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HEX is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. It can
be reached at two phone numbers:
NOTE: ASCII callers to 593-7033 must have their modems set to 300 baud when the call is made. HEX will not communicate with higher speed modems that normally negotiate down to 300 after the call is made.
Whenever you answer a question or type a command, press the carriage return or "Enter" key so the computer knows you're through typing.
When you first call the HEX, you will be prompted for your first and last names, one at a time. You enter each followed by a carriage return. You will then be asked for a password. The first time you call, make up one with four to eight letters or numbers. You will then be asked to enter it again, for comparison. Write down your password, as you will need it the next time you call.
At this point, you will be in the its MAIN area of the BBS. There are three other areas called INFO, MAIL and FILES. In each area there is a HELP function that will tell you what your options are. Get HELP by entering the command H, followed (as usual) by a carriage return.
Here, you have the following commands available.
The following commands move you to lower areas, where different commands are available-
For help with a particular command, enter the letter H, a comma, and the letter of the command you want help with. For example, to get help with the FILES command you enter H,F.
B - The Bulletins are brief summaries of system changes and additions, and announcements to the HEX user community.
C - Comments are private messages which can be read only by the System operator (SYSOP) and assistants, if any.
F - The Files command gives you access to files area. If you are using a computer and appropriate software, you can download and upload files using transmission protocols such as XMODEM, XMODEM-1K, YMODEM AND ZMODEM. These can be text files or machine code (programs). If you are using a TTY or a dumb terminal, this area is not available since a TTY cannot transfer files.
G - The Goodbye command lets you leave any final comments to the SYSOP, and then logs you off the system. You should always leave the system using this command, and not by just hanging up.
I - The INFO files are short text files which may be complete in themselves or may describe longer files available in the FILES section.
M -The MAIL section allows you to read and send messages.
P - PROFILE lets you adjust your user characteristics. They let you tell the computer the number of lines on your terminal, the number of characters per line, whether it can accept lower case letters, the number of nulls the system should send you following a carriage return. You can also tell the system you are an expert user, so it will send you shorter prompts for the commands you may enter.
T - The TIME command gives you the current time and date, and tells you how long you have been logged on during the current session.
In this area, you can read text files containing information on disabilities. A variety of topics are covered, and more are added as users provide material or the operator gathers new material. You are given a list of available subjects when you enter this area. To re-read it, enter the number 1. To leave this area and return to MAIN, enter the number 0 or just hit return.
For help with a particular command, enter the letter H, a comma, and the letter of the command you want help with. For example, to get help with the READ command you enter H,R. Available commands are Enter, Find, Goodbye, Kill, Last, Main, Read and Scan.
E - The ENTER command allows you to enter a message to another user. You will be asked to whom the message is being sent. Give either a person's name or the word "ALL". Names should be written in the same way their owners written them when logging on. If someone usually logs on as "Joe Brown", don't address a message to "Joseph W. Brown" or he may not find it. If it's a private message, he won't be allowed to read it.
You'll also be asked to enter a subject for the message. Particularly when the message is addressed to "ALL", the subject should describe the contents of the message so a BBS user would have some idea of what the message is about without having to read it.
The message body can be entered as a single line, with the computer breaking the input into separate lines, or you can enter a carriage return where you want one. End the message by typing a carriage return on a new line. You will then be asked whether you want to SAVE, LIST, ABORT, CONTINUE or EDIT. Enter the appropriate letter and type a return.
Save means send the message. List reads it back to you. Abort throws it away. Continue lets you add more text (up to the maximum). Edit lets you change parts of what you've entered.
F - The FIND command lets you search messages to find those sent by or to a particular person, and those which have a particular word or words in the subject. You use it by entering the command and the range of messages you want to search. For example, you may enter F1 100 or F,1-100 to search messages 1 to 100. If you enter only the "F", you'll be asked for the numbers.
You will then be asked "Find what?". You can enter a string of text, such as "John Brown", to find messages addressed to John Brown. To find messages _from_ John Brown, enter "f=john brown". To find messages with the word "computer" in the subject line, enter "s=computer". Upper and lower case don't matter. You can also enter something like "d=24 Sep 87" to find messages sent on a particular date.
G - The GOODBYE command asks you if you want to log off the BBS. If you say yes, you're given a chance to leave a private comment to the sysop and then logged off.
H - The HELP command (or entering a question mark at the command prompt) gives instructions for all the commands available under the mailer.
K - The KILL command allows you to delete a message which you wrote, or which is addressed to you. You enter the command as the letter K plus the message number. An example: K 25 to kill message number 25. A range of messages cannot be specified.
L -The LAST command tells you how many active messages there, how many calls have been received by the BBS to date, and what the number of the latest message is.
M -The MAIN command returns you to the MAIN menu, leaving the mailer.
R - The READ command lets you read public messages, and those which are addressed to you or which you have written. To read messages 1 to 100, for example, you would enter the command as R, 1-100. You can read a single message such as 25 by entering R 25. If you enter just the letter R without numbers, you'll be asked to supply numbers.
After each message, you will be given a chance to kill it (if it's addressed to you or if you wrote it); to reply to it; to go on to the next message or to quit reading.
If you reply to a message, the "TO" line will be filled in with the name of the person who sent the message, and the subject. The word "Re" will go ahead of the subject if they weren't there already. See the ENTER command for further details.
S -The SCAN command lets you read the message headers of all public messages, plus those which have been sent to you or which you have written. To scan messages between 25 and 100 you would enter S,25-100. To scan all messages later than a certain number (such as 15) you would enter S,15.
Commands are Area, Files, Goodbye, Main, Protocol, Receive, Send, Help
The FILES section consists of a number of areas (File1, File2...) The prompt (FILE1, or whatever) tells you which area you're currently in. You are able to get a list of files in the current area, change the file transfer protocol you're using, and have the BBS send (to you) or receive (from you) one or more files. You can also change to other file areas, if available.
A - The A (area) command gives you a list of available file areas. There may be file areas the SYSOP has not authorized to use; if so the list will tell you they are closed to the public. If you enter the command A,n (where n is the number of a file area you may use) you will change to that area. For example, you can enter A,1 to change to file area one from another area.
F -The F (files) command gives you a list of the files available for downloading from the current area.
G - The G (goodbye) command lets you sign off the system. You will be given a change to leave comments for the SYSOP.
M - The M (main) command takes you back to the MAIN (highest) level.
P - The P (protocol) command lets you choose which file transfer protocol you want to use in sending or receiving files between the BBS and your computer. The protocols available are Xmodem, Xmodem-1K, Ymodem, and Zmodem. The two Xmodem protocols can send or receive only one file at a time; the others are batch protocols and can send up to nine files at a time. If you don't select a protocol, the system will use the default protocol, which is Xmodem.
S - The S (send) command tells the BBS to send you the files you name. You enter a letter S followed by one file name (or more if the protocol will support more). Wildcards are permitted, but the expanded list of wildcarded files, plus those you specifically name, cannot exceed nine or the transfer will be aborted.
R -The R (receive) command tells the system to receive the files you are going to send. If you are using an Xmodem protocol you must follow the R with a blank and a single filename, as in "R foo.exe". If you are using one of the other protocols you need only enter the R followed by a carriage return, and then start sending. Your computer will tell this system what the file names are.
H -The H (help) command tells the computer to give a list of the
commands you can use in the current area. If you want information about a
specific command, you would enter an H, a comma, and the letter that
represents the command. To get information about the R(eceive) command,
for example, you would enter H,R
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