rhyre@cinoss1.ATT.COM (Ralph W. Hyre) (12/30/90)
In article <15513@accuvax.nwu.edu> penguin@gnh-igloo.cts.com (Mark Steiger) writes: >X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 890, Message 8 of 11 >The old Apple-Cat modems can also be used to connect to TTY machines. >Also to TDD machines. >[Moderator's Note: Do you mean they had a switch-selectable setting >allowing them to work both ways? I had one and don't remember it. PAT] No, they had a multiprotocol modem chip that could handle various FSK and PSK frequencies (Bell 103, 202, several CCIT frequencies and the 'Weitbrecht' modem at 45.5 bps for TDD using Baudot coding (supported by ASCII Express Pro and Novation's firmware ROM chip.) An add-on card supported Bell 212. The Apple-Cat was a neat modem, you could run a crude voice-mail system on it and build an answering machine surpassing anything available commercially at the time. I heard rumors (on Telecom, in fact) that the manufacturer was sued by AT&T because of the fraud potential. (And perhaps because they heard that John Draper, aka Captain Crunch, designed it) The modem had an on-board D/A converter for touch-tone generation and voice synthesis, and some folks wrote programs to generate 2600hz and other signalling frequencies, TSPS being the most infamous. It even had menu items for 'Quarter', 'Dime', and 'Nickel'. Ralph Hyre, soon to be +1 513 575 4972 tdd/45.5/300/1200/2400 later 4800/9600/fax
scott@blueeyes.kines.uiuc.edu (scott) (01/02/91)
In article <15706@accuvax.nwu.edu> rhyre@cinoss1.ATT.COM (Ralph W. Hyre) writes: >The Apple-Cat was a neat modem, you could run a crude voice-mail >system on it and build an answering machine surpassing anything >available commercially at the time. I heard rumors (on Telecom, in >fact) that the manufacturer was sued by AT&T because of the fraud >potential. (And perhaps because they heard that John Draper, aka >Captain Crunch, designed it) The modem had an on-board D/A converter >for touch-tone generation and voice synthesis, and some folks wrote >programs to generate 2600hz and other signalling frequencies, TSPS >being the most infamous. It even had menu items for 'Quarter', >'Dime', and 'Nickel'. I'm confused about something here: In Steven Levy's excellent book "Hackers," on p. 271, there is mention of the modem (essentially a complete blue-box-on-a-card) that Draper designed for Apple (note that the Apple Cat II was a Novation product). It appears that Apple never actually marketed the board. Chris Espinosa is quoted in the book as saying "When Mike Scott [of Apple] discovered what [Draper's board] could do, he axed the project instantly. It was much too dangerous to put out in the world for anyone to have." Did Draper also design the Apple Cat II (after Apple axed his earlier project)? BTW, I saw a message from the Captain on the net (perhaps even c.d.t) several months back - perhaps we can get the answer to this question direct from the source ;-) Scott Coleman tmkk@uiuc.edu [Moderator's Note: Mr. Draper has written notes to the Digest in the past. Perhaps he will see this and respond either to you or the entire readership. PAT]