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G8MNY > TECH 13.01.05 21:38l 97 Lines 4421 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 28684_GB7CIP
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: Y Extended ASCII graphics
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<DK0WUE<SP7MGD<ZL2TZE<GB7YFS<GB7CIP
Sent: 050113/1919Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU #:28684 [Caterham] $:28684_GB7CIP
From: G8MNY@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU
To : TECH@WW
Hi Readers, (Updated Jan 05)
Most of the TECH buls use 8 bit graphics. If you suspect your SYSOP is using
7 bit links have a word. The international ASCII extended graphics set is
called CODE PAGE 437 or CODE PAGE 850 on PC systems & IBM/PC compatible
standard on non PC systems, eg Linux/Mac OS/Dumb Terminal etc.
VIEWING EXTENDED 8 BIT GRAPHICS
Ú¿
[] = ÀÙ, | = ³, - = Ä, Ts = Â ´Ã Á, Ohm = ê, Degree = ø, +/- = ñ
ALT 218 191 179 196 194 180 195 193 234 248 241
KEY 192 217 (not all C/Pages)
If you're not seeing graphics similar to the characters above make sure your
TNC has PARAM 8 Bit = ON, & that your terminal/client software is set up to
view with a suitable character set often called the FONT SET! (FONT should
mean the character shape/style/size, rather than the character ASCII mapping
as modern software often uses the word.) Also don't use justify or variable
spacing when viewing as this screws up the drawings!
(Unfortunately for radio work Lambda is not available, Best Try ",\" )
From G0SYR..
"It is still difficult to exchange drawings efficiently so that everecan
view them. Which ever format is chosen it immediately restricts the number of
people that can view them and John chooses to send them as he does so that
the maximum number of stations can view them on a variety of systems and yet
keeps the file size to a minimum for transmission over radio."
"Even viewing/printing John's extended graphics drawings can be tricky for
some to find a suitable font on modern machines."
"For anyone using Win98 (and probably earlier versions) and having problems
'seeing' drawings from G8MNY's TECH series try loading them into NOTEPAD and
using TERMINAL font."
PRINTING
The same goes for printing, if you can see the graphics on your screen OK,
but cannot print it correctly, then your printer software setup is WRONG!
See the various footnotes for all your software & hardware products to work
properly together. (this is no mean task!)
eg. what printer driver programmes & versions/patches are correct for your..
1/ operating system,
2/ terminal/client software,
3/ printer make & model
4/ printer emulation package & mode etc,
Or spend a few hours on the various supplier helplines!
FORMATS OTHER THAN ASCII for DIAGRAMS
CAD options
I use Orcad myself for proper drawings, but unless you have the same make of
software, version No, & identical large library files, the small data files
are useless. This goes for all Cad programmes. Most cad programmes are not pan
platform... LINUX / APPLE MAC / MS DOS 3/4/5/6 / WINDOWS 3/95/98/2000 / WINXP.
Most need Binary file send (7+ for packet BBSs) except FidoCad. But if you use
specialist (PRIVATE) coded programmes to make data files, this may be
considered illegal by some Ham Radio Regulators!
BBS SYSOPs are required to vet all the bulletin content on their systems, so
any messages that are too difficult to vet on the host machine (eg LINUX),
may just get deleted rather than vetted!
GRAPHIC files
JPEG, PCX, BMP, GIF etc.
Although these are available on most platforms they need binary send, & most
files are very large & have to be split into many 7+ files. These soon jam up
the small bandwidth available on Packet. eg. a 3K text & ASCII diagram bul,
was 3x 10K data buls without the associated text, but the diagram did look a
bit better. If any part goes missing or corrupts over the BBS multi hops the
whole thing is useless & becomes a waste of space, as any single part missing
the whole is NOT decodable.
As these formats could carry dirty pictures etc. SYSOPs also must vet these
on their systems, so these can often just get deleted of the BBS!
CONCLUSION
From the above, I conclude that the best packet friendly format for text
bulletins with drawings, for the widest international readership, is ONLY the
8 bit Extended ASCII graphics set.
In a graphics 7+ format my 153 TECH files averaging about 4k each, would be
turned into 700 9K files! So using these 7+ data formats may be considered
greedy & inefficient & inconsiderate to other BBS users.
K.I.S.S. is the best option for most, immediately viewable for most readers
with only a small % needing to view in another programme.
Why don't U send an interesting bul?
73 de John G8MNY @ GB7CIP
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