User's Manual

CALL TYPES AND FEATURES
ALE ADDRESS SYNTAX
ENVOY™ TRANSCEIVER REFERENCE MANUAL 413
Wildcard call
NOTE: This address syntax may be used if the MIL-STD-188-141B ALE
option is installed.
CAUTION: If a station detects a Wildcard call to its matching self address, it sends
a response over the air.
If you want to send an ALE call to all stations that are tuned to the same frequency in
an ALE/CALM HF network or scanning the channels in the scan table(s) associated
with the HF network, and receive a response, make a call through the Emergency,
Message, Phone, Selective, or Send Position call type using the Wildcard address
syntax.
The Wildcard address syntax, which ALE stations recognise, uses the wildcard
character ? as a placeholder for characters within a self address of a called station.
Stations that detect the call and whose self address matches the pattern in the wildcard
address send a response to the calling station. These responses are returned in any slot
position (collisions may occur). For example, a call sent to EM? may be responded to
by stations in the communication network with a self address in the ranges EMA to
EMZ and EM0 to EM9. The calling station then completes the link establishment with
an acknowledgement sent to all stations from which it received a response.
NOTE: When you use a Wildcard address syntax through the Selective call
type, the call icon changes to the Wildcard call icon ( ) when the call
is started.
NOTE: The wildcard question marks can be in any position within the address.
The stations that respond have an address that is the same length as the
wildcard address sent from the calling station.
You can send multiple Wildcard addresses together to make a call to a range of
stations, for example, ?A,B??.
The allowable length of the address at the called station is dependent on the length of
the self address used for the call by the calling station.
If the length of the self address of the
calling station is...
The length of the address at the called
station can be...
1 to 3 characters 3 to 9 characters
4 to 6 characters 3 characters