[comp.dcom.modems] Practical Peripherals 2400 modem advice

syap@ur-tut.UUCP (James Fitzwilliam) (01/29/88)

I need a new modem.  I have a Popcom X-100 1200 baud unit on loan from
my place of employment.  The reason they got rid of it is that it's flaky
in X-modem with one of our data suppliers and GEnie.  Now that _I_ subscribe
to GEnie, I can no longer overlook this.

I have seen the Practical Peripherals 2400 baud model advertised for under
$200.00, which is right for my budget.  Does anyone have experience with
this unit?  I would especially like to hear from anyone who's tried it
with GEnie, since that service seems especially fussy when it comes to
X-modem.  Is it well made?  Does it function well at all three speeds?

I would also like to know what S-registers it has, what options you can set,
how Hayes-compatible it really is; that's one thing I like about the Popcom:
you can set just about everything, hangup delay, tone delay, online.

I am running a Mac Plus with 4.1/5.5, and usually use Red Ryder 9.2.

I seem to recall a discussion of this product on .modems several months ago,
so please mail rather than repeat it on the net.  Thanks very much in
advance for your help.

				James

 arpa: syap@tut.cc.rochester.edu
 uucp: rochester!ur-tut!syap
GEnie: J.FITZWILLIA  (changing soon to "FITZWILLIAM")

===========================================================================

edmoy@violet.berkeley.edu (;;;;YF37) (01/30/88)

In article <893@ur-tut.UUCP> syap@ur-tut.UUCP (James Fitzwilliam) writes:
>I have seen the Practical Peripherals 2400 baud model advertised for under
>$200.00, which is right for my budget.  Does anyone have experience with
>this unit?  I would especially like to hear from anyone who's tried it
>with GEnie, since that service seems especially fussy when it comes to
>X-modem.  Is it well made?  Does it function well at all three speeds?
>
>I would also like to know what S-registers it has, what options you can set,
>how Hayes-compatible it really is; that's one thing I like about the Popcom:
>you can set just about everything, hangup delay, tone delay, online.

I have had the Practical Peripherals 2400 baud modem for several months now,
and it seem to work just fine.  I've had no problems it at 1200 buad to either
CompuServe, GEnie or Unix systems.  At 2400 baud, the Unix system works fine
again, but I'm have some problem with CompuServe (I think it is the freeware
terminal emulator Term-Plus that is the problem, not the modem).  I haven't
had a chance to try GEnie at 2400 baud.

As for S-registers, it has probably most if not all of the ones in a real
Hayes 2400 baud modem.  I don't have the manual with me, but I've not had
to mess much with it, as the default configuration worked fine with all the
above systems.

Edward Moy
Workstation Software Support Group
University of California
Berkeley, CA  94720

edmoy@violet.Berkeley.EDU
ucbvax!violet!edmoy

Robert_F_Breedlove@cup.portal.com (02/02/88)

The Practical Peripherals PM2400SA has worked just fine since
I purchased it locally (Sacramento, CA) for $199. It supports
"S" registers 0-27 and stores S0,14,18,21,22,23,25,26,27 in
nonvolatile memory when <&W> command is used.

joel@peora.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) (02/03/88)

In article <893@ur-tut.UUCP>, syap@ur-tut.UUCP (James Fitzwilliam) writes:
> I have seen the Practical Peripherals 2400 baud model advertised for under
> $200.00, which is right for my budget.  Does anyone have experience with
> this unit?  I would especially like to hear from anyone who's tried it
> with GEnie, since that service seems especially fussy when it comes to
> X-modem.  Is it well made?  Does it function well at all three speeds?
> 

We bought a couple of them. We've had them hooked up to a PC compatible,
a Amiga, a Mac II, and some terminals without any problems. I also used
Genie at 1200 baud with them with no problems.

Where we had problems was hooking it up to our super-mini at work. When I
hook it up to our 3200MPS it won't connect most of the time when it
recieves a call. Other modems hooked to the same line work fine and the
PM2400SA answers fine when hooked to the PC and the Amiga. Both of the
PP modems acted like this so apparently it is a general problem. I haven't
had a chance to figure out why, but my guess is that the PM2400SA may
be a little fussier about the host connection than some other modems.
Since it worked fine on the Mac you may not need to worry about this.

> I am running a Mac Plus with 4.1/5.5, and usually use Red Ryder 9.2.
> 

The Mac II is using Red Ryder and works fine with the PP modem from
all reports.
-- 
   Joel Upchurch @ CONCURRENT Computer Corporation (305-850-1040)
   Southern Development Center/2486 Sand Lake Road/ Orlando, Florida 32809
   {decvax!ucf-cs, ihnp4!pesnta, vax135!petsd, akgua!codas}!peora!joel

arubin@spies.UUCP (Andy Rubin) (02/04/88)

In article <2761@peora.ccur.com>, joel@peora.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) writes:
> In article <893@ur-tut.UUCP>, syap@ur-tut.UUCP (James Fitzwilliam) writes:
> > I have seen the Practical Peripherals 2400 baud model advertised for under
> > $200.00, which is right for my budget.  Does anyone have experience with
> > this unit?
> 
> Where we had problems was hooking it up to our super-mini at work. When I
> hook it up to our 3200MPS it won't connect most of the time when it
> recieves a call.
> 
>    Joel Upchurch @ CONCURRENT Computer Corporation (305-850-1040)

Joel...  Did you have result codes and echo disabled on the modem?
If not, then when the modem detected a caller, it sent a few "RING"
messages back to the host port, which probally spawned a login.  The
prompt being sent to the modem as data probally aborted the call
before the modem had a chance to answer.

Also, be sure that the host is supplying DTR... On the PM2400SA, if
it doesn't have DTR, then it will answer, but won't produce any
answer tones.  A real nasty habit.  Unless, of course, you set the
modem to ignore DTR...

I've been using three PM2400SA modems on two different mini's.  One
polls for my news feed, and the other is used for dial-up users.
I've had no problems interfacing the PM2400SA to the Wicat or
the 3b1.  (although I had to change the modemcap entry for the 3b1)
For a $199 2400 baud modem, you can't beat it.

                                    - Andy

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