Alert Override Codes (Advanced POCSAG Paging)
Alert override codes are added to a message by appending a formfeed (ASCII 12) character to a message, followed by one or more codes. Each code consists of a single a letter, optionally followed by a decimal (base 10) number. The maximum value for any numeric parameter is 255. Any numeric parameter exceeding 255 is truncated to 255.
Note
- All codes are case sensitive, e.g. 'R' does something different than 'r'.
- To insert a formfeed character using a T74C232, use "\f".
- Any unavailable command, either because the pager does not support it or the pager does not support the mode is ignored, including the effect of its numeric parameter.
- Alphapager's versions 1.0 -1.5 only recognize the 'V', 'B' and 'N' commands. Neither did these firmware versions support combining the 'V' and 'B' commands like versions 1.6 and greater.
- To maintain maximum compatibility with alphapager firmware versions 1.0 -1.5, any 'V', 'B', or 'N' command should be the first alert override command given. All commands after the first are ignored on these firmware versions
Available Codes and Descriptions
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 'A' - Alarm mode | Causes the pager to halt and catch fire. First screen of message is displayed in large font. Pager will vibrate for 2 seconds, then beep for 2 seconds, every 15 seconds. Pager does not accept any button presses or any additional pages. Only way to stop alarm mode is to reset pager on charger (for SP5 and alphacoaster) or remove battery (alphapager). As a safety feature, alarm mode is activated if and only if the numeric parameters is '42'. Example: "Please Return Pager\fA42" will cause the pager to enter alarm mode while displaying "Please Return Pager" in large font on screen. |
| 'B' - Beep alert | Causes pager to use beep alert. Numeric parameter indicates number of number of seconds pager should beep. |
| 'b' - Beep style override | Select beep type for pager. Numeric parameter indicates desired beep style: 0 -Loud beep (alarm clock beep) 1 -Soft beep (arpeggio) 2 -Vibe 1 sec / Beep 1 sec (yes, it's a beep mode) 255 -Use default beep mode Note: The 'b' command does not force a pager to beep, only the 'B' command forces the pager to beep. |
| 'C' - Cancel last page | Causes the pager to cancel last page. Pager is returned to it's idle screen, and most recent received page is deleted from memory. No effect if no messages in memory. Any message text included with a cancel is ignored. As a safety feature, the cancel will only activate if the numeric paramter is "54". Example: "\fC54" |
| 'D' - Custom Display Time | Only available on alphacoaster. By default, the alphacoaster will display the last received page until another page is received, or the pager is reset. When the 'D' command is used, the alphacoaster will display the message for the number of seconds specified by the numeric parameter. When that time has expired, the alphacoaster will return to showing its pager number. Note that if another page is received before the display time specified in the 'D' command is expired, the new page is still shown as soon as it is received. |
| 'F' - Flash LEDs | Only available on alphacoaster. Instructs the alphacoaster to flash its LEDs. The numeric parameter indicates how many seconds to flash the LEDs. |
| 'L' - Backlight time | Only available on alphacoaster. Normally, the backlight on the alphacoaster will light up for either 15 seconds for a single screen message. When the 'L' command is used, the backlight will remain lit for the number of seconds indicated by the numeric parameter. Note that a numeric parameter of 0 does NOT disable the backlight, that causes the backlight to light for the default 15 seconds. |
| 'G' - Glow mode | Only available on alphacoaster. Glow mode will cause the pager to cycle the LEDs and motor up and down. If no numeric parameter is specified, 25 cycles are performed. If a numeric parameter is present, it specifies the number of cycles to perform. |
| 'l' - Backlight cycles (lowercase L) | Only available on alphacoaster. Normally, the backlight on the alphacoaster will light up for 2 scroll cycles on a multi-screen page. When the 'l' command is used, the backlight will remain on for the number of scroll cycles specified by the numeric parameter. Note that a numeric parameter of 0 does NOT disable the backlight, but rather causes the backlight to light for the default 2 scroll cycles. |
| 'N' - No alert | Disables any alert for page. Numeric parameter is acceptable, but ignored. |
| 'P' - Reminder period | Only available on SP5. When a page has the reminder set, the SP5 will issue a periodic reminder alert until the page is acknowledged by pressing the SP5's button. The reminder is on by default, on has a period of 15 seconds. Using the 'P' command allows the period between reminders to be modified. The reminder period will be set to the number of seconds specified by the numeric parameter. Setting to 0 will shut off reminder alerts. |
| 'p' - Reminder alert duration | Only available on SP5. When a pager has the reminder set, the SP5 will issue a periodic reminder alert until the page acknowledged by pressing the SP5's button. The reminder is on by default, having a default alert duration of 4 seconds. By using the 'p', the duration of the reminder alert can be modified. The reminder alert duration is set to the number of seconds specified by the numeric parameter. |
| 'R' - Reminder duration | Only available on the SP5. When a pager has the reminder set, the SP5 will issue a periodic reminder alert until the page acknowledged by pressing the SP5's button. The reminder is on by default, having a default duration of somewhere over an hour. By using the 'R' command, the reminder duration can be modified. The reminder duration is set to the number of seconds specified in the numeric parameter. The 'r' command provides an alternative method of setting the reminder duration. If both 'R' and 'r' are used, the value specified by 'r' takes precedence. Setting to 0 will shut off reminder alerts. |
| 'r' - Reminder count | Only available on the SP5. When a pager has the reminder set, the SP5 will issue a periodic reminder alert until the page is acknowledged by pressing the SP5's button. The reminder is on by default, having a reminder count of 255. With the default of reminding every 15 seconds, this means the SP5 will remind by default for over an hour. The 'r' allows overriding the number of times the SP5 will remind about an unacknowledged page. The 'R' command provides an alternative method of setting the reminder duration. If both 'R' and 'r' are used, the value specified by 'r takes precedence. |
| 'S' - Auto-scroll screen duration | Only available on alphacoaster. When a multi-screen page is received by the alphacoaster, the alphacoaster will automatically scroll the message by displaying each screen for the auto-scroll duration, followed by a blank screen in between each scroll cycle. The default auto-scroll screen duration is 3 seconds. By using the 'S' command, the auto-scroll screen duration may be overridden. The auto-scroll screen duration is set to the number of seconds specified by the numeric parameter. |
| 's' - Auto-scroll blank duration | Only available on alphacoaster. When a multi-screen page is received by the alphacoaster, the alphacoaster will automatically scroll the message by displaying each screen, followed by a blank screen for the auto-scroll blank duration in between each scroll cycle. The default auto-scroll blank duration is 1 second. By using the 's' command, the auto-scroll blank duration may be overridden. The auto-scroll screen duration is set to the number of seconds specified by the numeric parameter. |
| 'V' - Vibe alert | Use vibe alert for page. If present, the numeric parameter specifies the number of seconds to vibe for. |
| 'v' - Vibe pulse | Override the default vibe pulse. The numeric parameter specifies the vibe pulse to use: 0 -Constant (no pulsing) 1 -1/4 sec on, 1/4 sec off 2 -1/4 sec on, 1/16 sec off 3 -1/16 sec on, 1/16 sec off 4 -3/4 sec on, 1/4 sec off 5 -3/4 sec on, 3/4 sec off * 6 -1 second on, 1 second off Note that specifying a vibe pulse with the 'v' command does not force the pager to vibe, the 'V' command must be used for that. Any unknown value for the numeric parameter will result in a constant pulse. Custom vibe pulse timings may be specified using the 'W' and 'w' commands. |
| 'W' - Custom Vibe Pulse On Time | Used to specify a custom vibe pulse. The 'W' command specifies the on time of the custom vibe pulse in 1/16's of a second. The 'W' command must be used in conjunction with the 'w' command, otherwise it has no effect. If both 'W' and 'w' commands are used, they supercede any 'v' command used. Note that the 'W' does not force the pager to use a vibe alert, the 'V' command must be used for that. NOTE: THIS FUNCTION DOES NOT CURRENTLY OPERATE ON RXE-467 PAGERS V1.6-P6/0 or V1.6-P6/1 |
| 'w' - Custom Vibe Pulse Off Time | Used to specify a custom vibe pulse. The 'W' command specifies the off time of the custom vibe pulse in 1/16's of a second. The 'w' command must be used in conjunction with the 'W' command, otherwise it has no effect. If both 'W' and 'w' commands are used, they supercede any 'v' command used. Note that the 'W' does not force the pager to use a vibe alert, the 'V' command must be used for that. NOTE: THIS FUNCTION DOES NOT CURRENTLY OPERATE ON RXE-467 PAGERS V1.6-P6/0 or V1.6-P6/1 |
| 'X' - Vibe Strength | Used to specify the vibe strength used for the page alert. The numeric parameter specifies the vibe strength. Numeric parameter values between 80 and 95, inclusive, specify the vibe strength. Values outside this range will have an unspecified affect on the vibe strength that varies by pager. For all pagers, 80 indictates the weakest vibe, while 95 indicates the strongest vibe. Only the SP5 and alphacoaster support 16 distinct levels. The original alphapager hardware only supports 1 vibe level. The second generation alphacoaster only supports 2 distinct vibe levels. On it, vibe levels 80 -87 select the weaker vibration, while vibe levels 88 -95 select the stronger vibration. Note that the 'X' command does not force the pager to use a vibe alert, the 'V' command must be used for that. |
| 'Y' – Number of Vibrations | Allows specifying the number of times the pager will vibe, rather than the duration. Should be used in conjunction with 'V'. The 'Y' numeric parameter for vibe count overrides the vibe duration given with 'V'. Only works with ‘v’ command . |
Combining Alert Modes
The 'B', 'F', 'G', 'N', and 'V' commands allow the transmitter to force a
given page alert. If none of these commands are present, then the default
page alert is used. For the alphapager, the default page alert is
configurable through the "Set Alert" menu. For the SP5, the default page
alert is vibe for 3 seconds. For the alphacoaster, the default page alert is
no alert.
The 'N' command (no alert) supersedes all other page alert override commands.
If it is present anywhere in the alert override codes, no page alert will
occur.
The 'G' command (glow mode) supersedes all page alert override commands
except 'N'. If the 'G' command is used without 'N', and the pager supports
glow mode, glow mode is used for the page override.
The remaining page alert override commands may be combined. Any alert mode
that is not supported by a pager (i.e. flash on an alphapager) is ignored.
When specifying multiple page alert modes, it is not necessary to provide a
duration for each mode, as only the last duration is used.
Example Alert Overrides
Example: "Hello world\fV30F"
This will cause the pager to vibe and flash for 30 seconds. If the pager does not support flash mode, only vibe is used.
Example: "Hello world\fV30F60"
If the pager supports flash mode, then the pager will vibe and flash for 60
seconds, since the flash duration is given last. If the pager does not
support flash, then pager will vibe for 30 seconds, since that is the
duration of the last listed supported alert mode.
Example: "Hello world\fBV30"
Vibe and beep for 30 seconds. Note that this is probably not something you
really want to do, as it will run the motor and beeper simultaneously. You
really want "Hello world\fB30b2" for vibe / beep mode.
Example: "Hello world\fVF"
Vibe and flash for the default amount of time (pager dependent).
Updated less than a minute ago