Jnos Operators Guide

by John Martin KF8KK

Packet Messages and Pmail

 
Sending and receiving packet mail in a Jnos system uses the typical commands that most other packet systems use.

Issuing the 'L' command will list all unread messages in YOUR AREA.

In Jnos 'AREA' is a subsection of the mailbox that can be viewed separately from other 'areas' in the mail system.  

Each station gets their own area.  Your 'AREA' will be named by your callsign.

If you want to see a listing of the various 'AREAS' available in the jnos node, issue the 'A' or 'AF' command.  'AF' gives a bit more information than the simple 'A' command.

By separating messages into various areas, a user does not have to wade through long message listings for topics that might not be of interest.  

Explore the various areas by issuing the command
'A <areaname>'

 
When you are done exploring the various areas available, you should return to your personal area with 'A <callsign>'.

As you would expect, the 'R' command followed by a message number will READ a message.  

In your area, the 'K' command followed by a message number will delete a message.  You might think that 'D' would make more sense, but it's being used for file downloads-- 'K' for 'KILL' the message is how jnos likes to think of it.

Please note in the image to the right that the 'L' command used near the top just showed the 1 'new' message in the ARES area.

To show ALL the messages (new and old) I needed to issue the 'LA' [that's short for LIST ALL] command.

It is best for you to get used to issuing 'LA' so that you don't miss viewing a message by mistake.

 

If you get lost in Jnos and need some help, there is plenty available for you!

Just typing the question mark '?' at the command prompt will get you a quick listing of commands that are commonly used.  This is a handy hint should you forget a commonly used command.

Below is a listing that you get with the 'H' or 'HELP' command.  This is more detailed and allows you to get specific assistance on all the subcommands available for the respective commands.

 

 

Sending packet mail via Jnos is just the same as with any other packet mail system. 

Sadly, we must realize that we're not reliving the packet heyday of the 80's where BBS message forwarding was ubiquitous and countrywide.

If the other ham was local to this Jnos system you could send the mail by issuing the 'S' command followed by the guys callsign.

Not all Jnos systems are setup to forward mail.  The capability is there in Jnos, it's just that the ham networks have become defunct in many areas.

On the plus side, Jnos can send internet email if the jnos node is connected to the internet.  Jnos implements SMTP mail just fine and sending internet email is a no-brainer for Jnos.
In the above image I sent an email to my internet email address.   After ending the message with the '/ex' it asked me if I wanted to send it, and then I hit a 'Y' and then the system responded with 'Msg queued'.  The jnos system will send this message out on the internet within the next couple of minutes.

Again, I must bear sad news--- inbound email from the internet is rarely enabled in Jnos.  This is due to the spam issues that it would cause.  Jnos itself will handle mail just as well as any other mail server-- but few jnos machines are setup for inbound email.
As you can see, the jnos outbound email appeared moments later in my Microsoft Outlook regular email client [I have emails sorted with colors depending on the particulars of the address-- that's why it's in teal and not black].
The actual message showed up just like any other message.

As you can see, the hostname of the jnos hamgate appears in the 'from' header.  If the recipient just hit 'REPLY' to this their email would be bounced back as there's no public access allowed for inbound internet email at 'hamgate.leelanau.ampr.org'.

The line at the bottom starting with 'Originated...' is part of a signature line that can be optionally configured into Jnos nodes by the system operator.

Jnos Operators Guide:

Introduction
Logging In to Jnos
Ports and Outbound Connections
Packet Messages & Pmail
Converse & Telnet modes
Downloads & Special Stuff