USING THE MODEL 100 ABROAD -------------------------- I bought my Model 100 because I spend several months a year in Europe. I needed a means to keep up with my American interests without the hassle and expense of overseas phone service, day and time-zone complications, not to mention dollar-a-minute telephone tag. TWO WAYS TO COMMUNICATE FROM OVERSEAS. -------------------------------------- Yes, you can call the USA direct from overseas using your acoustic cups for the computer connection. The results will range from erratic to unreliable, and will soon become quite frustrating and very wallet draining. Intercontinental phone signals get processed perhaps hundreds of times going over such distances and being transferred between systems with different standards. Often the connection will be "fragile" enough that you will easily lose it, have unacceptable amounts of garbage in your transfers, or even need to try your call several times before you get a connection good enough for the modems on each end to "hook" onto each others' carriers thereby establishing the initial connection. Here, much frustration comes easily, and many dollars go easily! It is possible to access Packet Switching Networks such as Tymnet, Datapac, Telenet, etc. from Europe, but as special arrangements must be made and a CCITT modem is almost always needed, this will be a non-starter for most of you. IF YOU MUST GO-BY-PHONE ALL THE WAY, GET THE ODDS IN YOUR FAVOR! -------------------------------- Three things you can do which will better your chances for a usable connection: 1) Avoid the acoustic cups. You already have enough problems without them, too! As acoustic couplers go, they aren't bad, but more often than not, they do not mate well enough with overseas phone handsets for a usable connection due to size and shape differences. Instead, use a direct connection cable like you do or should here. As USA modular plugs are NOT used abroad, see my notes at the end of this file on how to make up a "bootleg" cable for use almost anywhere. 2) If you can, use one of the error-checking protocols such as XMODEM ( available on this SIG). Obviously, you must have such a program running on both computers. Protocols like XMODEM chop files into small segments or blocks, check that what was recieved is what was sent, and automatically retransmit (only) those blocks inaccurately recieved, thereby saving $$$ and frustration. 3) Use a 1200 baud modem. They seem less sensitive to flaky phone lines and all the signal processing. Being up to four times faster than 300 baud, you can get off the phone that much sooner. More phone dollars saved and a reduced time span during which you can lose your connection. Any one of these will increase your chances of a sucessful connection. Using all three, the improvement is dramatic! THE BETTER WAY TO COMMUNICATE. ------------------------------ If you are planning a long stay with lots of telecomputing from the same country, you should probably look into access from there to one of the PACKET SWITCHING NETWORKS such as Telenet, Tymnet, Datapac, etc. which is linked to the host computers you wish to reach. These PSNs are designed specifically for data (computer) transmissions. Not only do they have built-in error checking, but telecomputing via PSN is a lot cheaper than by phone. To use the PSNs in Europe you will need to use a CCITT Euro-standard modem if you are transmitting at 300 baud. For 1200 baud, the Euro CCITT and USA Bell 212A standards are such that these modems work together just fine. You must also make special arrangements with the local agent of the PSN you wish to use, usually the local PTT, Telephone Authority, or some state-owned sister company. This is necessary because there are supplementary charges for the intercontinental part of the hook-up which are payable to that local agent. With very few exceptions, you will need a local phone number to which these charges can be billed. You could ask friends in the country you are visiting to request these PSN charges be billed to their phone, but in many countries PSN access will automatically change the class of service to that number from residential to business which could be irritating to some. You can obtain the name, address, etc. of the local PSN agent and the official to contact from the Customer Service Desk of the host system you will want to contact. It will take anywhere from a couple of days to two weeks or so to complete the arrangements and get your access activated. The best way to do this is usually via telex from here before your departure. My personal experience is with Italcable arranging access to Tymnet from Italy. As I have a home in Cernobbio, billing was no problem, and after a brief exchange of telexes, I was "online" in about a week. It is difficult to state here what the end cost of using a PSN will be. The tariff rates and structure can change from country to country. Some countries require you use an approved modem, and they then charge so much a month for access priveleges plus so much per minute and/or kilobyte or whatever sent. In others the law is you must rent the modem from the local agent at a rate which includes the basic access charge. Etc. Etc. I calculate the cost in Italy at well under half the comparable expense via phone. SPECIAL CABLES BOOTLEGGING CONNECTIONS THINGS TO TAKE WITH YOU ----------------------- Let me state right here that modem laws vary from place to place. It MAY be technically illegal to transmit computer data with ANY modem, acoustic cups included, not supplied by the local PSN agent. With that said, once you are on the phone transmitting data, it would be very hard for anybody to prove you are using your own modem. Therefore... It is very easy to make a "bootleg" cable to directly connect your Model 100 to almost any phone line anywhere. From a Radio Shack, get a "half- modular" cable and a pack of small insulated alligator clips. The cable is the one with a modular plug on one end and terminal lugs on the other. Solder alligator clips to the red and green wires of the cable. You won't be using the other two wires; cut them off or tape them back out of the way. That's it. This cable will fit between your regular Model 100 modem cable and the wall box or inside the telephone set. The modem in the Model 100 will safely handle anything which almost any phone company will send down the line. However, if you are worried about damaging your computer or experimenting with it, I suggest you take a cheap pulse-dial phone with you to make and try out your connections first. When the phone is connected so that you can dial and converse, your connection is right. If the phone didn't melt, nor will the computer. To install your cable on the phone line, you must open either the wall box or the phone itself. In most countries, you will attach the red modular wire to the red wire in the wall box or the red wire entering the phone from the wall and/or the green to the green. If there is no red or no green, try the black or another color, but anything yellow probably won't be right. TRAVEL KIT - THINGS TO TAKE WITH YOU ------------------------------------ 1) Small regular and phillips screwdrives to open phones, wall boxes, and the like. 2) A razor voltage adapter will power the M100, plus an external modem, plus a printer such as the CGP-115 or Brother EP-44. 3) Three-way plugs and perhaps an extention cord for above. 4) You may need plugs of different shapes for razor adapter-to-wall outlet use. Indispensable in U.K. and Switzerland, and maybe other countries! 5) Modular phone extention cable and female-to-female adapters to connect them together. 6) If telecomputing is very important during your trip, consider taking two of everything you can. Murphy's Law, etc. Peter Hayward Cronin CompuServe 71256,407 EasyLink 621-5530 Telex USA+0+467985 (Cronin Mtle Ci) -End of File-