27 Nov
2017
27 Nov
'17
11:54 a.m.
On 11/27/2017 11:15 AM, Alan Frisbie via cctalk wrote:
Back in those days you could not connect anything
directly to the telephone
lines -- you had to use the telco-supplied DAA (kaching!) or an acoustic
coupler.?? I don't know if this modem can be connected directly to a phone
line without a DAA.
I think the asking price is totally unrealistic unless you are a rabid
collector of NCR gear.
This particular unit seems to have a Mickey-mouse type of
coupler--receiver and transmitter connected by a cord. I never did
figure out how one was supposed to use this with, say, a Trimline phone.
I guess the answer was "you don't").
We've come a long way since the Carterfone decision. I do recall
agonizing about the rental (you couldn't buy one from Ma Bell) charge
for a DAA. The local PacBell office also wanted to charge for a
"business" line if such an item was installed--much higher monthly
charge than a residential line.
I suppose that DAA's are still around for connection of non-licensed
gear to landlines. Those should rapidly be disappearing, with the
decline of the copper telco connection.
--Chuck