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MegaDisc 06 (1988)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)[m][WB].zip
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REVIEWS
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Blitzer.rvw
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1988-03-27
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PRODUCT REVIEW ON THE 12E BIT BLITZER MODEM
from an anonymous contributor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ED. NOTE: Look in MD7 for our in-depth review of a locally made
Amiga communications program called "GPTERM". From all
reports it is excellent, and the same people wrote what
was probably the best communications program for the 64
in its heyday. It is also designed to work with the
NETCOMM POCKET MODEM (though it will work with others of
course), and the double package (modem with program)
will be selling for about $400, and will handle all baud
rates except 2400, including Viatel. Enquiries can be
directed to Greg Perry, Pres. of the "Commodore Computer
User Group" in Brisbane, Tel: (07) 3663295.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Always hankered for one of those fancy auto-dialling, auto
answering modems to go with your personal computer, but found the price
too daunting ? Your wait might well be over .......How much would you
expect to pay for a Hayes-compatible automatic modem withthe facility
to operate in full duplex mode at both 1200bps (V.22) and 300bps(V.21) ?
Until very recently, you wouldn't get much change out of $800.It goes
under the somewhat fanciful name of "Bit Blitzer", and comes in a
neat but solid little black anodised aluminium box measuring only 190 x
133 x 40mm.This is just big enough for a standard Telecom Colorfone to
sit on top, ifyou're really short of desk space. The Bit Blitzer is made
in Hong Kong, idiscovered, by a firm calling itself Banksia Imformation
Technology (BIT). To emphasise that it's fully automatic, there are
essentially no manual controls at all. On the front panel, there's
simply a row of LEDs to indicate operating modes and the status of
various signal and control lines. At the back there's a socket for the
12V DC power input, a DB-25 connector for RS-232C serial cable from
your computer, and a couple of the compact "modular"telephone sockets -
one for the line cable from the Telecom phone socket, and the other for
an optional phone. A matching 12V plug pack is supplied, plus a cable to
connect the modem to the Telecom line socket. There's also a very easy
to follow driving manual, without a trace of the half-expected Chinglish.
Actually it's not quite right to say that there aren't any manual
controls. If you turn the Bit Blitzer upside down, you find a little
window in the case providing access to a 10-pole DIP switch used to
configure the various operating modes and parameters. Alondside there's
also a convenient data panel, explaining each switch's function and its
action in each position. Basically the 10 switches control the operation
of RS-232C handshaking lines like DTR, DSR and CD; whether the modem is
to operate to CCITT or BELL (US) standards; whether the internal speaker
is to have high or low volume; and various aspects of its opegation in
automatic mode. I took a peek inside the case, and discovered a very
neatly made PCB which occupies virtually the entire area. Literally
everything is mounted on the board, too; there's no conventional wiring
at all. The board isn't all that crowded, either. Fairly obviously all
of the ATZ[]n "brains" is housed in a pair of fancy LSI chips; apart
from these there's only a few "glue" chips plus the usual passive parts,
line coupling transformer and dialling relay, All very neat and tidy.
Using the manual as a guide, I had no problem in configuring the
Blitzer and hooking it up with my AMIGA 500. In fact it turned out to be
somewhat easier than some of the manual modems I've tried. I gave it a
try with the communications program AMIC and found it to work like a
dream and the Blitzer worked exactly as expected and responded to all
the commands without a murmur, in short I could not fault it. No doubt
about it, an automatic modem is certainly a lot more convenient than the
old manual clunker I myself is (was) using. There's no fiddly switching,
no looking up the numbers and manually dialling - just the pleasure of
pressing a few buttons and keys, and waiting for the Bit Blitzer to do
the work for you!
So if you are looking for an automatic modem that does just about
everything (except wash up the dishes) and does not break the bank,
then the Bit Blitzer is just the modem for you and is available from
most good computer hardware retailers.The only thing that this model
will not do is connect you to Viatel, but thereis also a model available
to do this as well for a slightly higher price, about $450 from Dick
Smiths Electronics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END OF BLITZER.RVW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~