Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!ukma!cwjcc!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Telebit Trailblazer versions
Keywords: also some info on T1000 new model
Message-ID: <1364@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 10 Oct 88 02:35:03 GMT
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 78

I sure hope this makes it out to the net.  Apparently, our news
postings have been disappearing into a black hole at ames lately.


The original classic Trailblazer modem had a heavy gray painted
high demsity molded foam case.  The inside of the case was painted
with conductive paint to vanquish RF emission.  Even the phone cord
was equipped with a torroidal coil to attempt to cut RF.  The modem
also employed a fan.  These models seem to have been up through
version 3.xx.

The Trailblazer Plus came mout around the 3rd quarter of 1987 (at
least that's when we first saw it).  The tailblazer plus made the
uucp spoofing and data compression standard features.  The main
circuitboard was also massively redesigned to incorporate most glue
logic on a big ASIC chip.  Power consumption was cut, so the fan
was eliminated.  The original ~2 inch speaker was replaced with a
little transducer that looked more like a microphone than a
speaker.  The little transducer tends to fail if you have the
volume above about AT s61=200.  Other than the nasty litte speaker,
it was quite nifty.  A recessed reset button was also added to the
rear panel so that factory defaults could easily be reestablihed.
A disk with a MINIMAL telecom program was also included so that it
was quite easy to configure the modem by (perhaps temporarily)
plugging it into the comm port on an msdos computer.  An internal
programming resistor has been added to allow the output dB level to
be set for use on leases lines.

The newer Trailblazer Pluses seem to have cropped up around July of
1988 or so.  The new Plus models seem to be the same as the above,
except that the rear panel reset button has once again disappeared.
Examining the circuit board shows that the solder pads are still
there for the switch.  Now, there are two pushbuttons on the front
panel.  One is a momentary contact that toggles between data and
voice mode.  The other button selects between two possible setups
in the EAPROM chip.  The cleaning crew keeps hitting the button for
the A/B setup; to counter that, we've just made A and B have the
same parameters.  There are also now registers for programming the
interface for SDLC.  The new case is white styrene plastic.  It
looks a lot more "techie" from the distance, but in actuality it is
a lot lighter duty construction.  Eventhough the old case wasn't so
pretty, I'd rather have that than the newer one.  The brick-in-the-
cord power pack is still the same old one that's been used all
along.  RF emissions are much lower now.

By the way, how's come only V.32 modems seem to come with built-in
power packs.  I'm really fed up with all these dag gone bicks
collecting on the floor or haning out of the wall sockets.

The new T1000 is roughly comparable to the Trailblazer, and
apparently is PEP compatible up to *9600* baud.  That's the major
diff, as the Trailblazer interface goes up to 19200.  A blurb in PC
Week mentioned that SLIP protocol was included.  The list price is
supposed to be about $795.  That would make the T1000 only about 10%
more expensive than the "uucp deal" price on the Trailblazer Plus,
if you are buying via a purchase order.

For the Trailblazer Plus, the P.O. discount is 45% from list, while
the cash price is 50% from list.  The list price is $1350 (US).
I've heard that the deal has been extended yet again.  It was
originally supposed to run out on Sep. 30, 1988 most recently.
Shipping is about $15 per unit.  Interested people should probably
email to telebit!modems.  I'd recommend putting "Attn:  uucp
program coordinator" in the subject line.  The name of the lady
handling the uucp stuff is Tessie Opel.

I've tried the Trailblazer, USR HST, and several other high speed
modems.  The Trailblazer has the most convenient command set,
fastest uucp throughput, and handles noisy phone lines best of the
lot.  About the only thing I feel is close in value/dollar is the
Codex/UDS/Motorola V.32 modem.  About the only place where a V.32
modem is clearly superior is in a situation where there is nearly
continuous data in both directions at the same time.  For example,
a modem being fed by a statistical multiplexor.

--Bill
  wtm@neoucom
  wtm@impulse