Specifications

4. You're
in
Command
Overview
We
know
you're
chomping at the bit to
get
on-the-air, but before
you
do
you
should familiarize
yourself
with the PK-96's
"operating
system,"
a few important commands, and its list of available
commands.
Most of
the commands have a
standard
(defaulQ
value that
provides good performance
for the average
amateur radio
station, but
there's no rule that says
you
must keep these defaults. You can-and should-
change
the default values
as
required
fbr
your
individual operating needs,
type of equipment, and
local
op-
erating
practices
or
protocols.
Don't
be
intimidated
by all
the commands that are available
to
you-an
average
user needs to
understand
or change only a handful
of them. Once set, they
usually don't
need
to be reckoned
with
again.
(See
EX-
PERT.) This
chapter is intended
as a command and enor message reference
and
is
not
meant to
be
read
fiom
start to finish. However,
you
might want to
peruse
the chapter and
make
a
list
of commands
you
think
you'll
need to use.
Parameters
and Arguments
If'a
command requires
an argument, the type of argument is indicated after the command narle as
well
as
its
default value. There
are three different types of
parameters
used: Boolean, Numeric
(or
Text), and
String.
Boolean
Boolean arguments
use one value out of
a choice of only two
possible
values,
such as ON or OFF,
)'ES
or
NO, or EVERY
or
AFTER.
Boolean arguments
can also be changed back and
forth
(toggled)
with an argu-
ment
of TOGGLEoT T.
Numeric
An argument
designated as
"n"
is a numeric value. Numeric
values can be entered by typing them
in lamil-
iar
decimal numbers, or in hexadecimal
numbers. When using hexadecimal notation,
you
must type a
$
in
fiont
of the number to tell the PK-96
that this is a
"hex"
number.
For numeric
parameters,
the arguments
ON or
f
set the
parameter
value to its default. Arguments OFF or N
set
the value to zero. Baud-rate
parameters
can use arguments UP
(q
or DOWN
(D)
to
select the next
higher
or lower baud rate.
Text or
String
Arguments
A text parameter,
such as the CTEXT message,
can
hold
almost any
ASCII
character,
including uppercase
and lowercase
letters, numbers, spaces, and
punctuation.
Some commands,
such as CONNECT, require call signs
as
arguments. These arguments are usually call
signs,
but may be any string of up to six
characters
with
at least one letter. Some commands, such as
CFROM, have
arguments which
are actually lists of call signs. You must separate multiple
call
signs with
either
spaces or coflrmas.