SPITFIRE NG Caller Guide

Website reading edition · D1–D3 accepted source, schema 37. The older 0.1.0 binary download predates this work. Existing Files and transfer foundations are documented here; full Files caller UX and transfer acceptance remain D4 work. Current status · Start here.

Current source includes accepted offline mail and network adapters. These are separate from the local caller/message acceptance described below.

Applies to: Current SPITFIRE NG source (main, schema 37)

Latest downloadable release: SPITFIRE NG 0.1.0 Development Preview

Individual boards choose their own menus, access levels, and available features, so what you see may differ from the examples here.

This guide is for people calling a SPITFIRE NG board. It explains how to connect, log in, move through menus, use messages and files, change caller preferences, and log off cleanly.

If you run the board, use the Sysop Reference Manual. Implementation details are in the Technical Reference.

Contents

Connecting

Your Sysop should give you the board address, port, and connection type. A terminal program normally uses ANSI-BBS presentation, an 80 by 25 screen, and CP437 for a traditional BBS connection. The board can also provide a simpler text presentation when needed.

SSH is encrypted. On its first connection, an SSH client shows the board's host-key fingerprint; compare it with the value published by the Sysop before accepting it. Telnet, RAW TCP, and RLogin are compatibility transports and do not encrypt your password or session. Use them only on a network you trust or through protection arranged by the Sysop.

Logging in

An SSH call asks for your login identifier and password before the BBS screen appears. After successful authentication, SPITFIRE NG does not ask for the same password again.

On a board that permits registration, answer No to the new-caller question and enter your Login and password. A board with registration disabled goes directly to Login. Use the same Login on every transport; your public Handle and private real name are separate fields.

To register, answer Yes, read the board's new-user information, choose a unique Login and public Handle, and enter your password twice. Login uses 1–32 ASCII letters/digits, dots, underscores or hyphens, beginning with a letter or digit; case does not matter and spaces are not allowed. Supply the profile fields the board requests. Ordinary mistakes can be corrected at the prompt. /Q at Login or Handle cancels the application. An unfinished application creates no account.

Incorrect credentials allow a bounded number of retries before disconnection. Only one call can use an account at a time. If it is already logged in, finish the first call or ask the Sysop to inspect it. After admission, the board shows your caller information and available call time before the Main menu. Use Goodbye to end normally; idle, login and registration limits also close abandoned calls.

Passwords do not appear as you type them. If a normal terminal displays your password, disconnect and ask the Sysop whether the client and transport are configured correctly.

Your account and handle

Your login identifier is used to authenticate. Your display handle is the name other callers normally see. A board may request optional private profile information, but private information is not part of the public caller directory unless the board provides a specific safe public field and you opt in where required.

Account availability, security level, daily time, and subscription policy are set by the board. A clear denial or warning should tell you when one of those limits affects a call; contact the Sysop rather than creating a second account to avoid a restriction.

Menus and commands

Enter the highlighted command letter. Depending on your terminal, you may need to press Enter after it.

  • M enters Messages from the Main menu.
  • F enters Files.
  • ? shows help for the current menu.
  • Q normally returns to the previous or Main menu.
  • G displays Goodbye and logs off.
  • X changes the amount of menu prompting for the current session.

Commands are filtered by your current access. A board may customize command letters and presentation, so the menu on screen is the final guide.

When output pauses at MORE, press Enter for another page, S to stop that output, or N to continue without more pauses for that output.

Messages and conferences

The Message section lets you change conference, read or browse messages, enter a new message, reply, search, and review Your Messages. Conferences separate different subjects and may have different access rules.

When entering a message, pressing Enter at the recipient prompt chooses All Callers when the conference permits it. A blank body line opens the editor commands. Save with S and confirm with Y; abort if you do not want to post. Private messages are visible only to their allowed participants and authorized Sysops.

Use C to list/select permitted conferences and B to browse 20 headers at a time. Message numbers belong to the selected conference. R offers ordinary reading or N for new messages across permitted areas. While reading, Enter/N advances, - goes back, a number selects, R replies, F follows linked replies, and Q returns. Changed reply subjects stay linked. A completed read advances your saved position; earlier numbers then count as old. Other callers have their own positions. Your selected conference survives returning to Main during a call.

To uses a local Handle, not Login or a network address. The displayed Posting as name follows the conference's identity policy and is frozen on save. /A at To, Subject or body entry cancels. Invalid or overlong input can be corrected. If access or conference availability changes while you write, saving is refused without publishing a partial message. ? provides help in the Message Menu.

Files and searching

The File section lets you change file area, list files, find a filename, search descriptions, view new files, read safe text, inspect supported archives, download, and upload where the board allows it.

File areas can have different access, upload, Preview, no-charge, and storage rules. A Preview area may allow listing and inspection while denying transfer. An external drive that is temporarily unavailable does not erase the file from the catalog; try later or contact the Sysop.

Tagging and batch downloads

Tagging puts several files into a queue for one transfer. Review the queue's file count, total bytes, and chargeable total before starting. SPITFIRE NG checks access and allowance again before each file transfers.

YMODEM Batch, YMODEM-g Batch, and ZMODEM Batch can send more than one queued file in one batch. ASCII, XMODEM variants, and TeLink are single-file choices. If a tagged file changes or becomes unavailable, refresh or remove that item; SPITFIRE NG does not silently send a different file under the old tag.

Uploading

Choose Upload in an area that permits it, enter a safe filename and description, then select a protocol supported by your terminal. The board may warn about a similar filename, reject a prohibited name, or hold the upload for Sysop review. A completed transfer is not necessarily visible to other callers until board policy accepts it.

Never put a local directory path into a remote filename. SPITFIRE NG accepts a filename, not permission to choose a location on the server.

Transfer protocols

Current SPITFIRE NG provides:

  • ASCII for bounded seven-bit text;
  • XMODEM Checksum and XMODEM CRC;
  • 1K-XMODEM and 1K-XMODEM-g;
  • YMODEM Batch and YMODEM-g Batch;
  • ZMODEM Batch; and
  • TeLink.

Choose a protocol your terminal actually supports. The client normally uses its upload or download command after the BBS begins protocol negotiation. Failed and cancelled files are not counted as successful transfers.

Account preferences

The Main-menu preferences command lets you choose supported terminal and paging behavior for your account. Useful choices include graphics or text, screen dimensions, page length, and whether long output pauses. Reconnect after changing a presentation choice if the current screen is already difficult to read.

Logging off

An authorized operator may invite you to a Sysop chat. Answer the displayed accept/decline prompt; there is no hidden takeover or screen observation. During accepted operator-initiated chat your ordinary caller time pauses, then resumes when chat ends and you return to your previous BBS context. Chat is not recorded as a message or durable transcript. You may also use the existing Page command when the Sysop is available; a page may be answered or declined.

An operator can end your session with a Sysop-disconnect notice or without that notice. Both paths still finalize your session and any active transfer. A board-wide shutdown has its own shutdown notice and closes the board after bounded cleanup. Reconnect after the Sysop starts the board again.

Use G for Goodbye and wait for the board to close the connection. A clean logoff lets SPITFIRE NG finish the caller record and release the node. Closing the terminal window is an emergency disconnect, not the normal logoff method.

Common problems

  • The screen is garbled: select ANSI-BBS and CP437 for a traditional connection, or ask the Sysop for the board's text settings.
  • Lines wrap or menus do not fit: use the dimensions recommended by the Sysop, commonly 80 by 25.
  • A command is missing: your account, conference, or file area may not have access, or the board may use a customized menu.
  • A transfer does not start: confirm that the terminal supports the chosen protocol and that you invoked the client's matching send/receive action.
  • SSH reports a changed host key: stop and ask the Sysop to verify the new fingerprint. Do not routinely bypass the warning.
  • You reached a daily or ratio limit: failed transfers should not count as successes; ask the Sysop to review the account if the displayed result looks wrong.

For a problem specific to one board, contact that board's Sysop. Include the connection type, terminal name/version, the menu you were using, and the exact error text, but never send your password.

First Name, Last Name and posting identity

Handle is the name other callers normally see. Main R lets you view or edit your private First Name and Last Name. Enter leaves an existing value; - clears an optional component and /Q cancels. Some boards require both at signup; otherwise you can complete them when needed. These fields do not change your login and do not claim verified identity.

Some message conferences or networks require your first and last name when posting. Before writing, check Posting as. A handle area shows your Handle; a real-name area shows your joined First Name and Last Name and explains why. If a required component is missing, complete your profile before posting. A mapped network may impose this rule on an otherwise handle-friendly conference.

Names remain private during ordinary handle-based activity. A real-name post intentionally publishes its displayed name. Changing your profile or asking the Sysop to rename your Handle never renames old posts or already queued senders. An offline QWK reply requiring your real name asks for review before it is saved.

CircuitNET conference visibility

CircuitNET transport is encrypted between neighboring boards. After delivery, conference messages are readable by users allowed into that conference. An operator may direct a conference message to a Destination Node; that selects its route and does not make it private. Intermediate operators can access transit records. C4 has no caller directed-message composer or private-mail feature. Local/private BBS messages, where available, are restricted by BBS access controls; these restrictions do not imply end-to-end encryption. See the CircuitNET guide.

When network messages travel

Saving a message stores it on your BBS. The Sysop's network policy and Events decide when queued work is exchanged, so a successful save is not a delivery confirmation. CircuitNET transport is encrypted between configured nodes. Public conference messages are readable under each destination BBS's access rules after delivery; directed routing does not make them private. Local messages called private, where available, are restricted by BBS access controls unless a separate actual feature explicitly provides end-to-end encryption.

Hot Conferences

If the Sysop enables Hot Conferences, choose B for Bulletins, then H. The list shows activity in public conferences available to your account. Reader counts mean accounts with read progress, including completed offline packets; they do not identify individual readers. Restricted conferences are checked each time you open the list.

Source: public docs/caller-guide/README.md. Navigation is adapted for this site; stale overview version/networking labels are reconciled with the accepted D3 checkpoint.