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From: nichols@eola.UCF.EDU
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: australia
Message-ID: <6900002@eola>
Date: 11 Apr 90 05:33:00 GMT
References: <832@torah.UUCP>
Lines: 24
Nf-ID: #R:torah.UUCP:-83200:eola:6900002:000:973
Nf-From: eola.UCF.EDU!nichols    Apr 11 01:33:00 1990


I know that certifying a modem in Australia is a tricky process.
One requirement our FCC (USA) imposes on modems for Part 68
approval is that they withstand a 1500-volt surge on the phone
line without reflecting more than "x" joules of energy to the 
telephone network. In Australia, they test your modem with a 
3000-volt jolt. Ouch! They must have *some* kind of lightning
there!

Another problem deals with which standard your modem complies.
A CCITT standard transmission is more likely to work there than
one of the Bell standards.

My former company discovered that one of the frequencies used
in a Bell 103J modem (300 bps FSK) would tell the central
office equipment in England to hang up (disconnect) the line!

Two excellent sources for international info on telecom are the
test labs of "Dash, Strauss & Goodhue", somewhere in Massachussettes.
as well as a magazine they publish called "Compliance Engineering."

Have fun down under!
markJ
nichols@eola.ucf.edu