HamBSD FAQ: Terminal Node Controllers [FAQ Index]

A list of TNCs that are known to work with HamBSD's kiss(4) driver are maintained in the manual page. Most, if not all, TNCs that implement the KISS protocol over a serial interface should be supported. This includes those with RS-232 interfaces, USB-to-serial interfaces, or using a pseudo-terminal (pty(4)).

To configure a TNC to be used as an AX.25 network interface on boot, create a hostname.if(5) file. For the first interface on the system this should be named /etc/hostname.axkiss0. 

lladdr MYCALL up
!ldattach -s 1200 kiss cua00
Replace MYCALL with your callsign. This also assumes the TNC's serial port (not on-air baud rate) operates at 1200 baud and is connected to the first serial port. For USB-to-serial interfaces, the first interface will be cuaU0.

A chat(8) script may be used to initialise a TNC that requires configuration before it enters KISS mode. The following example works for the Kenwood TM-D700E: 

cmd:--cmd: 'kiss on'
cmd: 'mon off'
cmd: restart

This script can be stored as /etc/kiss.chat and run automatically by adding the following to the relevant hostname.if(5) file before calling ldattach: 

!stty -f /dev/cuaXX 9600
!chat -t 5 -f /etc/kiss.chat <>/dev/cuaXX >&0

To use KISS-over-TCP, for example with Dire Wolf, the rkissd(8) daemon can be used.

To start an interface automatically at boot, create a new hostname.if(5) file for a kiss interface (e.g. /etc/hostname.kiss0): 

!rkissd 192.168.0.10 8001

To start an interface manually: 

ifconfig create kiss0
rkissd 192.168.0.10 8001