Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I have one. It is a half card that plugs inside the 2000. By the
    nature of its design, it does not use the serial port or the
    serial.device driver. It has it's own driver called modem0.device.
    
    It works well and comes with a piece of software that displays the
    "lights" on the screen. Not that it's necessary.

    Can you provide a capsule review of it?  (Cost, Features, Problems)

    How do you get programs to use it?  Is there any committment on the
    part of supra to become compatible with the developing conventions for
    support of additional serial ports?  Does it have a speaker?

    I am almost fed up enough with my Scholar to think of buying something.

	Paul

    re .1:
    
>    How do you get programs to use it?  

    For example, can Smokey use it?
    
>    I am almost fed up enough with my Scholar to think of buying something.
    
    Same here.
    
       Mitch

    RE: .2    Cost ... $179 (Memory Location)
              Features ... Same as any Supra or Hayes compatible modem
              Problems ... None that I am aware of
    
    RE: .3    Any program that accesses the serial.device can use it.
              If the program has selectable serial device and unit numbers
              like JRcomm or Whap!, no mods are necessary to the program.
              Otherwise, you just use NEWZAP or a similar editor and
              change all occurrences of serial.device to modem0.device.
              Alternatively you can use the slick utility that Supra
              provides that does the zapping automatically!
    
              Oh, it will not work with Handshake. Apparently, Handshake
              does things a bit differently than all other terminal
    	      programs (according to Supra).
    
    Paul
           

     RE: Scholar modems. FWIW, I just traded in a Scholar for a Scholar
     Plus which has an "AT" mode command set. This is the HAYES Smartmodem
     command set. I am no expert on modems, in fact I am amazed at how
     cryptic there commands are, but the AT mode works better with terminal
     programs than the DCML available with the regular Scholar.  
     
     A friend, whose opinion I respect, uses this modem successfully on an
     ATARI ST connecting to a variety of services, using several different
     terminal programs.
     
     So if you have a Scholar on loan, consider a trade to the Scholar Plus.
     
     Dave
     

Yet Another RE: Scholar Modems

Yeah, I *DID* get sick of my Scholar, but I opted for the external Supra.
It's a cute little guy (looks like a Hayes, only shorter - almost square).
I've been real happy with it so far.  It dials slower than most modems I've
used, but that's no big deal.

Why didn't I go for the internal?  I wanted the lights.  Yeah, yeah, I know
I don't need them but I wanted them anyway.  Now that I know that Handshake
doesn't work with the internal, I'm glad I did.  Besides, I can use the
external on a terminal or another computer whereas the internal is Amiga-
specific.  Paid $129.

...richard

    This is perhaps the wrong place to discuss this, but...

    My problem with the Scholar is that has great difficulty dialing
    through the phone system in my town (Bolton).  Now this is truly an
    ancient phone system.  (We have four digit dialing in town.)  It only
    takes pulse dialing, and that only at ten per second.  The scholar is
    frequently claiming that the phone is busy, or no answer, or something.
    I can get it to work part of the time by scattering waits at strategic
    places in the phone number, but success is still sporadic.  To make
    things worse, because the Scholar has no speaker, I can't even tell
    what is going wrong.  Also, I dial in through an FX line at night, so I
    need the ability to pulse dial, wait for a dial tone, and then tone
    dial. 

    I would consider buying something else if I knew it would solve my
    problems.  What I don't know, is whether other modems are capable of
    dealing with rickety old exchanges.

	Paul

    
    Paul, for what it's worth, I ditched my Scholar for the same reasons
    you described.  I live in Grafton, MA, where the old pulse system is
    pretty shaky.
    
    I tried a Supra for a while, and had much better luck connecting on the
    first try.  Line noise is RARELY a problem, wheras it used to be so bad
    with the Scholar that it would frequently take a dozen or so tries to
    connect.
    
    I ended up buying the Supra, and have no regrets.
    
    Ed.

I just got a Supra internal from GO AMIGO. I don't remember what their
reputation is, from the notesfile, but the modem showed up in about 6
days on a credit card order, and they're on sale (ad in Amazing/Amiga)
for $139, with no shipping charges. After years of DF03-AC, it's nice
to have a modem with NO "footprint" on my crowded desk.

Seems to work great, I'm using it with a "zapped" Smokey VT200 emulator.

I have one small problem: Using Smokey V1.0, I can't seem to get the
modem's attention from a script file, if I start the script when I first
bring Smokey up. (The modem echoes the commands, but doesn't react to them.)
If I enter any modem command manually, and then start the script, all is well. 
So I have a couple questions:

If anyone else using the Supra 2400zi with Smokey, and using scripts, what
do you do to get the modem's attention at startup?

More likely, what PD emulators are available currently, and where? I'm 
looking for one with VT200 or later emulation, and built-in Kermit and 
xmodem and/or zmodem file transfer. Script-driven operation is very
important to me, and obviously it has to be compatible with the 2400zi.

Thanks,
John O.