the "SMTP:" prefix when addressing messages to Internet-style addresses. For example, a Winlink user wishing to send a message to user@host.domain would need to use the following address: SMTP:user@host.domain.
Messages can be addressed to any Santa Clara County BBS user from any Winlink 2000 user by using the standard Winlink 2000 "SMTP:" prefix, followed by the standard Internet e-mail address format:
SMTP:usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org
where:
Note to Winlink 2000 Users: Outpost will detect when it is connected to a Winlink RMS or CMS server and will automatically insert the "SMTP:" address prefix if the user does not. Other Winlink client software may perform the same action. Winlink users should check their client software documentation for details.
IMPORTANT: When sending e-mail to your packet mailbox, be sure to set your e-mail client to plain text. Otherwise, most e-mail clients will send a message that includes plain text, rich text, and HTML versions, with all of the accompanying formatting info, all in the same message! This makes the message size extremely large (10x or more!) and requires much more time to transmit.
Messages can be addressed to any Santa Clara County BBS user from any Internet e-mail user by using the standard Internet e-mail address format:
usercall@bbscall.scc-ares-races.org
where:
A note about Outpost delivery receipts: The default behavior for the Santa Clara County version of Outpost is to send a delivery receipt to the sender of the message. The delivery receipt has a subject line that begins with "DELIVERED:", followed by the original subject line. Beginning with SCCo Packet Installer v73 (Outpost v3.0), the body of the delivery receipts are readable by e-mail recipients.
Not Recommended: Sending SMS/Text messages to other than SMS/Text users is not universally supported by all mobile carriers. Also, some mobile carriers take the original "text" message typed by the user, format it with HTML, and encode it with Base64 before sending it. This makes the message unreadable by a packet user since the packet BBS software only understands plain text messages. In general, this will not be a reliable communication path until SMS/Text to e-mail is more widely supported by the mobile carriers and a method for dealing with Base64 messages sent to packet addresses can be found.
The Santa Clara County packet network is connected to the AMPRnet, the traditional BBS network, and the Internet. The BBSs within the Santa Clara County network are all configured to properly forward all three address types.
Full Address Format
Messages can be addressed from any Santa Clara county BBS to most (but not all) BBSs connected to the AMPRnet using SMTP-style addresses of the following format:
usercall@hostname.ampr.org
Most BBSs on AMPRnet use their BBS call sign for the hostname portion of the address. This is what we do in Santa Clara County.
Example: w6xrl4@w1xsc.ampr.org
Some BBSs on AMPRnet use some other hostname instead of their BBS call sign. For example, some systems use a city name or even a two-part hostname, such as part1.part2.ampr.org. As long as you enter the address correctly, our network will forward it correctly.
A few BBSs that are connected to the AMPRnet do not accept this type of addressing. They use the BBS Network style of address instead.
Full Address Format
Messages can be addressed from any Santa Clara County BBS to anyone on any BBS connected to the traditional BBS network using the standard BBS network address format:
usercall@bbscall.#area.region.country.continent
where:
Many years ago, the continent code was two letters instead of four. You may still see addresses with the continent code written that way, such as "NA" for North America or "EU" for Europe. But these can easily be mistaken for top level domains in Internet e-mail addresses. Our BBSs handle the old-style addresses properly when it is possible to do so unambiguously. But some BBSs in the forwarding path may not handle these old-style addresses properly. For best results, always use the proper format of the address.
For more detail on the BBS Hierarchical Addressing Protocol, including a full list of continent, country and region identifiers, see: ftp://ftp.tapr.org/bbssig/recommendations/hierarchical
Note: The BBS network uses a hop-by-hop method of forwarding messages. Each forwarding hop may occur at certain times during the hour, or only at certain times of the day. On very slow links, forwarding is usually done only at night. So messages to distant locations may take quite a bit of time to reach their destination. If you have a choice, use the AMPRnet address format, which usually results in much more timely delivery.
Shortcuts
For the most reliable delivery, always use the complete address. However, here are some shortcut address formats that usually work:
Note: The traditional BBS network relies on hop-by-hop forwarding. That is, each BBS forwards the message to the next BBS that it thinks is the best next hop for the given destination. The next BBS then decides where to forward it next. Therefore, these and any other shortcuts are highly dependent upon how each BBS in the forwarding path is configured. When in doubt, or when the message is important, use the full address.
Full Address Format
Messages can be addressed from any Santa Clara County BBS to anyone any Winlink 2000 user by using the internet address format:
callsign@winlink.org
Subject Line Prefix
Winlink requires the Subject: line of the e-mail to start with "//WL2K" unless the sender of the message is already listed in the recipient's "whitelist" on the Winlink server. Replies would start with "Re://WL2K" and forwarded messages would start with "FW://WL2K".
Whitelisting
Winlink users should add the Santa Clara County BBS domains to their Winlink whitelist to help insure they don't miss important messages due to individual senders forgetting to add the above prefix to the Subject line. The following domains should be whitelisted:
For more information, see the Winlink 2000 web site.
Messages can be addressed from any Santa Clara County BBS to anyone on the Internet by using the Internet format:
user@domain or user@hostname.domain
The user will receive the message as a regular e-mail.
Most mobile carriers provide an e-mail to SMS/Text gateway. Messages can be addressed from any Santa Clara County BBS to anyone with an SMS/Text-capable device using the carrier's defined address format. The general address format is:
10digitnumber@domain
where:
A list of some of the largest mobile carriers are provided below. For additional carriers, consult http://www.emailtextmessages.com or your carrier.
| Carrier | Address |
|---|---|
| AT&T | 10digitnumber@txt.att.net |
| Sprint | 10digitnumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com |
| T-Mobile | 10digitnumber@tmomail.net |
| Verizon | 10digitnumber@vtext.com |
We no longer handle NTS traffic via our W#XSC BBS systems. Users could choose to use Outpost with another BBS that will move NTS messages. We are however not aware of any NTS stations still active in the area. This section remains for reference only.
NTS traffic is intended to be handled by amateur radio operators who are part of the ARRL National Traffic System. NTS traffic is sent by clicking on the "NTS" button in Outpost.
The address format for NTS traffic within the US and Canada is as follows:
zipcode@ntsxx
where:
- zipcode is the five-digit Zip Code
- xx is the two-letter US Postal Service abbreviation for the US state or territory or Canadian province.
Example:
90210@ntsca would be the address for an NTS message being sent to the 90210 zip code in California.
A different address format is used for international traffic. We do not have information on that format.
Consult official NTS documentation for more information about how to properly format and address NTS traffic messages.
The Outpost website has a helpful paper entitled "Introduction to the National Traffic System for Packet".
Notices are a special type of bulletin which are specific to Santa Clara County BBSs. They are retrieved by the user in the same way that other bulletins are retrieved. But they are only distributed to SCCo BBSs (W*XSC) and can therefore be distributed using an internal mechanism that is much faster than the more general bulletin distribution method.
Notices also have a different address format which is simpler than the more general bulletins address format since the distribution is known (W*XSC BBSs).
IMPORTANT: Notices should only be sent by a person authorized to do so. As shown below, some notices will automatically expire and be deleted after the expiry interval has passed. Manual deletion of notices can only be performed by a BBS sysop.
The address format for sending a notice is simply:
category
where:
Notices are stored in areas (mailboxes) according to the category name. The purpose and expiry interval for each of the Santa Clara County notice areas is summarized in the table below:
| Category | Content | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| xscperm | Information which should always be available, such as: standard procedures, frequency lists, tactical call sign lists. Typically posted by SCCo ARES/RACES staff. | never |
| xscevent | Information which is temporary in nature, such as event-specific procedures or announcements. Typically posted by an event IC or other designated person. | 7 days |
| xsctest | Available for testing by any user | 1 day |
Reading notices can be performed interactively or by using Outpost since the number of categories and the number of notices in each category is purposely limited.
The SCCo Packet Installer configures Outpost to automatically read the xscperm and xscevent notice areas. For details, consult the SCCo Standard Outpost Configuration documention. For reading notices with interactive commands, see the section on reading bulletins later on this page.
Bulletins are a way to distribute information to all users on any BBS. Almost all BBSs throughout the world support bulletins. After all, "BBS" means Bulletin Board System. Bulletins are sent to an address which identifies the content category of the bulletin and how widely it should be distributed throughout the worldwide network of BBSs.
The most common format for bulletin addresses is:
category@distribution
where:
Some commonly seen examples of categories are shown in the table below. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
| Example Categories | Description |
|---|---|
| amber | Amber alerts |
| arrl | ARRL newsletters and announcements |
| ares, races, emcomm | Various EmComm-related activities |
| dx, dxnews | DX news and contact info |
| equake | Earthquake reports (USGS) |
| humor, humour | Jokes, funny stories and quotes |
| keps | Orbital elements for amateur satellites |
| satdig | Satellite Digest (AMSAT-BB) |
| swpc | Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA) |
| tech | Variety of technical articles |
| today | Today in history |
| wx | Weather |
Choosing a Category for your Bulletin:
Before choosing a category, it is important to note that some BBS operators sort bulletins into areas/mailboxes by category. Therefore, before sending a bulletin, it is a good idea to scan the existing bulletins to see which categories are commonly in use. Then, if your subject matter fits an existing category, use that. Of course, if you prefer to create a new category, feel free to do so. Just be aware that a bulletin with a new category may sit in a "hold" area on some BBSs until those BBS sysops decide what to do with it.
The Santa Clara County BBSs (W[1-6]XSC) sort bulletins into areas by distribution. This makes it easy to find bulletins which are targetted specifically at our location and eliminates the problem of a new category being held on our BBSs until one of our sysops can decide what to do with it. Of course, a new category may still be held on other BBSs.
The bulletin address must include a distribution. The acceptable distributions for use in our area are shown below. Use one of the following to control how widely your bulletin will be distributed. Be respectful of the use of RF links throughout the world and choose the minimum distribution that is appropriate for your bulletin content.
| Distribution | Description |
|---|---|
| local | No distribution; stays on the sending BBS |
| xsc | Santa Clara County (XSC) Op Area (W[1-6]XSC) |
| bay | San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area |
| nca | Northern California |
| ca | California |
| wusa | Western USA (west of the Mississippi River) |
| usa | United States |
| noam | North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, ...) |
| ww | Worldwide |
Incoming bulletins are sorted into areas for users to read. The area names have the following format:
alldistribution
where:
Examples:
To see a list of bulletin areas:
Reading bulletins should be done interactively, with a terminal emulator such as PuTTY or Ipserial. This is because one does not typically read every bulletin. There are many bulletins and some are very long. Therefore, one usually scans the list of bulletins and picks out only the bulletins of interest to read. The BBS keeps track of the last bulletin you read in each bulletin area to help you navigate.
Please do NOT add the above area names to your Outpost configuration and do NOT configure Outpost to retrieve the bulletins in those areas. Doing so will hog the channel for a long, long time!
Bulletin Reading Commands
Use the following commands to move between bulletin areas and read the bulletins in each area:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Area. Show a short list of all areas (mailboxes), including bulletin areas. |
| AF | Area Full. Shows a more descriptive listing of areas, including descriptions of the contents of each area. |
| A areaname | Change to the areaname area (mailbox). For example, "A allww" would change the current area to the "allww" bulletin area. To change back to your home mailbox, use "A yourcallsign". |
| L> filter | List Filtered by To: address. Lists only bulletins with filter in the To: address. For example, "L> humour" would list only the humour bulletins in the current area. |
| L< filter | List Filtered by From: address. Lists only bulletins with filter in the From: address. For example, "L< w6xrl4" would list only the bulletins sent by w6xrl4 in the current area. |
| LA | List All Lists all bulletins in the current area |
| LN | List New Lists new bulletins in the current area |
| L | List Lists unread bulletins in the current area |
| R # | Read bulletin number # |
| XM # | Set More mode to # lines per page. After displaying # lines of text, the BBS will prompt the user with "--more--" and wait for a response. Press the space bar to move to the next page of text. CAUTION: Any setting other than "XM 0" (zero) will cause Outpost to hang. The Santa Clara County packet installer includes BBS setup files for the W[1-6]XSC BBSs which cause Outpost to send the "XM 0" command each time it connects. This ensures that XM is set back to zero for Outpost, even if you forget to do it. If you are using Outpost but not using the Santa Clara County packet installer, you should set up your BBS initialization file to send the "XM 0" command. |
Cities or agencies within Santa Clara County can create their own city/agency-specific bulletins using the standard bulletin addressing and reading methods defined above. This can be very useful for distributing information specific to a narrower set of users.
The recommended address format for city/agency-specific bulletins is:
category@xsc
where:
Examples:
Since the distribution is "xsc", all city/agency-specific bulletins will be sent to the allxsc bulletin area/mailbox on all Santa Clara County BBSs. This occurs three times per hour. Bulletins in the "allxsc" mailbox last for seven days, after which they will be automatically deleted. The next section describes how to retrieve only the bulletins intended for your city/agency.
The standard bulletin filtering mechanism of "L>", which is used to filter the TO address, can be used to selectively list and read only the bulletins intended for your city/agency. The commands are:
A allxsc
L> filter
where:
Examples:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| A allxsc L> cup |
Switch to the "allxsc" area and list the bulletins for Cupertino |
| A allxsc L> sjc |
Switch to the "allxsc" area and list the bulletins for San Jose. |
In Outpost:
Manually, at the BBS mailbox prompt:
| Web Site Home Page |
This page was last updated on 15-May-2024