Brenton, at 21:30 on May 15 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> Those are actually the V.8 Call Indicate tones, and although they are
BG> indeed part of the V.34 spec, USR now disable them by default, because

BV> That could be what he said. I wasn't really listening because all I
BV> wanted to do was to turn the fucking thing off.

There are two optional modem CI tones, one V.8, the other (I think) is
V.25, presumably something to do with auto voice-data discrimination, but
nobody appears to have bothered using them for this purpose yet.  So far,
all it seems to have done is fooled some brain-dead fax/modems into
thinking that there's a fax calling.  The USRs used to have both of these
enabled by default, but subsequent SDLs have made their default states
disabled.  Can't imagine why.

BG> Seems that the Viper's tone discrimination could be better, as I recall
BG> the fax CNG tones and V.8 CI tones being only 200Hz apart (1100Hz &
BG> 1300Hz perhaps?). Couldn't be bothered checking the manual, but I'm
BG> sure you get my drift.

BV> Yeah, they sound awfully close. In fact they sound identical through
BV> the crap they use for speakers nowadays.

Precisely, although I'd have thought that a 200Hz difference would have
been quite easy for a modem to pick.  Obviously, in the Viper's case, it
isn't (although to be fair, that may NOT have been the problem at all).

BV> The _undocumented_ way to get my modem to not issue NG tones and
BV> therefore violate the V.34 specification is to place a caret after
BV> the ATD command. I have changed the Modem Dial String in Telix so
BV> that it now reads: ATD^^T

BG> There will be an S-register which disables V.8 CI tones (not V.8
BG> altogether, which is indeed a necessary part of V.34).  Find it,
BG> and USE it.  :)

BV> Not in a Banksia there ain't.

Did you actually ring and ask if it's possible to disable them with an
undocumented register?  I'd be very surprised if it wasn't.

BV> No doubt I'll have to change it again when you change modems.
BG> Nope, you can safely leave them disabled.  Most people do anyway.

BV> The only way is through the ATD^T string.

No big deal I guess, but it would be nice to make it a permanent change.

BV> Jeez, you've got no idea how happy I am that you don't fuck-around
BV> with anything unless you have a complete, detailed understanding of
BV> exactly what it is you are doing.

BG> :)

BV> Fair-dinkum. What a fuckwit. I've been staying out of this because I
BV> could see that it was going to turn stupid.

Sorry, but it turned stupid a couple of months ago.  :)

BV> For Christs sake, all the local modems are shit. Spirits are junk and there 
BV> ain't much of an alternative. Hayes are overpriced and probably junk too, 
BV> the Motorolas might be okay, I'm not sure.

The low-end Motorola Lifestyle V.34 only (no V.FC) isn't too bad, but not
as good as you'd expect, although the Microcom Deskporte Fast+ is
apparently extremely good, albeit at a cost of $300 more than the Courier. 
Hayes Optima isn't too bad either, but their low-end Accura is cheap and
nasty shit.

BV> I just can't believe all the shit he's going through. Fucking around with 
BV> this setting, that setting, reading this level, that level, picking every 
BV> fucking little gnat he can find, yet he hasn't got the faintest fucking 
BV> idea what the hell he is looking at. He's lost the plot and forgotten
BV> what the fuck he was trying to do in the first place. 

A "reliable" board, you mean?  True, it's been anything but.

BV> Of the local brands, the Banksia is the best and reasonably priced too. 

Trouble is, they make at least 3 completely different V.34 models, the
cheapest one being Rockwell, the dearer ones being rebadged Motorolas and
Microcoms.

BV> That's why I just bought one on impulse. They're as good as you're going to
BV> get without moving to a USR. Sure, they might have some glitches,
BV> like no S-Register to turn off the CI tones,

BV> the port rate is always locked to the last AT command.

Actually locked, or autobauds on AT ?  That just doesn't sound right.  Or
maybe you're just taking the piss...  :)

BV> But, it works and pretty well too.

Why not swap it with Paul's NetComm then?  :)

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20