pj@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Paul Jacoby) (02/18/91)
EW> For those of you that are interested, PPI will be releasing a new EW> ROM for their 9600SA modem "by the end of the week". The version as EW> of last Friday was 1.26. Actually, it made it to 1.29 by the time they shipped mine. The new ROM arrived here on Saturday (1/16) and appears to have calmed some of the problems I have been having with LAPM connections between the PP9600SA and a Telebit T2500. It's not conclusive yet, as I have a bunch more test to run before I say "huzzah!" :-) Here's a gripe I keep forgetting to mention to PP (Phil, are you out there?) When I set the volume with "AT Lx", the volume changes for the actual dial and connect sequences, but NOT for the initial dial-tone you get before dialing. This can be very annoying, as that first blast of dial-tone is at FULL VOLUME. Because of the problems I've seen, I like to keep the speaker on so I can hear things connect (at least gives me a hint of line quality, based on how long it takes to sync up). It would be very nice (and my wife would like it too!) if the volume settings were in control of ALL output from the speaker, not just the dial/connect sequences. And regarding a fix list, I've asked for one every time I call PP tech support. Only Phil Hoppe was able to respond that he'd been trying to get one created.... Still haven't seen it though. Keep badgering! :-) .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | UUCP: {crash tcnet}!orbit!pnet51!pj | RTFD = Read The Silly Doc! | | INET: pj@pnet51.orb.mn.org | | `-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
james@netcom.COM (James Paul) (02/19/91)
I called PP last week to ask about the fix list. The guy that took the call first denied that a new ROM version was around the corner. I conered him on it, and he reversed himself. He would not tell me what is changed in the upgrade, and made me ask him about specific problems. He managed to answer each in such a way that gave me a total lack of confidence in his ability to answer anything correctly. I specifically asked him if any changes will improve LAPM in any way. He said no changes were made in this area. He also said that there are no feature additions, only internal changes. (He would _not_ say any bugs were fixed.) After 3 or 4 minutes of this, he finally said something really condescending and I got disgusted and hung up. (I can't find the post-it that I wrote his name on.) I have yet to achieve a V.42 connection with anything with the PM9600. I blame only myself, since I've had a bad experience with PP before. (Boy, is that a _long_ story. You wouldn't believe it.) This time I bought the modem from a dealer who would make exchanges if I had problems. I lucked out. I only had to exchange the PM9600 once. Other than not being able to use V.42 /42bis, the modem has been working fine. Being a radio enthusiast, it's hard for me to expect too much from a high-speed modem without _ANY_ RF shielding, and no grounding. It took me a couple days to keep the VHF packet station from driving it nuts! -- James L. Paul UUCP: james@netcom.COM | AppleLink: D1231 | America Online: JLPaul Packet: N6SIW@N6EEG.CA.USA.NA | GEnie: J.PAUL | CompuServe: 72767,3436 Voice: 415 377 1981 w/machine | Delphi: JLPaul | Work FAX: n/a Disclaimer? I won't take credit for any such thing!
schuster@cup.portal.com (Michael Alan Schuster) (02/20/91)
>Being a radio enthusiast, it's hard for me to expect too much from >a high-speed modem without _ANY_ RF shielding, and no grounding. It took >me a couple days to keep the VHF packet station from driving it nuts! Oh, Gawd! both my ATI and USR modems have the main board practically encased in metal (or plasticized foil). NO shielding! Is there an FCC Class "-A" certification?
tnixon@hayes.uucp (02/20/91)
In article <39430@cup.portal.com>, schuster@cup.portal.com (Michael Alan Schuster) writes: >>Being a radio enthusiast, it's hard for me to expect too much from >>a high-speed modem without _ANY_ RF shielding, and no grounding. It took >>me a couple days to keep the VHF packet station from driving it nuts! > > Oh, Gawd! both my ATI and USR modems have the main board practically encased > in metal (or plasticized foil). NO shielding! Is there an FCC Class "-A" > certification? I'm quite certain the PP9600SA is FCC Part 15 Class B certified for use in residential areas. It is _not_ always necessary to have sheilding to pass Part 15, since Part 15 regulates _emission_ of electromagnetic interference! It is possible to properly design the modem so that separate metallic sheilding isn't necessary. Part 15 doesn't, however, regulate at all whether or not the product will be affected by outside interference coming INTO the modem; that's left entirely up to the product designer. I may be wrong (I haven't seen the inside of a PP9600SA myself), but if you look at the inside of the plastic case, you'll probably find that it is dull gray color. This would be metallicized paint, which IS shielding. It's not necessary to have foil or metal parts to keep the modem from emitting interference. -- Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net
james@netcom.COM (James Paul) (02/21/91)
In article <3791.27c25401@hayes.uucp> tnixon@hayes.uucp writes: >In article <39430@cup.portal.com>, schuster@cup.portal.com (Michael >Alan Schuster) writes: > >>>Being a radio enthusiast, it's hard for me to expect too much from >>>a high-speed modem without _ANY_ RF shielding, and no grounding. It took >>>me a couple days to keep the VHF packet station from driving it nuts! >> >> Oh, Gawd! both my ATI and USR modems have the main board practically encased >> in metal (or plasticized foil). NO shielding! Is there an FCC Class "-A" >> certification? > >I'm quite certain the PP9600SA is FCC Part 15 Class B certified for >use in residential areas. It is _not_ always necessary to have >sheilding to pass Part 15, since Part 15 regulates _emission_ of >electromagnetic interference! It is possible to properly design the >modem so that separate metallic sheilding isn't necessary. Part 15 >doesn't, however, regulate at all whether or not the product will be >affected by outside interference coming INTO the modem; that's left >entirely up to the product designer. > >I may be wrong (I haven't seen the inside of a PP9600SA myself), but >if you look at the inside of the plastic case, you'll probably find >that it is dull gray color. This would be metallicized paint, which >IS shielding. It's not necessary to have foil or metal parts to >keep the modem from emitting interference. > >-- >Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 >Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 >P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon >Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net Toby, I wish. There is _no_ spray shielding inside the plastic case of my PM9600. That was the first thing I checked. (In fact, the plastic case is not even designed very well, and does not fit together smoothly.) Of course, spray-coat RF shielding is easy to buy, I always have a can. To be honest, it doesn't work very well, but can help a little. There's just no substitute for designing with RF in mind, which most consumer electronic designers don't. (Many just aren't that familiar with it!) The FCC rules only deal with emission, you're right. If it doesn't emit, they don't have anything to do with it. :-) I don't think there's much to encourage designers to protect against RFI, so they don't. (The consumer VCR has become a big pain to Hams on HF. I have yet to find a VCR that doesn't go crazy around RF.) But then, it's a hard (maybe impossible) problem to solve. I just wish more common-sense steps would be taken by modem manufacturers. Put it in a metal case and ground it. Not hard. I don't know if the Hayes Ultra is grounded. I do know it's a good unit. (Wish I could afford one :-) -- James L. Paul UUCP: james@netcom.COM | AppleLink: D1231 | America Online: JLPaul Packet: N6SIW@N6EEG.CA.USA.NA | GEnie: J.PAUL | CompuServe: 72767,3436 Voice: 415 377 1981 w/machine | Delphi: JLPaul | Work FAX: n/a Disclaimer? I won't take credit for any such thing!