Direct Connection to Zetron

[kcheston]

I want to use Notepager 32 to test the settings of a Zetron paging terminal that is owned by my company. We have a computer that is directly connected to the paging system, meaning that we want to connect using TAP and no modem. Can Notepager be set to connect directly to a paging terminal without trying to talk to/through a modem? I've tried, but have not been able to get it to work. It seems that it requires the normal modem negotiation process before it can go any further with communicating via TAP to the paging terminal. I am using the shareware version of 32.

Any suggestions?

[Tech Support]

NotePager 32 and NotePager Pro only support TAP through modems.

Our evaluation version of PageGate can be configured to connect directly to a paging terminal though.

[cbaker]

Can you specify how to set up page gate for direct connect? I currently use PageGate and a modem to dial our paging system...would like to try direct connect via serial to enhance paging speeds and reliablity

[Tech Support]

1) Attach the Paging Terminal to the computer running PageGate with a serial cable, make sure to keep a note of which serial port you plug the cable in to.

2) Once attached, open the PageGate Admin program and go to Connectors -> Dialer 1 -> Settings.

3) In the settings of Dialer1, type the following in the Init string: direct

4) Leave the Dialing Prefix Blank, leave the Dedicated Carrier set to None, and make sure that the Serial Port is set to whichever serial port you plugged the cable into.

5) Put a checkmark in Direct Connect and click on Apply.

6) Right click on the Carriers section, left click on Add Carrier.

7) You can name the carrier whatever you wish, though I would recommend using a naming convention that is fairly straightforward (Example: SBCDirect, SprintDirect, etc).

8) Leave the Protocol Set to Tap, the Failover set to None, and the Phone Number blank.

9) Change the Baud Rate, Parity, Stop Bits, and Data Bits to reflect your Tap Terminal's settings. If you're unsure of these settings, please contact your Terminal's manufacturer for further information.

10) In the init string, type the following: direct

11) Change the Max Characters to reflect the Maximum number of characters your Terminal can handle in a single message, specify any password, or message limit that your terminal has, and be sure to put a check mark in Drop non-printable characters.

12) Click on Apply.

You should now be able to add recipients for your Terminal's PageGate Carrier and have PageGate deliver messages directly to the Paging Terminal.

If you have any other questions, let us know.

[cbaker]

I am using/testing new pagegate on a new Win2003 server...trying to set up direct connect serial link ,, I know the direct connection works b/c it was setup to page to the same terminal from a linux server, not sure the settings from that server though? I currently dial our terminal on production page gate server and it uses TAP fine. I am having trouble setting up the direct connect on the new test server. here is some of the dialer1 log.

8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM ========================================
8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM Start connection to carrier: 1650
8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM Connect using TAP protocol
8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM Setting communication parameters
8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM Connected to carrier
8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM Waiting for protocol initialization
8/30/2006 6:30:54 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:30:57 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:31:02 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:31:07 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM ========================================
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM Start connection to carrier: 1650
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM Connect using TAP protocol
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM Setting communication parameters
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM Connected to carrier
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM Waiting for protocol initialization
8/30/2006 6:31:18 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:31:22 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:31:26 PM Sent:<CR>
8/30/2006 6:31:31 PM Sent:<CR>


Any ideas.

[Tech Support]

I'd like you to try this:

The first step is to verify connectivity with the terminal. There are too many factors that can go wrong, so the best bet is to test a few things before letting PageGate have a go at it.

So, the first step is to download this simple Terminal program:

http://www.notepage.net/support/vbterm.zip

After you have it downloaded:

1) Unzip the vbterm.zip file to a directory of your chosing and run the setup.exe file that is unzipped.

2) Stop PageGate by halting all of the PageGate System Services and closing the PageGate Monitor and Admin programs.

3) Run the VBTerm program that you installed in step 1.

4) In VBTerm, go to CommPort -> Properties.

5) In the properties, mirror the settings from your terminal in regards to baud rate, parity, stop bits, and communications port.

6) Go to CommPort and click on Open.

7) After you've done that, if you haven't received any errors by now, hit the enter key four times. Every time you hit the enter key, you should see the line "ID=" returned.

Let me know what happens on these tests and we'll go from there.

[cbaker]

I get no response using that app or HyperTerminal. I'm going to check that serial cable connection and make sure its still entact or hasn't been damaged. I'll let you know if i need more help/

Thanks

[cbaker]

Thanks for the help...I have is successfully working now. Had some cable issues, once resolved serial connection works great. Now to migrate everything to the new server.

Thanks