Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!scs!mitel!uunet!van-bc!sl
From: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Looking for fax modems
Message-ID: <1919@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: 16 Oct 88 21:23:11 GMT
Article-I.D.: van-bc.1919
References: <43929@neabbs.UUCP>
Reply-To: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Organization: Wimsey Associates, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 40

In article <43929@neabbs.UUCP> richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) writes:
>[ Fax with large mailing list ]
> 
>If you are willing to program a little bit, I would recommend JT Fax
>internal. This is a half-sized card with good software. In general it
>is very good value for money (see PC Magazine earlier this year), but
>the great boon is you can send a Fax from the DOS command-line.
> 
>... talking about JT Fax:
>    I read in the manual that there is also an external version.
>    Does anybody have experience with this box? It is suppost to
>    connect to a serial port. I want to connect it to a UNIX box,
>    so I suppose I will have to rewrite the drivers. Is there
>    enough technical documentation present do do this?
> 

The JT Fax Portable will indeed allow us to create some Unix Fax software.
(And in faxt I'm doing so for a client right now!)

There are three main pieces of software required, ASCII->G3 conversion;
faxcico and a faxdriver to replace the normal serial driver. 

It would be possible to use the normal serial driver with more code at the
user level at the expense of much higher overheads. The modems are not very
smart and you essentially have to poll them to find out what is happening.
You also have to be able to send/receive the equivalent of 4800 BPS
synchronous *without* missing anything. A little easier to ensure if you do
it in a driver rather than from a paged out user process.

Currently technical documentation for the beast does not exist. 

Other than these small limitations it's a nice little box and it's going to
be fun to do the software.

Everex also sells an external fax modem, don't have any information on it.
Most likely it will be similar, *everyone* is using the Rockwell Fax Modem
chips :-)

-- 
Stuart.Lynne@wimsey.bc.ca {ubc-cs,uunet}!van-bc!sl     Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532