Q: How do I access the callsign server?

A: The callsign server at the University of Buffalo is a telnet server
   which means you need Internet access and, more specifically, you need
   the telnet program to use it. This is very common, so it shouldn't
   be a problem but if you don't have it, you can't use the server.

   Assuming you have the ability to telnet you simply want to connect
   to the server by doing a

	telnet callsign.cs.buffalo.edu 2000

   If this doesn't work you can also try

	telnet electra.cs.buffalo.edu 2000

   or finally

	telnet 128.205.32.2 2000

   Once you connect to the server you will get a little banner that
   says you are connected and then you'll get a prompt. At the prompt,
   I recommend that you first type the "info" command and then type
   "help" to get you started. You should be able to figure out most
   of it from there.

Q: How do I get at the ham radio archives?

A: The archives are available via anonymous ftp. There is no mail
   server or anything like that available for these files. If you
   know how to do an anonymous ftp, just connect to ftp.cs.buffalo.edu
   and cd to pub/ham-radio. You can grab the README file there to
   get you started.

   If you don't know how to do an anonymous ftp, try the command

	ftp ftp.cs.buffalo.edu

   from your site. If you don't get a connection then you will not
   be able to get at the archives. If you do get a connection, give
   the word "anonymous" for the login name and anything you want
   for a password. Eventually, you will get a prompt. Here you can
   type the commands

	cd pub/ham-radio
	ls
	get README
	quit

   as a first step. This just gives you a list of everything in the
   archives, copies the README file from the archives into your local
   directory, and then quits the ftp session. Now you'll notice the
   README file in your home directory. It contains a list of all the
   files available in the archives. And you can use the same steps
   to copy any of them to your directory as well. For more information
   on ftp, see your local documentation ("man ftp" on UNIX systems).

Q: I know I have Internet access but when I telnet to the server I
   just get a login prompt instead of the banner I'm expecting. What
   am I doing wrong?

A: The telnet program connects to port 23 by default. This is the port
   that is used to log in. To connect to the server you need to connect
   to port 2000, though. Normally this is done by putting the number
   2000 after the host name in the command line but some telnet programs
   have this feature disabled for security reasons or they may just
   have some other way of doing it. If this is the case, you'll have
   to find out how to change port numbers on your system. I would
   suggest talking to your local system administrator to see what can
   be done. But there isn't much I can do from this end.

Q: I don't have Internet access. Are there any mail servers I can use?

A: Yes, there are some but I don't run those. See the FAQ list for the
   ham-radio newsgroup for more information on how to use them. A copy
   of these FAQ lists are in the ftp archives.

Q: The information about me in the callsign database is not correct.
   Can this be fixed?

A: The data we have is direct from the FCC (or DOC or whatever). If it
   is wrong on the server then it's wrong with them. To correct it you
   should have them change it (form 610 for the FCC) and it will be
   fixed on the server during the next update. I can't fix things by
   hand because it takes far too much work and time to edit the files
   and rebuild the database. Sorry.

Q: I can't search the callsign database for a city or name that has
   more than one word (New York, for example). Is this a bug?

A: No. As it says in the "info" section of the server you need to
   enclose names with multiple words in double quotes. So instead of
   using the command line

	city new york

   you would use

	city "new york"

   for your search. This also works for name searches or whatever.

Q: Is wildcard searching available on the server?

A: No. The only implementations of wildcarding that I know of involve
   a physical search of each and every entry. Since the database is
   55 Meg this is pretty much unrealistic. You can, however, use
   UNIX style regular expressions to filter out unwanted information
   during a search. This is usually sufficient for more cases. See
   the "info" section and the "help" menu for more information.

Q: Are there any plans to expand the database to other countries?

A: I'd love to but I've been unable to get the data for any other
   countries. If you have access to this data in digital form I
   would love to hear from you.

Q: The Canadian and US club calls are in the ftp directory but the
   US general calls are not. Is there somewhere I can ftp those?

A: The US data is not ftpable. However, there is a company that puts
   it (and other ham related information) on CD ROM. The cost for
   the ROM is about $25 and the data is usually less than 3 months
   old. For more information, contact

	Walnut Creek CDROM
	1547 Palos Verdes Mall #260
	Walnut Creek, California 94596
	1-800-786-9907

Q: How often is the callsign server database updated?

A: The server is updated whenever someone gets me new data. I do not
   actively acquire new databases. Walnut Creek (see above) gets new
   data every three months, last I heard. If the database on the server
   is older than that and you would like it updated then purchase a
   CD from Walnut Creek for me. I will then get the data merged in.
   The server is used by hundreds of people all over the world every
   day. Everyone should share in its upkeep.