Satgen53 April Fool Fuji 2nd April 90 On April Fools Day, JAS1-B FO-20 introduced a new trick. It appeared to be in mode JD only. It sent digital beacon, telemetry and a "kind" message to say its BBS was available. The only trouble was that , that was all it did. It had decided to do a Greta Garbo and it was not accepting any callers. Frankly I am not an expert on recalcitrant filmstars or satellites. I only hope some electronic psychiatrist can persuade it to talk to us soon. Fortunately Lusat and Pacsat were still digipeating. So my confidence was slightly restored . However on the previous day FO-20 had given me a real dose of the DISCONNECT bug. For those who have not met this monster, it operates as follows. You access FO-20 JD, read a file then order DISCONNECT, and you get disconnected. All in good order. BUT within 30 seconds you are told by FO-20 that you are re connected, a move you have not solicited.You try to disconnect again. Sometimes it ignores you and does not reply, or, sometimes you manage to persuade it to disconnect you again. Where upon a few seconds later it promptly connects you up again. Previously I have met this bug perhaps once every third pass but to get it in triplicate sequence really defeated me. Looking at the whole subject of FO-20/Pacsat software. FO-20 has about a dozen assorted nasties of the unsolicited re connect kind, and its protocols omit many proven useful terrestrial BBS options which have proved essential to good order and circuit discipline. Jamsat please, please take action. With regard to Pacsat/Lusat Uosat 14 protocols , Harold Price and the Uosat team have already made clear their intention to avoid several of the FO-20 problems. Their protocol will include periods when bulletins of general interest are broadcast, rather than allowing as FO-20 does 6 separate users each in turn to call for the same bulletin and take the whole of one pass and still not get it. Equally interesting it is to be hoped that the Pacsat protocol will not permit strangers to read personal mail. FO-20 permits anyone to call for and read your mail and apparently to kill it if they want to. Another problem requiring resolution is FO-20s lack of L> GM4IHJ or L< GM4IHJ. You cannot selectively scan the files for messages to you. There is no LM . So when GM4JJJ put a message on FO-20 for me , I had to ask for a file dump to get its number so I could call for it and read it. In all cases we must give the control teams time to iron out these bugs. I realise Rome was not built in a day, BUT I temper my apology for bringing up the subject by refering you back to the indignities which have this weekend interupted my pacsat perambulations. PS I still like sat packet radio . 73 de John GM4IHJ@GB7MAC