Packet.Term

A full-window AX.25 terminal application for connected-mode sessions over a KISS-over-USB-serial modem. Turbo Vision / DOS Edit aesthetic, built on Terminal.Gui v2.

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ File  Session  View  Help                                                 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ┌─ Frame monitor ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
║ │ 21:13:45 T M0LTE-1>GB7CIP <SABM C P>                                  │ ║
║ │ 21:13:46 R GB7CIP>M0LTE-1 <UA R F>                                    │ ║
║ │ 21:13:50 T M0LTE-1>GB7CIP <I C R0 S0 P> "list"                        │ ║
║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
║ ┌─ Conversation ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
║ │ *** Connected to GB7CIP                                               │ ║
║ │ GB7CIP> Welcome to the BBS                                            │ ║
║ │ me: list                                                              │ ║
║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
║ ┌─ Input ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║
║ │ > _                                                                   │ ║
║ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ M0LTE-1 │ /dev/ttyUSB0 │ CONNECTED to GB7CIP        F2=Conn F3=Disc Esc=Q ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Run it

dotnet run --project src/Packet.Term -- --mycall M0LTE-1 --port /dev/ttyUSB0

Flag	Purpose
--mycall <CALL-SSID>	Your callsign + SSID. Prompted if omitted.
--port <path>	Serial port (e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0, COM5). Prompted if omitted.
--connect <CALL>	Auto-connect once the TUI is up. Optional.

If --mycall AND --port are both supplied, the run is treated as ephemeral — settings aren't persisted, so two parallel instances driven by their own flags can run side-by-side without racing on the shared settings file. Useful for connecting two modems on the same host to each other.

Keyboard

Key	Action
F2	Connect... (modal callsign prompt)
F3	Disconnect
Esc (or Ctrl-Q)	Quit
F10	Open menu bar
Ctrl-S	Settings... (hot-swap MYCALL / port)

While connected, typing in the input line and pressing Enter sends one I-frame.

Built on

Downstream consumer of the Packet.NET libraries, all pulled from NuGet:

• Packet.Core — shared primitives.
• Packet.Ax25 — AX.25 v2.2 codec + session machine + Ax25Listener. Transitively pulls Packet.Ax25.Sdl from m0lte/ax25sdl.
• Packet.Kiss — KISS framing + ACKMODE + transports.
• Terminal.Gui v2 — Turbo Vision-style TUI framework.

Provenance

Extracted from m0lte/packet.net on 2026-05-17 (history preserved via git filter-repo) — the TUI used to live at src/Packet.Term/ in that monorepo. Now an independent .NET application that consumes the Packet.* libraries from NuGet rather than living alongside them.

Sibling repos

Repo	What it is
m0lte/packet-term-tui (here)	C# Terminal.Gui v2 TUI
m0lte/packet-term-web	Browser TNC2 emulator — same idea on the desktop, at https://packet-term.m0lte.uk
m0lte/packet.net	.NET libraries (Packet.Core / Packet.Ax25 / Packet.Kiss) — published to NuGet, consumed here
m0lte/ax25sdl	SDL transcriptions + codegen — transitively consumed via Packet.Ax25 → Packet.Ax25.Sdl
m0lte/ax25-ts	TypeScript counterpart to Packet.Ax25 — irrelevant to this app but part of the family

License

MIT.