D-RATS

List of D-RATS features

• Instant-messaging style chat

• Multiple automatic messages at varying schedules, containing static or dynamic content

• File Transfers of arbitrary binary or text content with compression

• Online/offline status notifications

• Multi-platform: runs on Linux/UNIX, Windows, and MacOSX

• Canned messages

• Chat logging

• Tabbed chat interface to filter traffic based on a search string

• Structured data (i.e. Forms) transmission with multiple form templates, graphical editor, and HTML exporting

• Form-to-Email gateway support for providing email access to distant stations

• Winlink2000 gateway

• Automatic message forwarding

• Arbitrary TCP forwarding over the RF channel

• Support for using a TNC or a network connection instead of a D-STAR radio

• GPS position tracking, distance/direction calculation, static beacon support, and integrated map viewer with offline caching

• Network-linkable repeater/proxy co-application

D-RATS Club Presentation

The following is a version of the presentation viewed at the online meeting. Also see additional information below related to installing D-RATS.

Open Presentation in new tab for viewing and downloading

Downloading and Configuring D-RATS

Get D-RATS for your shack! Digital computer to computer communication with or without the internet!

Join us and communicate with us on a D-Rats data reflector.

Use the Desktop app with or without the Internet, with or without any D-Star radio, and with or without a KISS TNC.

Works on Windows, MAC OSX, Linux (Raspberry Pi).

Send email, chat, file transfer, and GPS location (static or from live GPS) locally without infrastructure or to a distant station with infrastructure.

D-Rats is the perfect data complement to the Warren County Amateur Radio Association layered voice simplex net.

Very good beta versions are available and are frequently updated. Check https://groups.io/g/d-rats for latest version as well as instructions for installing D-Rats on Raspberry Pi and Linux.

A beta version is at https://github.com/maurizioandreotti/D-Rats/releases/download/0.3.9/D-Rats-0.3.9_WindowsXP.zip

Draft installation instructions can help start you on version 0.3.9: Click this text to open in new tab. After opening in new tab the installation instructions can be downloaded in several formats using the "File" - "Download" menu feature.

Unzip the D-Rats zip file downloaded from link above into a folder of your choice.

Previously there was a note here for removing 19 files from the 0.3.7 D-Rats build. The developers have removed them from the distribution, so, checking for the files and removing them is no longer necessary.

Sign up with https://www.thunderforest.com/maps/ to get an API key for free maps used with D-Rats 0.3.8 and later

A list of D-Rats data reflectors is here: http://www.dstarinfo.com/drats.aspx

D-Rats open source code https://github.com/maurizioandreotti/D-Rats

D-Rats source code documentation if you are curious: http://www.innovationengineering.it/d-rats-support/docs/_build/html/

Linux code for RasPi zipped into one file is here: https://github.com/maurizioandreotti/D-Rats/archive/0.3.9.zip

Linux code in tar.gz format is here: https://github.com/maurizioandreotti/D-Rats/archive/0.3.9.tar.gz

Make your own Data Cable if you own a D-Star radio: https://iz2lxi.jimdofree.com/diy-data-cable-for-ic-2820-id-51-id-5100/

D-Rats Configuration (also in Draft Installation Instructions above):

If you are new to D-RATS, you may also set up these items. (Included (plus much more) in Draft installation Instructions )

-- Under Maps select cycle for "Map to use". Change apikey to the one from your free thunderforest.com account

Get a free thunderforest.com account to get your own apikey.

-- Click Save to close the Config window. These settings should get you started. You may need to change these for specific uses.

-- Personalize the My Status message in the lower right corner of the Main window.

Delete the text and insert your own (e.g. Myname in City, State, [Locator]).

-- (Optional) Also add a folder for 'sounds' under C:\Users\'username'\AppData\Roaming\D-RATS-EV\ for wav file sounds.

-- If you already have a D-Rats Shared file transfer folder on the desktop, it can also be used.

-- To send your GPS positions to others, locally, create a QST that sends GPS-A and set the interval to 20 minutes.

See info at https://github.com/maurizioandreotti/D-Rats/wiki/191-ERROR-yellow-GPS-messages-appearing-in-the-chat... for formatting

-- Set up the following Chat filters to start with. They may be modified according to your tastes later:

[QST] ; CQCQCQ ; Current weather at ; Now Online ; Now Offline ; Now Unattended

These filters will make having a conversion in the "Main" Chat easier. The large amounts of status information will be diverted to each filter.

Finding more info about D-RATS

-- Go to https://groups.io/g/d-rats/ for D-Rats discussion and help.

-- Go to https://groups.io/g/d-rats/files for D-Rats operating instructions and more.

-- The GitHub D-Rats Wiki has additional info. https://github.com/maurizioandreotti/D-Rats/wiki

-- The D-Rats Facebook page also has good information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DRATS

Ratflector

The repeater application works like an ethernet switch, for those that understand that analogy. If not, imagine it like a Y-adapter or a USB hub. It allows multiple connections to talk to each other. Sort of a concentrator of D-RATS traffic that can bridge multiple modes. If you hook to radios to it, it will behave somewhat like a repeater: any data traffic that comes in on one radio will go out on the other radio. This could be useful for a cross-band digital data repeater.

If you enable network access, then a user from a networked computer could connect to the repeater and see the RF traffic, as well as communicate with other RF users. This means you can locate your main D-RATS PC away from the radio (connected by a LAN) or allow multiple stations to share a single radio. It also allows you to let people come in from across the globe to communicate with RF stations in your area.

If you establish a link between your repeater and another repeater over a network or the internet, then you can bridge your local RF users to remote RF users.

(From D-RATS website. More ratflector info at http://www.d-rats.com/download/doc/contrib/Running_your_own_ratflector_0.3.3.pdf )

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