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HELP

Use the HELP command when you cannot remember what to send. The OTA bot answers with the three commands worth knowing first, and a short URL to the rest.

HELP [anything...]

Ask what to send: the three commands to start with.

anything
Ignored. Every HELP gets the same answer. optional
Available to
Anyone, from RF or APRS-IS.
Rate limit
1 per 3 minutes and 3 per 15 minutes

Replies

help_reply
CQ finds an op. CHASE it. HOST your own. More at aprsota.org/help

Hints

a message to OTA that no command claimed, from a station that spoke first
Unknown command. Send HELP or see aprsota.org/help limited to 3 per 15 minutes and 5 per 24 hours, then silent
W1XYZ-5OTAHELP
OTAW1XYZ-5CQ finds an op. CHASE it. HOST your own. More at aprsota.org/help

One APRS message holds 67 characters, which is why the answer names three commands rather than all thirteen. Those three are the whole game in miniature. CQ tells you who is on the air, CHASE works one of them, and HOST puts you on the air yourself.

aprsota.org/help is this handbook’s command index, which lists every command with a page of its own for each. It is worth typing into a phone while you are still standing in the field.

Anything after the keyword is ignored, so HELP CHASE gets the same answer as a bare HELP. Per-command help over the air is not built; the reference page for each command carries that detail instead.