i'm sorry to belabor this, but it seems i didn't understand the manual with my question. so what you're saying is that these 9 stations have not decoded my beacons, for whatever reason. and that it's not unusual to end up with a very full outbox for that reason, correct? (I'll now have to go learn about async @SL5/SL1. where can i learn about this?)

i have received this message and retrieved vmails waiting for me. but your later response has me thinking: maybe i'm not sending enough beacons? do i understand the manual to say that the vmail message only goes out when the other station hears My beacon? maybe they never hear and decode my beacons? which is happenstance, isn't it. they need to be listening when i beacon

i've scanned the log and find no such entries. i rechecked to see if i had vmail relay enabled and i do. what might be going on do you think?

my log shows i successfully connected to a station in my outbox 2023-03-10 13:53:59 Incoming connection... 2023-03-10 13:54:06 WB2xxx connected VARA HF v4.7.2 2023-03-10 14:00:29 WB2xxx Average S/N: -17.3 dB 2023-03-10 14:00:29 Disconnected (Timeout) TX: 110 Byte if i'm reading this correctly (am i), he should have received an asynchronous message re the Vmail awaiting him, no? or do i missunderstand?

gary, i had read that and was left with the original question i posted. what am i missing here. the question was i hoped simple. what is the reason other stations are not picking up their vmails and that they remain in my outbox. surely i'm missing something critical

i don't know what you mean by an ASYNC message. this is what i see; an outbox full of mail (when i see relay red, i try to connect to the sending station to retrieve my mail; are the other stations not doing that?)

yes i have it enabled, and yes, i get notified that 'the following stations have vmail waiting for you'. so are you saying that these 9 stations do not have Relay (or whatever else i'm remembering regarding the vmail box) enabled? is that why they're not trying to pick up their vmails?

Relay turns red. and 'no new vmail' changes (to something i can't remember right now) to something else. when i see red relay, i try to connect with the sending station to retrieve the vmail

ok, will do next time

hi gary. i get that. but when a message is waiting for me, i get an alert. don't these 9 stations get an alert? or am i mistaking what i'm calling an 'alert'?

BIG thanks to gary, NC3Z for his help today. i'm up and running. yay!

gary, just emailed

first, thank you for your reply. here's the desktop. i'm happy to remote any time

oh, ps. omnirig doesn't work either

got it. thanks

before you go, this is v interesting too. this is from the varac log file. it suggests that port openings are working, and that PTT is shut off, whatever that means: 26/01/2023 14:44:04 - Connecting VARA Main Modem Command interface... 26/01/2023 14:44:04 - Connecting VARA Main Modem data stream... 26/01/2023 14:44:04 - Connecting VARA Main Modem KISS Command interface... 26/01/2023 14:44:04 - Connecting VARA Monitor Modem Command interface... 26/01/2023 14:44:05 - Connecting VARA Monitor Modem data stream... 26/01/2023 14:44:06 - ERROR: Failed to connect VARA MONITOR modem. Check that the IP and Ports are configured and that the VARA MONITOR modem is running. 26/01/2023 14:44:06 - Connected to VARA modem 26/01/2023 14:44:06 - Setting Bandwith to 500Hz 26/01/2023 14:44:06 - Opening com port 26/01/2023 14:44:07 - VARA version: VARA HF v4.7.2 26/01/2023 14:44:37 - PTT is ON for too long (20 seconds). Turning PTT OFF. This is a safety mechanism 26/01/2023 14:46:35 - Closing com port 26/01/2023 14:46:55 - Opening com port 26/01/2023 14:51:22 - Closing com port 26/01/2023 14:54:00 - Away status set to true 26/01/2023 14:54:00 - Setting away status to true (auto) 26/01/2023 14:56:33 - Opening com port 26/01/2023 14:58:13 - Closing com port 26/01/2023 15:05:51 - Opening com port 26/01/2023 15:06:03 - Closing com port

i've taken a lot of your time. are there other resources available that might be of help?

varac tune requires a license which i don't have yet

the cat command config file belongs in the "VARA" directory, right?