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8. Talk and conference modes.

You can send a single comment or start a dedicated talk session to another user by using the TALK command. However, if there are more than two people wanting to chat then it is easier to create a conference. In CLX it is possible to have many conferences in use at any one time.

8.1 Talk mode.

Talk mode is used to send a one line comment or greeting to a specific user connected either at your node or another in the network. You can also enter into a dedicated talk session with another user. Talks will be automatically forwarded to other nodes if the station you are talking to is not connected locally. However, if a user "talks" to you but their callsign is not shown in the user list you will have to specify a complete path. You can find out who is connected by using the SHOW/CONFIGURATION command, (described later).

Examples:

 
talk pe0mar Having a good day Mar?
talk pe0mar

The first example would send the line "Having a good day Mar?" to the user pe0mar but would leave you in normal mode. The second example would put you into a dedicated talk session with the user pe0mar.

If the user is connected to another node, you may have to use a slightly extended version of the TALK command.

talk pe0mar@pe0mar-11
talk pe0mar>pe0mar-11

Both these commands will have the same effect. Note, however that unlike PacketCluster, there are no spaces between the callsign and node fields.

To exit talk mode, you issue the command /exit or your exit string if you have set one, (see CLX user commands).

Whilst in talk mode you will still receive DX spots. This means that you can chat to a friend whilst working DX. You can also issue most of the standard CLX command set during a talk session. You do this by prefixing the command with *.

Example:

*show/dx

will output the last 5 dx spots posted in the usual way. These spots will only be sent to you though, not to the person you are talking to.

8.2 Conference mode.

Conference mode is more flexible than talk mode in that you can chat to more than one person at once. Many people can join in a conference and there can be multiple conferences in use at any one time. It is possible not only to join an existing conference but also to create a new conference with any subject you like. The easiest way to find out if any users are in conference is to use the SHOW/USERS command and look if any users have a + symbol after their callsign, however you can check for any existing conferences and their users by using the command SHOW/CONFERENCE.

Example:

show/conference

This command will output a list of conferences already running. To join one of these conferences you would use the CONFERENCE command along with the name of the conference you wish to join. The CONFERENCE command on it's own will start or join a conference with the node callsign as its title.

Example:

conference VHFDX

You would now join the conference named VHFDX. If however you did not wish to join an existing conference, you could create your own by using the same command with a unique name.

Example:

conference IOTA

Of course, the title could be anything you wished. It is a good idea to set a title that will attract people you wish to speak to. Obviously the above example would appeal to IOTA collectors. Just as in talk mode, DX spots will still be received whilst in conference mode and you can issue commands by using the prefix * in the same way.


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