RANCK@VTVM1.BITNET ("Wm. L. Ranck") (08/04/87)
I'm sure someon has responded before this, but here goes. Voltage spikes due to lightning can zap a modem attached to you phone line. I've had it happen to me, and learned that a friend living about 4 houses down the street also lost his modem during the same storm. These were definitely phone line related. My modem worked except for the fact that it was deaf to the phone line. It responded to local commands and could even dial, but did not detect voice or carrier or anything else. Nothing else was had a problem, only modems were affected. Telephones, at least the old AT&T phones, are *sturdy* and can take a lot of abuse. Ever wonder why $10 telephones don't seem to last? They can't take a voltage spike, that's why. Bill Ranck
reh@ccd700.UUCP (reh) (08/12/87)
In article <8708042054.AA02621@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, RANCK@VTVM1.BITNET.UUCP writes: > Telephones, at least the old AT&T phones, are *sturdy* and can take a > lot of abuse. Ever wonder why $10 telephones don't seem to last? They > can't take a voltage spike, that's why. > Bill Ranck The old telephones had no integrated circuits or even transistors in them. The new phones all have integrated circuits and it's easy to arc over a gap a few microns wide inside the chip. The lightning arrestor that Bell put on your phone line (where it comes in the house and connects to the inside wires, with a groung wire running to a water pipe) will not react fast enough to save an integrated circuit. ...................................................................... Bob Harold 313-845-5404 Ford Motor Co., DPTC room B-206 ...!ihnp4!mibte!ccd700!eed090!bob 17000 Rotunda Drive Disclaimer: The views expressed might Dearborn, MI 48121-6010 not be those of my employer or myself Have questions about life? Read the original design manual - the Bible. ......................................................................