140 lines
6.7 KiB
Prolog
140 lines
6.7 KiB
Prolog
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ANOTHER TEXT FILE FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE {{ REPOMAN }}
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MORE ON 2400 BAUD MODEMS
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This is a followup to the other article on 2400 baud modems. Since then, I've
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had more experience with the Hayes 2400, and got one of the U.S. Robotics
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Courier 2400's.
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Simply put, the Hayes 2400 is a piece of junk, sorry to say. It is nowhere
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near the quality and functionality of the old 1200 baud model. It is riddled
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with bugs, many of which are "features" which probably won't change. It will
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be OK for BBS use, since it insists on entering AutoAnswer mode at strange
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times, but is unreliable connecting at 1200, and 600 is useless.
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If you insist on buying the Hayes because of their reputation, you are making a
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serious mistake. Don't do it.
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The Courier, however, is everything the Hayes should have been. It is just
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about "perfect", that is, it seems to do everything it says it does, and simply
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and reliably. One thing you won't SEE is it's dynamic line equalization that
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will improve the quality of connects. It is thoroughly Hayes 1200 compatible,
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and is also compatible with the 2400 Hayes command set. (It does not have all
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the & commands, thank goodness, but they aren't needed at all.)
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I spent a week playing with the Hayes, and never got it to do exactly what I
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wanted. I read the manual cover to cover, experimented, all the usual things.
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I took the Courier out of the box, set the switches (clearly marked on the
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bottom of the modem) plugged it in, and it ran first time. Elapsed time: 5
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minutes.
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To get the Hayes 2400 to autoanswer at 2400 requires some work. You have to
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issue a complex series of commands AT 2400 BAUD, then save the settings in the
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non volatile RAM. Only then will it answer at 2400. I won't go into all the
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details about the nasty side affects of raising and lowering DTR. Fido,
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starting in version 10I, has a special modem type (11/J) for the Hayes 2400;
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you must use it if you want to operate at 2400 baud.
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The Courier will autoanswer at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud with no difficulty.
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Just plug it in. No special setup for Fido is neccessary to operate it at
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2400.
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The US Robotics Courier 2400 High Speed Modem
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A Product Evaluation
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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When first scanning the Courier documentation, the first statement of the
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manual reads like this:
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CONGRATULATIONS! You have just purchased the US Robotics Courier 2400 modem,
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one of the most advanced communications devices in the world. Whether you are
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a seasoned modem user, or have just purchased your 1st modem, we are sure that
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it will give you excellant service.
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Now, I know when a company makes a promise like that it tends to make a buyer
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wary, knowing that most claims in the computer world tend to be just a shadow
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of the actual ability of the product. With the Courier, exactly the opposite
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is shown to be true. This modem not only delivers everything that it promises,
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it gives even more! In this evaluation, I hope to walk you through the world
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of the Courier 2400, and give you the pros and cons regarding this purchase.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Documentation:
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The documentation for this product sets the stage for overall excellance in the
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Courier 2400. It is equally usable by either a novice or pro, and will give
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you the background necessary to begin your trek into the world of high-speed
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communications.
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The manual is organized into 2 logical setions, the first dealing with the
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installation and usage of the modem, and the second dealing with the more
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technical aspects of telecommunications.
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The first section is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 is an intro to the
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Courier 2400 and gives the operational requirements of the unit. Chapter 2
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deals with setting up and testing your new modem, and also has a description of
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the contents you should receive with the modem. Chapter 3 deals with the
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actual operation of the modem.
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The second section, reference, deals with the facts that are needed for more
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technical applications. These include definitions of the RS-232 inter. and
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the pin descriptions, a summary of the DIP pin settings, an alphebetical
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command summary, and a "problems and solutions" section which is included in
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hopes of cutting down on modem "down" time. It also includes a glossary of
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frequently used terms in tele-communications and an index.
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With this docementation, it is possible for a beginner to go from setting up
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the modem to actually communicating in less than 1/2 hour. I believe the
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documentation to be one of the major victories of the modem, and feel that this
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adds the "icing on the cake" to this product.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Operation :
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The Courier fully supports the use of the standard "AT" command set and the
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company even goes so far as to consider Hayes "USR compatible". This is a
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strong claim to be made, but this product fully backs up this claim. One of
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this modems strong points, for beginners, is the inclusion of onboard ROM which
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has 2 help screens built-in. The first help screen deals with the AT command
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set, and the second deals with the "S" registers of the modem. These help
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screens will be highly beneficial to either a beginner or to someone who is not
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familiar with the Hayes standard.
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Not only does the Courier fully support the full "AT" set, but it also adds
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several features such as "adaptive" dialing, which includes such features as
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the ability of the modem to detect busy signals, non-data answers, and the type
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of line (pulse or tone) that it is connected to. It also has the ability to
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"reverse" originate/answer mode, so as to allow the communication with a modem
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that does not support auto-answer. It also supports the use of "alpha"
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dialing, that is, if you have a number such as "301-IBM-NEWS" you can enter it
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into the dial command, and the Courier will automatically convert the alp.
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characters into numeric form.
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The modem also supports 4 different speaker settings:
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1.) Disable speaker entirely
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2.) ON through dialing and Carrier detect, OFF at connect
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3.) ON continuously, including data transmission
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4.) ON after last digit dialed, OFF at connect
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Summary :
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As you can probably tell from the preceeding text, the Courier 2400 is the most
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innovative new products to come out in years. The nicest feature of this modem
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is its price, only $695.00. When you consider that a new 1200 baud mo modem is
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selling for $450.00, you can see why the Courier 2400 is a steal.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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David L. Thompson
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Thompson Consultants Ltd.
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402-393-8806
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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