MultiTermBasic

User's Guide

Copyright © 2023 RLB

 Table of Contents
1. Summary ....................................................................................................................... 2
2. Mouse Hover Tips ........................................................................................................... 4
3. Terminal Operations....................................................................................................... 5
3.1. Entering your Call Sign(s)............................................................................................... 5
3.2. Connecting to a Modem ................................................................................................ 5
3.3. Basic Sending and Receiving........................................................................................... 6
3.4. Log Files. ................................................................................................................... 7
3.5. Grab Last .................................................................................................................. 8
3.6. Drag and Drop Text File................................................................................................ 8
4. Interfacing to Modems and Other Programs ..................................................................... 9
4.1. MS-DMT Modem via COM Port....................................................................................... 9
4.2. MS-DMT Modem via TCP/IP .......................................................................................... 9
5. Chat............................................................................................................................... 12
6. Auxiliary Transmit Windows ........................................................................................... 13
7. Troubleshooting ............................................................................................................. 14
7.1. Fragmented Message................................................................................................... 14
7.2. No Decryption............................................................................................................. 14
7.3. Radio Does Not Transmit .............................................................................................. 14
8. Debug Mode ................................................................................................................... 16

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Summary. MultiTerm Basic was written to act as DTE and a test device with MS-DMT and
hardware modems.
It provides a simple terminal interface to MS-DMT for amateur radio plain text digital
communications exchanges. To and from call signs are prepended to the user's text in terminal
to support digital messaging.

It includes a Debug mode to allow testing of modems by allowing transmission and viewing of
user-specified hexadecimal and ASCII strings. In Debug mode, the call signs are not
prepended. The hexadecimal characters are displayed and counted in the Received Text
window.

Modems:
- works with the MS-DMT software modems as well as the RapidM TC4, RM2 and RM6, and Harris RF-5720 hardware modems.
- remembers the modem settings between sessions and opens the port on startup. Current settings are displayed in the status
bar for 30 seconds on startup.
- can connect via serial (COM) port or via TCP/IP (if the modem is capable).
- can control reset and speed/interleave on the software modems from within the terminal.
- can use MS-DMT's SEND FILE option for faster transfer of text between Multiterm and MS-DMT.
- if the Harris 5720 modem is selected, prepends the needed start of text and end of text characters.

Message Handling:
- can fetch the last good message received into the Transmit/Edit window for relay.
- you can load the Transmit/Edit window and by dragging and dropping a .txt file in the window.
- provides auxiliary transmit windows that can be pre-loaded with messages to be delivered to new stations or sent at specific
times.

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Logging
- maintains a dated, daily log of date and time-stamped incoming and outgoing transmissions.

Chat:
- supports chat messages for short exchanges.

For New Users:

- while learning, allows temporary use of "mouse-hover" tips to remind the user of button and area functions.

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Mouse Hover Tips. When first getting familiar with the program, it may be useful to turn on Mouse Hover tips. This feature
displays a brief description of the function of a button or area when you move the mouse pointer over it and leave it there for a
few seconds.

The option can be turned on or off as needed. This option is not saved when the program is closed.

Placeholder Text. Gray placeholder text identifying the type of data expected is provided in otherwise blank fields where data
can be entered.

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Terminal Operations. Basic operation of the terminal.
- Entering your Call Signs
- Connecting to a Modem
- Basic Send and Receive
- Log Files
- Grab Last

Entering your Call Sign(s) . If you installed Multiterm Basic as a fresh start (without a Multiterm.ini file), you will be asked to
enter your call sign.

It is stored in the Own Call Sign data entry field in the Terminal Settings group on the Settings tab. The changes will be loaded
into the menu box on the Terminal tab in the DR (From ) menu box. It will also be loaded into a menu box for the DE (From) call
sign on the Terminal Tab.
It is remembered when you reload Multiterm.

Connecting to a Modem. Go to the Settings tab. Select the modem, then and fill in the parameters for the modem you are
using. COM port settings and TCP address and port are provided.

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 Modem Type. You can select a software modem (MS-DMT, MS-DMT TCP) or Commercial modems (e.g., RapidM TC4, RM2,
RM6) or the Harris 5720.

Use MS-DMT SendFile. If you selected MS-DMT, check this box and when you hit Send, Multiterm will pass the text in the
Transmit/Edit window to MS-DMT via a file instead of through the virtual serial port. This results in a faster transfer of long
messages to MS-DMT via the serial port.

Use RTS for PTT. Check this box for hardware modems that need it for TX. Some will key on data.

Modems with a TCP/IP port. If the modem is running on the same computer, enter the modem's IP address and port in
the spaces provided.

MS-DMT TCP. MS-DMT has a TCP port interface. The default IP address and ports for command and data are supplied by
Multiterm Basic. Ctrl-click the blue heading at the beginning of this item for a hyperlink to more information.

Enter the settings and click the appropriate Connect button. The settings will be remembered from session to session.
MultiTerm will connect automatically when it starts if MS-DMT is loaded first.

Basic Sending and Receiving. MultiTerm Basic provides basic Data Terminal Equipment functions via the Received and Transmit
windows and the Send button.

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Transmit text can be manually entered or pasted into the Transmit/Edit window, or a .txt file can be dragged and dropped there.
Click in the Transmit/Edit window, then type or paste your message or drag and drop a .txt file. Clicking Send will send the
entire message. I

You can edit messages in this window.

Received text appears in upper Received Text window as the characters arrive from the modem.

Log Files. Multiterm records incoming and outgoing text to a log file stored in the Logs folder in Multiterm's home folder. There
is one file for each Zulu day. The name of each day's log file is of the form YYYYMMDDLog.txt. Each entry is also time stamped,
and has a header made up of the time stamp YYYYMMDDhhmm, whether sent or received, whether PT or CT, and if CT, the
key designator.

Log files can be accessed vis the Log menu tab, which will open the Logs folder. Double-clicking on a log file will open it in
Notepad (or the editor you designate for handling .txt files.

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Grab Last. The "Grab Last" button will fetch into the transmit buffer the last valid ACP message or informal message received.
T

Drag and Drop Text File. If you drag a .txt file into Multiterm Basic and drop it, Multiterm Basic will load the contents of the
.txt file into the Transmit/Edit window. Confirm that it is the file you intend to send and click the Send button to transmit it.

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Interfacing to Modems and Other Programs.

- MS-DMT via COM Port

- MS-DMT via TCP/IP

MS-DMT Modem via Serial Port. If you are going to connect to the software modem in MS-DMT via serial ports, you will need
to set up a pair of virtual com ports with a utility program like VSP Manager, Virtual Serial Port Editor or com0com. Once this is
done, the two COM ports in the pair be linked as if by a (null modem) cable.

In Multiterm Basic's Settings tab, select MS-DMT as the Modem Type. This enables several of MS-DMT's MMI commands from
within Multiterm. A Reset Modem button will appear that allows you to reset MS-DMT if it is running-on. The Send File option
will be enabled and a speed/interleave menu box will appear above the Transmit/Edit window allowing you to change the
MS-DMT's speed and interleave from within Multiterm Basic.

Then in MS-DMT, enter one of the COM port numbers from the virtual COM port pair and set the data rate. Enter the other
COM port number in Multiterm and set its data rate. The other parameters default to the standard 8N1.

Operation. The linked pair works the same way as if the terminal program were
connected to a hardware modem. Hardware modems have a modem control program to
select the waveforms, data rates and interleave, and to display performance statistics. You
can continue to change speeds, watch the BER, SNR, and control the modem via the
MS-DMT interface.

Use MS-DMT Send File. Select this option, and when you hit Send, Multiterm will pass
the text in the Transmit/Edit window to MS-DMT via a file instead of through the virtual
serial port. This results in a faster transfer of long messages to MS-DMT.

Click Connect via Serial Port.

The settings will be remembered from session to session. MultiTerm will connect
automatically when it starts.

Modem Reset. You can reset the MS-DMT modem via MS-DMT's controls or from within
Multiterm. When you select MS-DMT, a Reset Modem button will appear above the
Received Text window. Clicking it sends a Reset command to MS-DMT.

Modem Speed/Interleave.

You can select the modem speed and interleave from Multiterm (or within MS-DMT). Select the speed from the drop-down
menu above the transmit window.

MS-DMT TCP Modem (Connecting via TCP/IP). In Settings tab, select MS-DMT TCP from the list. The default settings for
IP address and command and data ports are supplied automatically, assuming you are using localhost (with Multiterm and MS-DMT
running on the same computer). These defaults are 127.0.0.1 as the IP address, 4999 as the command port and 4998 as the
data port.
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MS-DMT TCP Modem (Connecting via TCP/IP). In Settings tab, select MS-DMT TCP from the list. The default settings for
IP address and command and data ports are supplied automatically, assuming you are using localhost (with Multiterm and MS-DMT
running on the same computer). These defaults are 127.0.0.1 as the IP address, 4999 as the command port and 4998 as the
data port.

If you cannot use this connection and are on a LAN, you can use the method described in the MS-DMT document: TCP/IP
interfacing with MSC/CP, where you place an ip.cfg file containing the IP address of your PC, the command and data ports,
and a Position ID in the MS-DMT folder.
Here is an example of the ip.cfg file:

192.168.1.67
5010
5011
MSDMT1

When you start MS-DMT, it will use these values from the ip.cfg file. Enter these same IP address and ports into Multiterm's
Settings and click Connect via TCP Port.

To find the IP address of the PC for the ip.cfg file, type CMD in the Search window (next to the Windows Start button), In the
black Command window type ipconfig and press Enter.

When the link is established, the connection status of the data and control ports will be shown in the Modem TCP/IP Settings
panel below the Connect and Disconnect buttons.

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11
Chat

Short, one-line, chat messages can be quickly formatted and sent. With the To and From call signs entered, type the message in
the blank line and hit "Enter". The message will be formatted, sent immediately.

For chats, to see both sides of the conversation, you can have the sent lines appear in the received text window among the
responses of the other station. You can do this by checking the Display TX Data in RX Window checkBox.

Call Signs. The message is preceded with a TO call sign, DE and a FROM call sign showing who sent the message to whom.
ALL is a valid TO call sign for Multiterm Basic. (Messages can be heard by all, even if addressed to one station.)

Your call sign appears in the DE (From) box; the call sign of the station you are talking to can be entered in the TO box. These
address fields are transmitted with the message.

The default To call sign is ALL, as peer-to-peer messaging is not implemented. You can advise others that the message is for a
specific station by entering that station's call sign in the To address.

The To call sign window is an editable comboBox. You can erase the ALL and type the call sign of a station you are calling in the
empty edit area. When you hit Enter, the call sign will be inserted at the top of the drop-down list, and the ALL will be pushed
down.

On receipt of a message with call signs, Multiterm Basic will place the sender's FROM call sign in the TO box and insert it at the
top of the drop down menu list, ready for a response. The TO call sign may be left at ALL.

Stations Recently Heard. Clicking the down arrow on the TO call sign menu box will display a list of recently heard stations
(those that transmitted a message with a call sign header).

Ending a chat exchange. When you hit enter, a "K" will automatically be added to the end of the text, signifying "Over" and a
response is expected. If you want to signal the end of the conversation, add "AR" to the end of your final message. The "K"
will not be added, and the AR will appear instead. signifying "Out".

Peer-to-peer messaging is not implemented yet. Entering that station's call sign in the To address just advises others that the
message is for a specific station. Once you finish with that station, be sure to return the To address to ALL. Clicking the Clear
TX button will do it. Or, you can select ALL from the drop-down menu list.

Chat Message Exchanges. The text of each chat message you send will end with the time and "K", indicating that a
response is expected. To end a chat with AR instead of K, type a blank followed by AR at the end of your final words before
you press enter for the last time. The AR will replace the K at the end of the message. The AR will not appear in the text.

The AR will replace the K at the end of the message. The AR will not appear in the text.

ALL DE W5XXX: Here is a test message. AR

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Auxiliary Transmit Windows. Some situations require the same message to be distributed to many stations at different times,
e. g., task assignments to stations participating in an extended exercise or real event, or injects into an exercise.

It is convenient to have these messages teed up and ready to send when needed, while keeping the main window available for
current comms. Multiterm Basic provides auxiliary transmit windows to serve this purpose. Click the Aux. TX Window button to
open one.

You can drag and drop a stored .txt file into the window, load a received or other message, or paste the message into it. You
can open as many as you need and move them out of the way until needed. They will all close when you close Multiterm Basic.

When you click Send, the message will be sent via Multiterm Basic's main Transmit/Edit window.

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Troubleshooting.

Problem: Fragmented Message. A received message is logged and written in fragments, rather than as a single intact message.

Problem: No Decryption. Instead of readable text, you get garble in the Received window and a message "DATA FROM MODEM
GARBLED, OR KEY NOT AVAILABLE."

Problem: Radio Soes Not Transmit When I Click Send. Clicking Send results in no activity.

Problem: Fragmented Message. A received message is logged and written in fragments, rather than as a single intact
message.

Cause. The serial timeout duration is too short.

Solution. Increase the serial timeout duration. To do this, change the value in the Terminal Settings box on the Settings tab.
Enter the number of milliseconds the terminal should wait for more characters of the same message to arrive before concluding
that the transmission is complete.

The change will take effect with the next received message.

Underlying Process. Some hardware modems send the incoming bytes to the
terminal program in batches (rather than a continuous stream) with gaps of several
seconds between batches. The terminal program considers the incoming message
complete when the modem goes idle. To do this, Multiterm Basic starts a timer
after receiving a byte or block of bytes from a modem, and the timer begins to
count down. The default value is 3 seconds. When the timer expires, Multiterm Basic processes the received bytes. But if
the gap in a single message is longer than the timer duration the rest of the message will arrive a few seconds later. This will
show up in the Log file as message fragments instead of one complete message.

To accommodate this variation in modem character flow, you can increase the serial port timeout duration to an amount greater
than the modem's delay time between batches. The delay can be shortened for modems with shorter gaps between the
bytes/byte blocks.

Problem: No Decode of the Digital Transmission. Instead of readable text, you get garble in the Received window and a
message "DATA FROM MODEM GARBLED", indicating that the modem indicated an incoming message, and Multiterm Basic was
unable to make sense of the characters received from the modem.

Causes: Possible reasons for this include:

- The signal could not be recognized by the modem, which passed on the garble.
- A deep fade while receiving the message caused the modem to lose sync.
- The signal could have been too weak, buried in the noise, or sustained interference from another station on the same or a
nearby frequency.
- The transmitted signal was too heavily clipped.

Solutions:

- Failure of the modem to recognize the signal is most often caused by poor propagation conditions. Slowing the sending data
rate can help, as slower rates include more forward error correction information in the signal.

- Software modem users are strongly advised to set the levels in the audio chain (radio, sound card and computer) to ensure
adequate signal amplitude, while remaining in the linear range of the audio amplifiers and avoiding clipping. Radio audio filters
should be set wide for data and no audio processing should be used. The serial tone waveform prefers a 3 KHz filter bandwidth.
Amateur radios with filters that cannot be adjusted that wide especially require that other devices in the audio chain be properly
adjusted.

Problem: When Using Serial Ports, Radio Soes Not Transmit When I Click Send. Clicking Send results in no activity.

Common Cause: No virtual COM port pair, using VSP Manager. Or, once set up, they did not persist.

Diagnosis:
- Open Device Manager and check to be sure that the virtual serial ports still exist.

Solution: Recreate them. First, right-click the shortcut to VSP Manager. Click Properties. Click the Compatibility tab.
Under Compatibility Mode, check the box near "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select Wndows XP Service Pack
3 from the comboBox. Then check the box near "Run this program as an administrator."
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Click Apply and OK.

Then right-click the VSP Manager icon again and click "Run as administrator."

Now set up your COM ports. It is likely that they will now persist across reboots.

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Debug (Hex) Mode. The terminal can be used to test modems' ability to pass all bit combinations. It can serve as an
alternative when swapping out different elements of the data path to identify where in a chain of processing a problem lies.

Configuration. Typically, two instances of MultitermBasic and two instances of the modem are used, with each modem
connected to a MultitermBasic terminal in Debug mode. The audio streams of the modems are linked with a virtual audio
cable. The terminals are put into debug mode, and test messages are sent What is sent is compared to what is received.
In Debug mode, the terminals provide hexadecimal displays and character counts of what is sent and received.

Alternatively, two radios and dummy loads are substituted for the virtual audio cable (s).

Debug Mode. To enter Debug mode, click the Radio Button at the top of the window.
A new button will appear -- Send Hex Bytes -- next to the Send button, and the behavior of the terminal will change.

In Debug mode, call sign wrapper is not prepended to the characters you enter in the Transmit or Chat windows. Only the
characters that you enter are sent.

Send Button. Text entered in the transmit window will be sent and a note will appear in the Received Text window showing
the byte count, the ASCII characters and below it, the hexadecimal equivalent of what was sent.

Send Hex Bytes Button. To send custom hexadecimal strings, enter them in the Transmit window and click the Send Hex
Bytes button. The receiving terminal will show a count of the bytes received, the ASCII bytes received (if printable) and the
hexadecimal character string.

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