[comp.dcom.fax] Fax Lab Ideas: Preliminary Summary

knut@tts.lth.se (Ake Knutsson) (01/17/91)

Q:  What should 8 students do with 4 faxes (G3) in a lab, during one
    hour, in order to learn about fax communication and to have fun?

A few days before Christmas Eve, I posted that question in a call for
fax lab ideas. However, I realise the timing was not ideal for a mass
response, so I declare the file still open, and invite additional
ideas. So far the total collection of ideas for fax lab tasks are:

User Interface
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use the fax' different modes and features: sending/receiving (manual,
semi-manual, automatic), polling, copying,...!

Evaluate the user friendliness of the machines! Is it intuitive to
transmit a document, fill paper, set speed dial, set clock, set ID and 
LOGO,...? Does the average user need the manual? The advanced user?

Make suggestions to improve the user friendliness!

Pre-Message Procedure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inject noise on the line and watch if the faxes lower the bit rate of
the page transmission! A capable G3 fax has the following bit rates:
9600, 7200, 4800, and 2400 bps (V.29 and V.27ter).

Determine the maximal noise level, that will not inhibit the
transmission!

Try to watch the handshake signalling (300 or 2400 bps), for instance
via a modem (V.21 or V.27ter) connected to a PC running Kermit!

Page Transmission
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inject noise on the line ...[as above]!

Determine the maximal noise level, ...[as above]! Compare the levels!

Load the sender with two identical pages, preferably Test chart 3 of
CCITT Rec. T.21! Start with much noise during the handshake, but stop
it just as the transmission of the first page has started! Monitor
the transmission time for each of the pages!

Listen to the line during the transmission!

Try to record (eavesdrop) a transmission on a tape! Ask the students
to turn the tape into a document!

Coding
~~~~~~
Give the students 3 paper sheets: one with horizontal lines, one with
vertical lines, and one with diagonal lines! All sheets should be 50%
white and 50% black! Let the students predict the sheet with the
shortest and the longest transmission time! Then let the students
monitor the transmission times and explain the surprising outcome!

Acknowledgment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Michels at Colorado University Boulder, <michels@tramp.colorado.edu>, 
has contributed many of the ideas and suggestions. For that and for
his devotion to this project, I thank him very much.

---------------
In a week or so, I hope to have additional material to motivate a
final summary, so please submit ideas, suggestions, comments,....
_______________________________________________________________________
Ake Knutsson                      	email: knut@tts.lth.se
Dept. of Communication Systems    	       ..!uunet!tts.lth.se!knut
Lund Institute of Technology, SWEDEN	fax:   +46 46 145823