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G8MNY > TECH 15.04.06 12:34l 148 Lines 6530 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 26304_GB7CIP
Read: DL1LCA GUEST
Subj: Y Extended ASCII graphics
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7CIP
Sent: 060415/0914Z @:GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU #:26304 [Caterham] $:26304_GB7CIP
From: G8MNY@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU
To : TECH@WW
Hi Readers, (Updated Feb 06)
Most of the TECH bulletins use 8 bit graphics. If you suspect your SYSOP is
using 7 bit links have a word.
The extended ASCII graphics character set on PCs is called a CODE PAGE &
selected in the file CONFIG.SYS. The one for English is CODE PAGE 437 & USA is
850 but that has no Ohms & some of the double line graphics are different!
These give the most 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 PCs terminal/client software is set up to
view with a suitable character set, often mis called the FONT SET! (FONT should
mean the character shape/style/size, rather than the ASCII character mapping
set as modern software often uses the word.) Also don't use justify or variable
spacing when viewing or printing, as this screws up the drawings!
I have no specific answer as to why new systems drop computability to well
established standards, or why some software ignores the machines setup files,
but is does happen.
Here is a general guidance...
(Unfortunately for radio work Lambda is not available, Best Try ",\" )
From Bryan G0SYR ...
"It is still difficult to exchange drawings efficiently so that everyone can
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." If your using Word6 try Terminal Font @ 10-11 cpi.
Recently I found that the 'MSDraw' font also gave reasonable results on
slightly more modern machine that didn't have Terminal available.
From Mel G4WYW ...
"I am using Winpack here and have experimented with different fonts. The ones
that work for me are as follows: WINPACK 17, TERMINAL 18, COURIER,
COURIER NEW, FIXEDSYS, LUCIDA CONSOLE, WST-GERMAN
There may be others. What I suggest you do is what I did. Find a bulletin to
Tech, display it in your browser isplayed mine in WinPack) and then highligh
all text and find your fonts and change to each one and see how you like it.
Make sure to try each font size as well because that can make some difference."
From Michael DK3HG ...
"Under Linux Debian Sarge you must install xfonts-terminus-dos, then run:
xterm -font vga to display ASCII > 128
Now you can display with Linux and X11 the ascii posting from g8mny
and others."
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 programme & versions & patches are correct for your..
1/ operating system,
2/ terminal/client software mode,
3/ printer make & model
4/ printer emulation package & mode settings etc,
Or spend a few hours on the various supplier helplines!
Another approach is to screen dump a diagram to a Bitmap file .BMP & import
that into a paintbox to print.
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.
Also if any 7+ 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. (I know you can generate error reports etc. but it is
slow for many readers to do this to the originator, not all SPs get through).
Again 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 170 TECH files averaging about 5k each, would be
turned into 800 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.
By using ASCII the result should be a VERY compact file ideal for Packet &
easy for your SYSOP to check & vet before releasing. And it will be quick &
easy to read on many platforms & in any language....
Date/Time : 12-Oct 22:36 2004
Title : hello
From: LW5DIX@LW6EVE.#1661.BA.ARG.SA
To : G8MNY@GB7CIP.#32.GBR.EU
name javier qra lw5dix
qth argentina
tex is spinif
amigo muy buena los informes de tecnica
me gustaria si tiene web ok
saludos
73 y dx
(it's just the text that's not international!)
Why don't U send an interesting bul?
73 de John G8MNY @ GB7CIP
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