YOUR TERMINAL and enter Standby mode; the KAM’98 is now able to re
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spond to any station that attempts to link to you.
When a station links to you, your KAM’98 becomes the Information Receiving
Station (IRS), and the station that called you is the Information Sending Station
(ISS). When the other station keys in data, it will be transmitted to you and will
appear on your screen. At some point in the conversation, the other station will
“turn it over” to you so you can send data to him. Normally the other station will
make some kind of statement in the message to indicate that he is going to let you
send data. For instance, he might say, “SO HOW COPY?” The other station then
types a +?, which is transmitted to you. When the KAM’98 receives the +?, it is
displayed on your screen and you become the ISS. You now type on your key
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board, and this data is sent to the other station. When you want the other station
to again send data to you, type the +? on your keyboard. The +? is the “change-
over sequence” in AMTOR. Whenever the IRS receives this sequence, a change-
over occurs, allowing the other person to begin sending data.
At the end of the contact (QSO), one of the two stations must “break the link.”
This is equivalent to hanging up a phone at the end of a conversation. To break
the link with your KAM’98, type <Ctrl+C> D; the KAM’98 will then send the
AMTOR shutdown sequence to the other station, and both stations will stop
transmitting. Common practice among operators is that the ISS station sends a
short message indicating that he is going to break the link. Usually this consists
of something like “Link Down—SK.”
Answering a CQ
While you are in the AMTOR Standby mode, you may see another station calling
CQ and want to call that station. You must know the station’s SELCAL, and this
information is normally sent in the CQ message. In the example above, the sta
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tion’s SELCAL is NGZZ. If you want to call this station, you must first leave the
AMTOR Standby mode and get the command prompt (cmd:) from your
KAM’98. To do so, type <Ctrl+C> X.
From the command prompt, type AMTOR NGZZ and press return. Your
KAM’98 begins sending the link request to the other station and, after receiving
the proper acknowledgements, the message “ LINKED TO NGZZ” will appear
on your screen. You are now the ISS and you may begin typing your message to
be transmitted.
Non-Packet Modes of Communication AMTOR Operation
User’s Guide 118 KAM’98 v 8.3
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