> >At 03:30 PM 10/13/99 -0700, Roger Sinasohn wrote:
> >>Please respond to Tim directly at <astrl3_at_uaa.alaska.edu> if you can help...
> >>
> >>>Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 23:18:45 -0800
> >>>From: Tim Long <astrl3_at_UAA.ALASKA.EDU>
> >>>Subject: Acoustic modems?
> >>>
> >>>Hi! I am interested in purchasing an acoustic modem, but I have not been
> >>>able to find one anywhere. First, are there any acoustic modems that are
> >>>compatible with modern IBM-clone PCs?
> >
> >Certainly the use of a coupler limits the bandwidth of the signal
> >that can be reliably exchanged. It worked in the days of two-tone
> >300 baud, but I don't think it would stand a chance at 4800, 9600
> >or above.
> >
> >- John
>
> Acoustic couplers, not the earlier ones, but later units made for $$$ and
> people who did a lot of "remote" travel worked up to about 4800.
> Essentially we are really just talking about a certain level of "fidelity"
> between your hardware and the telco hardware.
>
You can still buy acoustic couplers, I bought one several years
ago. It definitely does better than 4800. If I recall correctly
mine does 9600 baud and possibly higher. There are two markets
for acoustic couplers. One if traveling sales people. A
acoustic coupler can be used from a pay phone, so they can
connect on the road. The other is for people who do a lot
of traveling outside of North America. Its easier to connect
an acoustic coupler to a phone than to try and find the
appropriate phone jacks. In some hotels, particularly in
Europe, the phones aren't jacked, so unless you take the phone
apart (I have a friend that carries a complete tool kit for
this purpose), an acoustic coupler is your only choice. If
I remember correctly I paid around $150 for mine.
--
Dr. Mark Green mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca
Professor (780) 492-4584
Director, Research Institute for Multimedia Systems (RIMS)
Department of Computing Science (780) 492-1071 (FAX)
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
Received on Thu Oct 14 1999 - 15:47:56 BST