NewtonTalk.net June 2009 archive: Re: [NTLK] Cellular modem and

From: Ed Kummel <tech_ed_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Mon Jun 01 2009 - 00:21:34 EDT

Scott.
The first thing you need to be aware of is that the Newton existed in a completly different cellular world. I doubt that you can get the Newton to communicate to any of the phones you can buy in today's cellphone stores.
All the methods I used to connect a Newton to the cellular system involved analog cellphones...Motorola Flip, Oki 900, NEC 300 analog cellphones. And to make matters worse, even if you were to find one of these phones, there is a very good possibility that your local cellular carrier will not activate the phone. They may even not have analog service at all! This is where I'd check first. No point in spending money on parts if your local carrier won't be able to activate the phone on their system.
Then you need one of two things. A way to convert the Newton's 422 serial to 232 serial on the modem, or a phone specific RJ11 interface.
The 422 to 232 converter is very hard to find.
The other item is a plug that connects to a cellphone, has a 9 volt battery and generates a dialtone and offers an Rj11 interface. I used devices called Axcell. This was the easiest and most efficient method.
If you take this point, you *may* be able to get a more modern cellphone to work.
If you can get a device that connects to a cellphone that generates a dialtone, and you use any of the pc card modems that works with the Newton, you could plug this into the cellphone dialtone device and make a modem connection this way...it may or may not work...digital compression on today's networks may not wqork...
Ed
web/gadget guru
------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Richard Feynman, Physicist, Nobel winner (1918-1988)

"There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers."

--- On Sat, 5/30/09, Scott Hoffman <hoffo@mac.com> wrote:

From: Scott Hoffman <hoffo@mac.com>
Subject: [NTLK] Cellular modem and phone-to-modem questions
To: "Newtontalk Mailing List" <newtontalk@newtontalk.net>
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2009, 7:49 PM

Greetings,
   I searched through the archives and found a little bit about
cell modems - enough to get me interested in trying it out for myself.
Who among you uses something like it and can recommend a setup?
   What Motorola or Nokia phones work with cards? With which
cards to they work?
   I own the Novatel Wireless Merlin I'd like to get working, but
also want to try an old cell phone to PC card type setup.   I just
purchased
a Motorola Montana modem and am anxious to get some other devices
which will work. Strictly for tinkering, of course... :)

Thanks for your time,
Scott

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Re: [NTLK] Cellular modem and phone-to-modem questions