-=> Mike Ross said to Greg Mayman
 -=> about "LIGHTNING STRIKE" on 01-02-03  02:10.....

 MR> The actual barrier is those little 1488/1489 interface IC's that give
 MR> up their little lives to save the computer. I remember they were often
 MR> the only socketed IC's on serial cards. It was done for that very
 MR> reason! 

I've seen the effect of induced voltage in telephone lines due to
nearby lightning strikes -- NOT direct hits! -- that sparked
across gaps of an inch or more. 1488/89s wouldn't give much
protection against that.

OTOH, if its only a few hundred volts, enough to kill an IC but
not enough to jump all over a board, then those 1488/89 chips
would offer a lot of protection.

I still prefer an external modem. It puts several more ICs and
some solid physical separation between the phone line and the
motherboard ;-)

And I prefer external modems for another completely separate
reason -- AFAIK they don't yet make them Plug-N-Play, which means
I can still use them with DOS 

From Greg Mayman, in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia

... C&W SONG TITLE - May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

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