Using  KISS-over-Serial-Port-Only  APRS Applications
(Such As UIview) With VARA

The RS-232 Serial to TCP/IP Bridge

VARA only provides KISS-TNC-style connections over TCP/IP. It does not support classic KISS-over-serial port connections (either physical or virtual).

You must use an additional application to create a serial-to-TCP/IP bridge.  The application "VSPE" (Virtual Serial Port Emulator) provides a wide variety of tools for working with serial ports.

VSPE provides multiple functions including:

• "Splitter" - Split a single serial port into multiple outputs. (such as sharing a serial GPS with more than one program at a time). The splitter is unique compared to several similar-sounding programs such as GPS Gate or X-Port. The splitter output of VSPE can produce multiple output com ports, all with the SAME COM number! For example, you could have "COM6" feeding several APRS programs, MapPoint, and Topo at the same time. No need to keep creating more and more differently numbered virtual COM ports to accommodate multiple applications at the same time.  
   
• "Connector" - Creates two back-to-back serial ports with the same COM number on both ends.
   
• "Pair" - Creates two back-to-back serial ports with different "COM" numbers on each end; i.e. a virtual null modem.
   
• "TCP Client" - IP-to-serial link (connect to an IP source and create a virtual serial port output)
   
• "TCP Server" - Serial-to-IP link (distribute a serial port over IP LAN)   With the TCP Clients and Servers together, one can distribute a serial source (such as a GPS receiver) over a LAN to a virtual COM port on another computer.
   
• There are also several more modes not discussed here.

The various components are selected from a single master application (VSPE.exe) and snap together like Lego blocks. The components can link to each other or operate independently. The parameters of components can be altered on-the-fly from the graphical interface. The configuration of components can then be saved into a configuration file with the extension .vspe  .  The config file can be double-clicked from the Windows Explorer to start, or launched from a batch file.

VSPE comes in two versions - one for 32-bit versions of Windows. and and for 64-bit versions. The 32-bit version is free. The 64-bit version is USD $25 after a limited-time free trial period.  Download the program from:

    <https://eterlogic.com/Products.VSPE.html>

The core program itself is installed as a driver-like system service, but the configuration files can be loaded, tweaked, or unloaded at will from the graphical interface without restarting or rebooting Windows.

VARA SETUP

After downloading and installing VARA,, double-click the VARA icon.

Click "Settings", "VARA setup..." when it opens to this screen
.

Check the box for "KISS Interface". The box for KISS TCP port will appear. You can accept the default of 8100, or edit it to another port. Click "Close" when done. Do the other VARA settings such as selecting sound cards, etc.  Close the program when done to automatically save all the settings

VSPE SETUP

After downloading and installing the VSPE application double-click the VSPE icon.

The app will open with this screen. Click on the "Create New Device" to get the device dialog.

Select "Connector" from the pop-down menu. Be sure you select "Connector", not "Pair" from the menu.

Click "Next" and select the COM port number for both ends of the pair. Then click "Finish" to complete. Since some older serial applications need to see a defined baud rate, it is recommended to check the option "Emulate baud rate".  Normally, vintage programs like UIview will default to 9600 baud.

Click "Finish".

You should see this screen.  Note the newly-created com port connector in the background. Click "Create New Device" again to create the TCP-serial link component. Since the VARA KISS interface acts as a TCP server, select the TCP client for VSPE in this dialog.. Then click "Next".

On this screen, enter the IP address and port number set in VARA. Normally this will be 127.0.0.1 a.k.a. "localhost" (your own machine)- and port 8100 to match the default port number in VARA running on the same computer. If the VARA modem is running on another computer, enter the appropriate IP address or network name. The COM number must match the "Connector" previously defined. Click "Settings..." under the COM number and select a 9600 baud rate. This reduces the burden of servicing interrupts on the computer and accommodates the default baud rate in UIview.

Click "Finish" to complete.

The two components of VSPE should start working when you finish.    The VSPE TCP client needs to see a currently-running TCP server provided by VARA. If VARA is NOT running, you will see a red error line  with "Initializing" in the TcpClient line below.  VSPE is very good about error recovery - just start VARA. In a few moments, the error line in the top window should change from red to normal black "Ready". (Assuming that VARA has been properly configured with KISS mode enabled and the same TCP port # set.)

Finally, click "File". "Save as..."  to save your configuration to a named  .VSPE   file. By default, the file will be written to your default "documents" folder, but you can navigate to another location if desired. 

Create a desktop shortcut to the .VSPE file, to be able to launch the VSPE program with these specific settings already loaded, in one double-click.

In the future, always start VARA first, and then the VSPE stack. If you want to change or tweak settings for one of the VSPE components,  click the "Stop" button in the VSPE tool bar and then double-click the line of interest.  Make any changes, and then click the "Play" button to restart. Note that "Stop" and "Play buttons are global - all components stop or start together.
 

Configuring UIview32

UIview only supports KISS interfaces over TNCs connected by classic RS-232 serial com ports -- not over IP.

Start UIview and select "Setup", "Comms Setup". It is suggested to make the settings below with "COM Port" set to "None".  Uiview has rather poor recovery from com port errors. It can get locked up for minutes at a time if erroneous settings are sent to com ports, or non-existent com ports are accidentally selected.

1. Pull down "Host mode" and select "KISS".
2. Click ""Setup" button.
3. Clear all the boxes for "Into KISS" and "Exit KISS".  Like many modern KISS devices, VARA is always in KISS mode. It does not need to be commanded into KISS mode like old-style TNCs.  Sending these strings only feeds trash into the VARA transmit buffer.    If you need to restore the KISS initialization command strings for use with a classic TNC, you can click one of the "Easy Setup" buttons in the lower-right of the dialog to restore the traditional KISS start and stop commands.

Exit the settings dialogs. Exit UIview.  Start VARA and VSPE first. Then restart UIview. Reopen "Comms Setup" and select the desired com port.   If the COM number matches the serial end of the bridge, UIview will immediately start up and communicate through the bridge with VARA. Pressing "F9" (Send Beacon) in UIview  should cause VARA to key up and send an APRS position report.