Subject: Re: Modems in Germany
To: None <port-mac68k@netbsd.org>
From: Nico van Eikema Hommes <hommes@ccc.uni-erlangen.de>
List: port-mac68k
Date: 10/06/1998 07:43:36
      Hi All,

>> Voltage in Germany is 220/50. But: isn't that an internal modem?
>Just to be correct:
>Voltage in Germany was 220V some years ago. It has been changed due to
>European unification to:
>	230V / 50 Hz

This thread is getting more and more off-topic, and IMO missing the point
of the original question:

>My problem: I set up a PB540 with Mac OS 7.5.5 and a 19kb Global Village
>Powerport Mercury modem for a friend who lives in Diesdorf, Sachsen/Altmark
>in the former DDR. Her phone, howerver, was installed only 5 years ago, and
>appears to be modern Jappanese equipment.
>1) It doesn't recognize the dial tone. I fixed this so it ignores the dial
>tone.
>2) It dials the number, but the phone system seems not to recognize the
>tones - in any event, the phone at the other end never answers. Thinking
>that there might be a lot of capacitance on the lines, I tried setting the
>tones to their maximum length (S11=170), but that had no effect.

A possible (quite likely, in fact, for everyone who has experience with the
"Deutsche Telekom") explanation is that the modern Japanese equipment is an
ISDN box, which means digital instead of analog. An analog modem will only
work with this if connected to the correct, D/A-converted port (provided
there is one) or through a converter.

Power line voltage, btw, is seldom a problem: external power supplies
usually work with anything between 100 and 240 volts. Line voltage on
analog phone lines AFAIK is always around 60 volts.

Best wishes,

          Nico

--
Dr. N.J.R. van Eikema Hommes   Computer-Chemie-Centrum
hommes@ccc.uni-erlangen.de     Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
Phone:   +49-(0)9131-8526532   Naegelsbachstr. 25
FAX:     +49-(0)9131-8526566   D-91052 Erlangen, Germany