bmw@aesat.UUCP (Bruce Walker) (03/13/85)
[Articles are packed by weight; contents may settle during shipping]
Just received my "Info-Mate 212PC" from Cermetek yesterday and I thought you
net.types who are in the market for a PC(lone) plug-in modem might like to
hear a little about it.
The 212PC is being sold by Cermetek until the end of March '85 for $149 US
(see advert in February 1985 Byte, page 179).
It features:
- 1200/300/110 baud async (has an INS8250 on-board) which is Bell 212A and
103 compatible.
- call progress monitoring; it can detect "ringback", "busy", "dialtone" and
"voice". This is a neat feature, but no existing modem programs support
it directly. The codes are echoed to the screen if you are in "terminal
mode" while the modem is dialling.
- DTMF (tone) or rotary dial pulse dialling selectable to either "manual" or
"automatically adjust to your exchange" (by trying to tone-dial the first
digit, then listening for the dialtone to cease).
- 8 diagnostic test modes:
- analog loop (originate or answer)
- analog loop self-test (originate or answer)
- digital loop
- remote digital loop
- remote digital loop selftest
- self-test, end to end
- strappable to 0x3f8 (COM1), 0x2f8 (COM2), 0x3e8 or 0x2e8 for bus addressing.
(There are four more addresses *physically* selectable, but I haven't reverse
engineered that yet and the manual doesn't allude to it anywhere (it may turn
out that these phantom addresses overlap predefined ones).)
- hardware or software selectable RS232C (male DB25 connector) on card which
can be used when the modem isn't.
- two modular phone jacks - one goes to the phone line (6 foot cord provided),
one goes to your (optional) phone.
- intelligent; has an Intel i8031 (romless i8051 (almost as good as a Zilog Z8,
only the 8051/31 has the usual Intel accumulator bottleneck)) which supports
auto-baud rate detection for the command mode.
- very powerful and complete command set. There are commands to answer, dial,
"unlisten", test, set options, hang-up etc, etc. The command set is not Hayes
compatible, but hey, so what! Any modem program worth its salt can be set
up to handle it. It's true that Sidekick won't talk to it, but I figure that
it (SK) should be patchable with little trouble.
- comes with a PC disk with "Modem-Mate" on it. Modem-Mate is a public domain
modem program by Cermetek which, if you have nothing else, will get you up
and running. Basic source and a compiled (.EXE) version are supplied.
- Crosstalk can be purchased along with the 212PC for $95 US ($100 less than
retail). A credit voucher for $100 comes with the modem if you choose not
to buy Crosstalk right away. I recommend it, by the way; Crosstalk is a
very capable program.
- lots of docs: user manual, quick-op-guide, two app-notes on setting up for
Crosstalk or Modem-Mate and some vouchers for time on Dow-Jones and some
"airline sched & reduced plane-fare" BBoard. (One nasty bug in the user
manual though; while there is an index, there are no page numbers given!
Ooops! :-)
I have had no problems installing, setting-up or using this card. Of
course, I have not had it long enough to evaluate the long-term reliability
and line-noise sensitivity, but the indications are good so far.
To summarize: the Cermetek Modem-Mate 212PC is one *heck* of a good deal.
BTW, there is a standalone version also available for $199. Similar specs
given, but I have not seen/tested it. I would assume similar quality to the PC
card version.
So, if you're interested, the price is valid 'till March 31st (so you'll have
to be pretty quick). The address is:
Cermetek Microelectronics,
1308 Borregas Ave.,
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3565
(800)862-6271 (In CA call 408/752-5000)
Note for Canadian Usenetters: with the $US/$CAN exchange and roughly 10% duty
(communication device), it worked out to about $225 total. The cheapest 1200
baud modem in Toronto is about $400 and hasn't all the features.
[I shouldn't have to mention that I am in no way affiliated with Cermetek and
that these comments are my own.]
Bruce Walker {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!aesat!bmwtj@utcs.UUCP (tj) (03/14/85)
I have also bought a cermetek modem from the same in the states and have found it to be great so far. It does all that he says it does. I ended up paying $228 can after duty and exchange and taxes etc. It can be had for $279 off the shelf from ACE computer parts on Queen street in Toronto if you can't wait... By the way, I know a friend who got some guys together and they called Cermetek with an order for 12 stand alone and the price went to $169 each (I think). Installation was as simple as could be. Plugged in the modem and threw in the floppy that comes with it and phoned my favorite mainframe.
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) (03/15/85)
I've also used Cermetek modems (the standalone kind, not what you plug into a PC) and frankly, I wouldn't use it to hold my door open. The command set is incomprehensible for interactive use. It rarely tells you if it accepted or rejected your command, just eats it. The command character cannot be turned off, just moved. So you have to pick a character that you won't use much, and forget about UUCP. It also listens for the command character from the computer. Since the default char is ^N, and ^N is in a lot of terminfo sequences as part of "set graphic rendition" (e.g. turn on/off highlighting) to turn off the alternate character set, and since the modem resets to ^N when it is powered on and off, it is unusable as a dumb dialup. And it seems unable to dial a call a call to the places I dial. It dials but can't hear the carrier, or some such thing. I have to manually type the "originate" sequence.
bmw@aesat.UUCP (Bruce Walker) (03/15/85)
Mark Horton has posted some complaints about the Cermetek modem which indicate to me that some changes have been implimented since the vintage of modem that he bases his experience on. Herewith my comments on the points he raises: In article <969@cbosgd.UUCP> mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) writes: >The command set is incomprehensible for interactive use. It rarely >tells you if it accepted or rejected your command, just eats it. - accecpted commands echo a CR-LF, rejected commands echo a "?" - eating is still the default (power-up mode), except there is now an option to enable local echoing of commands directed at the modem. >The command character cannot be turned off, just moved. So you have >to pick a character that you won't use much, and forget about UUCP. - the modem has an "Unlisten <option>" command which will disable the command character (default ^N) from waking up the modem until either a break sequence or termination of the call (loss of carrier etc), and the choice of either of these is selectable. >It also listens for the command character from the computer. Since >the default char is ^N, and ^N is in a lot of terminfo sequences as >part of "set graphic rendition" (e.g. turn on/off highlighting) to >turn off the alternate character set, and since the modem resets to >^N when it is powered on and off, it is unusable as a dumb dialup. - I think that with the options to "Unlisten" after dialling, this should no longer be a problem. (see above comments) >And it seems unable to dial a call a call to the places I dial. >It dials but can't hear the carrier, or some such thing. I have >to manually type the "originate" sequence. - I do think it has a bit of a gain problem, but that has never shown up as Mr. Horton has found, rather, it has trouble reliably reporting the "call progress" signals. I feel that it requires a good strong phone line signal to be able to discriminate between ring-back and busy, for instance. It does, however, produce no call progress reports if it can't tell, rather than, say, hanging up or something. Bruce Walker {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!aesat!bmw
tj@utcs.UUCP (tj) (03/15/85)
The INFOMATE by cermetek review is quite a flame. The pc plug in version does in fact have commands to eliminate all of the problems listed above. It gives you an indication of command completion, you can tell it which character to use as a command delimiter command, you can tell it to stop listening and pass ALL data through even the command delimiter. I am wondering if this is the same version as they are advertising right now or whether it is a version I heard about over a year ago that performed less than stellar then. I know of someone that just ordered the standalone version recently. When it arrives I should be able to clarify things. t.jones
RITTENHOUSE%UCI-20B@uci-icsa.ARPA (Rob Rittenhouse) (03/23/85)
I don't know what model Cermetek you got but the 199SA (the one
they're selling in Byte) & Infomate allow you to do the following:
Turn off listen (<com>u n) two options for n, one unlisten until
break one unlisten for length of call.
Set echo mode & unsolicited status messages for things like loss
of carrier (<com>P 60)
I had some trouble getting it to dial out but using 'TBnnnn' worked
it apparently needs the B (pause)
Command set doesn't seem much more incomprehensible than most
others... but being different from Hayes is a loss for some & they
could have made it clearer in their ads I suppose.
Rob R.