JNOS Software

JNOS is a program that has been written for and by Amateur Radio Operators. It allows the Packet Radio enthusiast to explore the technologies brought about by the advent of the Internet.

Standard packet radio uses the AX.25 information exchange protocol (based on the X.25 protocol which had previously been used as a method to communicate between computers) to move information from one packet radio station to another. When this information is exchanged, it is contained in the data section of each packet sent and its size is dependent on the size of each packet sent (usually 256 bytes). It is in this data section that JNOS uses to its advantage to insert another information exchange protocol called TCP/IP. TCP/IP is defined set of standards that have been developed to move information across computer networks. TCP/IP stands for Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

TCP/IP is composed of two levels of network protocols. IP, Internet Protocol, is used to define who is talking to who. TCP, Transfer Control Protocol , is used to define what type of service you want to perform.

In order for a computer to know who an information packet is from and who it is to requires some method of addressing of the computers. Internet Protocol (IP) does this by using 4 bytes of data that uniquely defines a computer or system. Each of these bytes can be represented by a number from 0 to 255. The standard method of representing these 4 bytes is by putting a period between each byte. EX: 44.48.30.75 or 207.51.176.192. When these 4 bytes are assigned to a computer, it is known as an the computer's IP address. What your IP address is like what your name is, or what your computer's name is really, on a network of computers that use TCP/IP to communicate.

Connecting to another computer means nothing unless you can define what you want to do once you connect. This is where the Transfer Control Protocol (TCP) part of the protocol comes into play. TCP uses what is called ports. Through various ports you can connect to services that are being offered (or not offered sometimes) by the computer you want to use. The port is a 16 bit number (0-65535) that is used to define a service. Common port numbers are: TELNET (23), FTP (20), SMTP (25), HTTP (80), and the list goes on. Each one of these port numbers define what you want to do with the communications you have established. Each one of these sub-protocols have their own specific way of communicating with another computer to provide what you want it to do.

JNOS has a rather complete implementation of the TCP/IP protocol built into it. Not only can it use TCP/IP to connect to other TCP/IP stations through your packet radio equipment packet but it can also use a modem to connect to your local Internet Service Provider (ISP) to connect to the Internet. JNOS can be run under MS-DOS or a variation of Unix called Linux. It transforms your packet station from being just a TNC with a simple mailbox to a system that is capable of providing services as complex as your local BBS and much more. Any TNC capable of being put into KISS mode can be used with JNOS. When you put your TNC into KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) mode, you essentially turn off most of the features in your TNC and your TNC then lets another program, JNOS in this discussion, to implement more services than all but the most expensive TNCs are capable of.

The AMPRnet is the AMateur Packet Radio Network. It consists of Amateur Radio Stations that have adopted the new TCP/IP protocols. An AMPRnet station does not necessarily need to be connected to the Internet to be part of the AMPRnet. It just means that they are using the TCP/IP protocol and assigned IP addresses to communicate with each other. Having a local AMPRnet station that is connected to the Internet puts your AMPRnet station on the Internet so all other AMPRnet stations can connect directly to yours though.

All AMPRnet stations have a domain name that ends with ampr.org. All AMPRnet stations around the world have an IP address that has it's first byte assigned to 44. The next byte of the AMPRnet address have been assigned to regional areas. Each state in the USA has its own region. For our station located here in Indiana, the 2nd byte is 48. So all AMPRnet stations located in Indiana have an IP address that starts with 44.48. The third byte of an IP address further divides the region into subareas. In Northeast Indiana, our designation is 30. So all AMPRnet stations in NE Indiana have the 1st three bytes of their IP address assigned to 44.48.30. The 4th byte of the IP address actually reflects which system that you want to connect to in the defined region. For FWARig, this 4th byte is 75. That makes our full 4 byte IP address, 44.48.30.75 (also written in the notation [44.48.30.75]). Other packet stations in our region have different numbers for their 4th byte. For instance, n9knj's 4th byte is 89, kb9lgj's 4th byte is 69, and kb9ibw's 4th byte is 76. Thus n9knj's, kb9lgj's, and kb9ibw's full IP addresses are [44.48.30.89], [44.48.30.69], and [44.48.30.76] respectively.

When an amateur radio operator requests and receives an AMPRnet address from their local AMPRnet coordinator, which varies from state to state and country to country, they are assigned an unique IP address and a domain name. The domain name is usually their callsign followed by ampr.org. For kb9lgj, his domain name is kb9lgj.ampr.org. FWARig's domain name is gw.kf9ug.ampr.org. What, a 4 part AMPRnet domain name? Domain names can have 4 parts to them. For amateur radio operators that have more than one system on AMPRnet, they can be assigned domain names that have the 4th part to them (the gw in FWARig's case). Here at FWARig we have two computers that are part of AMPRnet. We have gw.kf9ug.ampr.org [44.48.30.75] that serves as the connection to the Internet and we have kf9ug.ampr.org [44.48.30.73] that serves as an HF gateway. Each computer has its own IP address and its own domain name. They have to have different a domain name and a different IP address so the rest of the world can tell them apart.

If you choose to become part of the AMPRnet network, you'll need to get an IP address and domain name assigned to you that is part of the AMPRnet network. This is best accomplished by contacting your local AMPRnet address coordinator and requesting an AMPRnet address. If you cannot find how to contact your coordinator, you can assign yourself a temporary IP address. Usually an address that has the 4th byte of 254 is acceptable for temporary use. The other 3 bytes will depend on your region. What you should set this to is left to you as an exercise for you to determine. It is important that if you do decide to join AMPRnet that you get the 1st three bytes correct and make contact with your regional AMPRnet coordinator to assign you with a permanent IP address.

Okay I want to get JNOS. How do I get it?


The best way to get the JNOS program is to use the FTP protocol to download it to your computer from the Internet. Since you are reading this page, it tells me that you already are online to the Internet and thus can download JNOS from its source on the Internet.

Here is a link to the latest JNOS software. If you click below, click on "README.1ST" and read the file. This will give you information on what to file to download as well as the ability to download the documentation files regarding JNOS. This is not a site of mine and changes periodically and it is advised that you read all documentation to download and properly install and setup the JNOS software package so you can use it while limiting the amount of time that is required to understand the software as well as properly configuring it for your situation.

Latest JNOS software directory


I'm sure that you will be perplexed as to what to download and install on your computer. That's natural and the only way to learn what's important and what's not for you is to read, read, read. The JNOS software package can be downloaded in two different ways. You can either download the JNOS source code and compile it for yourself or you can download a "canned" version of the software. If you do decide to download the source code you will need the Borland C++ compiler version 3.1 or 4.0. Borland's C++ compiler is not free and is not cheap so this may not be the best way for you to acquire JNOS for your system. Since this software has not been developed and is not supported by a commercial enterprise, it has not been developed to be downloaded and installed through a "Setup Wizard" or other commercial equivalent. JNOS requires extensive reading and proper setup before installing it on the air. Another good way to get a version of JNOS installed with the correct setup is to contact someone in your area that is already running JNOS. These individuals have gone through the effort and can easily supply you with a simple setup that will get you started. A good source of information about JNOS and it's related software packages is the " NOSintro: TCP/IP over Packet Radio" offered for sale through ARRL. In this book you'll find a wealth of practical information, hints and tips for setting up and using the KA9Q Network Operating System (NOS) in a packet radio environment. The emphasis is on hands-on practicalities. You'll see exactly: how to install NOS on a PC, how to setup the control files, how to check out basic operations off-air, and how to use NOS commands for transferring files, logging in to remote systems, sending mail, etc. This software is not the easiest to install and will require some effort on your part to get it to work properly. For me, it's been worth the effort.

Online support for JNOS
As most new users have problems, there is a Internet maillist devoted to JNOS and installing it on your system. If you want to join the maillist, Click here. This site will direct you to a source on the Internet that is very active in JNOS development and it's support.

This code is a continually developing piece of work, and as such, it should be seen as a BETA software, no matter whether it is indicated as such or not. You should not expect this to be a 'plug and play' solution to TCP/IP over packet radio. If you experience problems, feel free to contribute 'constructive' criticism to the author or the discussion group.
JNOS Documentation

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since October 25, 1997

Last updated October 16, 2001