Dear All, SeaMail has moved into phase 2 of it's mode of operation. Via Penta Comstat, We are offering both GTOR and PACTOR access accross four frequencies covering a large slice of the HF spectrum. During the next week we will be doing heavy GTOR testing and measuring it's performance against Pactor. With our scanning frequency system operating 24 hours a day we can accept traffic from much further afield our range is potentialy global. I am including revised notices and technical instructions to connect. Not much more to report. The BT Global challenge is in Sydney and they have been keeping me busy. Please feel free to try the system or even just listen. We need signal reports. Best Regards Jonathan Selby ==================================================================================== Low Cost EMAIL for yachts at sea is here ! For the cost of a postage stamp you can send an electronic mail message anywhere in the world from your boat. This document describes the service and provides detailed instructions for accessing and using the service. Try the service now at no obligation or cost to you ! Questions and Answers about SeaMail. Q What is seamail. ? A Seamail is a radio telex service which provides simple EMAIL access to the Internet Q What do I need on board to use SeaMail ? A You need a marine SSB or HF Tranciever capable of using our frequencies. Most general coverage Ham of Marine rigs can access our frequencies. In adition to this you need a HF Digital modem with PACTOR capability examples are KAM Plus by Kantronics and AEA Pakratt 232 MBX. You also need a computer and software program to emulate a terminal. Most digital modems are shipped with simple DOS software. Terminal under windows 3.1 and Hyperterminal under win 95 can handle the requirements. Q Do I need any propriatary hardware or software to get up and running ? A No, many boats already have everything they need to use SeaMail. Q Is there any software arround to make access for me easier ? A Yes, SeaMail Ship is provided free of charge to help manage your mailbox and billing records. It is available on the web page http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/xaxero/seamail.htm Q How much does the service cost. A For every month that the service is used, a $25 service charge is levied and for every 5 minutes connected or portions therof , $2 is charged. Using Pactor under good conditions you can send up to 3500 characters - 2 pages of text. With GTOR almost twice that amount can be sent. Poor conditions result in longer transmission times. In general with our 3k test message under marginal conditions it took up to 15 minutes ($6) to transmit. Q Who are the people behind SeaMail ? A The designers of SeaMail are cruising sailors. The Service is run by Xaxero Marine Software Engineering Ltd New Zealand, in conjunction with Coast radio stations NikoRadio ZKRT Rarotonga and Penta Comstat VZX New South Wales. Q How easy is it to sign up ? A Just log on using your marine call sign. You will be transmitted a registration form which can be filled in and sent back free of charge. You may at once start sending traffic. We will require you to fax in credit card details in order for the membership to be sustained when you get into port. Q Is the service right for me ? A If you are looking for a low cost solution to staying in touch with friends, family and business on a daily basis while away then this is for you. Q Is the messaging instantaneos ? A No, you may have to wait for a clear frequency. You are rationed one message per signon session in order to give others a bite of the service. Traffic is forwarded to the central server twice a day so the quickest response back would be 24 hours. Q are there restrictions on the amount of traffic I may send? A Yes, We are limiting the text to 3000 characters per EMAIL in PACTOR amd 5000 characters in GTOR ( a 5 minute average) Q Will I be billed if my mesage gets cut of half way through ? A If conditions are poor, the service may disconnect. If you disconnect in the first 30 seconds, then you will not be charged, however you will be charged in increments of 5 minutes the frequency is occupied by you thereafter. It is recomended you keep messages short in conditions of poor coverage. Q Who pays for messages sent to me. A You pay the connect time each direction. There is no charge from us for the internet leg of the traffic. Q Is the traffic secure A No it can be read by anybody with a PACTOR modem who can copy your signal. Secure traffic encryption is the responibility of the user. Q Do you provide weather bulletins/ routing service etc. A No we purely forward traffic. Weather, routing etc can be obtained from many sources. We can provide a list of contacts on request for the normal traffic fee or free of charge to an Internet address. SeaMail Coverage and stations. There are 2 SeaMail stations currently operating providing nearly 24 hour coverage of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and will provide near global coverage for up to 4 hours a day. Penta Comstat VZX operates on the following USB frequencies 24 hours a day: Assigned freq kHz. Upper Sideband Dial kHz 6357 6354.8 8442 8439.8 12680 12677.8 16908 16905.8 NikoRadio ZKRT operates on the following frequencies and times: Assigned freq kHz. Upper Sideband Dial kHz 6928.3 6930.5 to be announced 12214.5 12212.3 09:30 UTC - 1700 UTC How to log on to SeaMail Set your modem's PACTOR or GTOR call sign to your marine SSB call: Eg PK232 send the command MYPT WSS1234 KAM Plus send the command MYPT WSS1234 and then MYGT WSS1234 Tune to the required frequency and wait for a tuning signal. The tuning signal will sound like a warbling continous tone lasting about 10 seconds. With your modem in FEC mode you should be able to fine tune the radio so that the tuning bar on the modem shows the LEDs at the extreme ends of the scale illuminated. Station VZX scans 4 frequencies.VZX broadcasts a tuning signal for 10 seconds and listens for 30 seconds you may have to wait 2 minutes for the tuning signal. If one of the chanels is occupied by a user passing traffic, you may have to wait longer. When your radio is properly tuned and nobody else is transmitting, you may link with the station. You can link either by using PACTOR protocol or - if you have a KAM modem, you may use GTOR. to link to VZX: With a PK232 - send the command PTC VZX With a KAM plus - send the command GTOR VZX After a few seconds you will get a link confirmation. As this is your first link, you will receive a registration form which you can fill in at your leasure and send back to us. When the form has finished transmitting you will be disconnected. You are now registered as a temporary member and can pass traffic. You can now log on again and send or recieve traffic. How to send a message To send a message, prepare the text of your message offline. The first line of your message should be the destination internet address you want the message to go to. The second line is the name of the person you are sending the message to The Third line is the subject of the message. The remainder is the body of the text. Very important, the last line must contain /EX and nothing else. This terminates the message. Once the message has been received, a reciept will be issued and you will be disconnected. How to check if you have mail Connect to your seamail station: Read the introduction text you will see your callsign followed by "DE VZX" and either "QRU" meaning there is no mail waiting, or "QTC" and a number, indicating that there is mail waiting. The number indicates the number of messages waiting. To retrieve the next message in the queue, please type RN (enter) and the next message will be sent to you. You will then be disconnected. One message per logon session may be sent or received. If you have a KAM plus or a PK232 and are running Windows 95, you may want to use our free terminal software SeaMail-Ship. This sofware will organize your mail and provide easy one key logon to the service and all it's facillities. This software is available for download from the SeaMail web site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/XAXERO/seamail.htm How to reply to a SeaMail message You are paying for both legs of a message wether sending or receiving for this reason, be carefull whom you get to reply to you. Messages incorrectly adressed or longer than 5k may be returned or deleted. To reply to a ship, the mail must be sent to the return internet address. The TO: field in the mailer should read SHIP_NAME-CALLSIGN eg: "Maid_of_Crete-ZBX1234". Instructions for return mailing are automatically inserted at no charge at the begining of each EMAIL message you send. Billing The service is free during the trial period ending May 1997. After that the service is billed on connect time - $2 US per 5 minute slice. If the link is poor it will take longer to send traffic. If you link for less than 60 seconds in a 24 hour period, there is no charge, so you can check to see if you have mail without having to pay. There is a monthly membership/service charge of $25 US for every month that you use the service. If you do not log on in that month, then you are not charged Billing is via major credit card. At the end of every month you are sent an itemised bill in USA dollars to your SeaMail call sign and the amount is charged to your credit card. The actual figure will be charged in New Zealand dollars using the mean median exchange rate at the time of charge.