DAMA (Slave Mode) Capacity
All of Kantronics’ current amateur TNCs (KAM Plus, KPC-3 Plus, and
KPC-9612 Plus) support the DAMA protocol (slave mode) as used by many ama
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teur radio operators in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France,
Switzerland and other parts of Europe.
Note: To the best of our knowledge there are no DAMA nodes in operation in the
US or anywhere else outside of Europe.
What is DAMA?
DAMA (Demand Assigned Multiple Access) is a network protocol for regulating
packet traffic to eliminate or dramatically reduce collisions among users on the
crowded channels available to amateurs in densely-populated northern Europe.
As the European channels have become more and more crowded and more and
more DAMA systems have been established, it has become a necessity for TNCs
to be equipped with the DAMA slave protocol in order to use the local networks.
In the DAMA system, a “master” node is set up in each local area to control
transmissions from all stations connected to the node. By local agreement, users
do not connect directly to each other; they connect only through the master.
+ DAMA was developed in Germany by NORD><LINK. (References to more in-
formation on DAMA are provided in the bibliography at the end of this section.)
What Does a DAMA System Look Like?
The DAMA master node requires a computer running specialized DAMA soft
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ware. TheNetNode (TNN) software, developed by NORD><LINK is one such
specialized program which is used in the computer of a DAMA master along
with one TNC, with a special EPROM for each radio frequency used on the sys
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tem. RMNC/FlexNet software is another program which is very popular in Ger
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many.
Within each Local Area Network (LAN), end users set themselves up as DAMA
“slaves,” using specially equipped TNCs which contain firmware (EPROM) that
can operate in a DAMA “slave” mode (such as the Kantronics TNCs with
DAMA slave mode support). The slaves may use a standard terminal or host
mode program or any of a variety of specially written European programs, such
Other Modes of Operation Packet Modes of Operation
KAM’98 v 8.3 215 User’s Guide
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