Ze_ro Posted November 25, 2001 Share Posted November 25, 2001 Would you have actually bought one of these if it had come out? It seems like such a cool idea, and the idea hadn't been tried again until Sega released Alien Front Online with a microphone for the Dreamcast. However, technology aside, there was only one game that was planning on using this thing, and I didn't know anyone else (and still don't) in my hometown that actually had another Jaguar, so it would have been quite useless to me unfortunately --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter2050 Posted November 25, 2001 Share Posted November 25, 2001 Theres got to be way of trick the J64 and and be able to use Ultra Voktek Moden option, maybe hacking the Jaglink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 Does anyone know the specs on these things? It seems like it shouldn't be too hard to hack an old 14.4 modem to work if the Jag uses standard protocols. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 I was just doing a search on the web for technical info on the Jag modem and couldn't find much. I couldn't even find a full pinout for the Jag DSP port. I did find out that a catbox has an output for an external PC modem. Has anyone tried using this to connect to a Jag modem? Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted November 26, 2001 Author Share Posted November 26, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Mitch: I did find out that a catbox has an output for an external PC modem. Has anyone tried using this to connect to a Jag modem? This is news to me... any more information? If you're thinking of the standard phone jack on the back, I don't think that's for modems... I think that was meant as another way of networking without using a JagLink cable... though I'm not sure what actually uses it (AirCars?) --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Helper Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 I would have bought one because I had a friend who had a Jag in my city. I could have played games with him without long distance charges. I do not think the voice modem would have ever been a success to the mainstream simply because there were not enough Jaguar's sold. The market share of the Jaguar was just not sufficient for that type of hardware to be a success, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 I did buy one! I wish I had someone to use it with, but then again I don't really care for Ultra Vortek. http://www.msu.edu/user/reicher6/jaguar/jagmodem.jpg Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Mitch: Does anyone know the specs on these things? It seems like it shouldn't be too hard to hack an old 14.4 modem to work if the Jag uses standard protocols. I always assumed the JagModem had built-in hardware to support compression and decompression of the voice data on the fly, freeing games from having to worry about this. If this is the case, then hacking existing non-Jaguar modems to work with the Jaguar would take quite a bit more effort. Knowing that the documentation for programming games to use the Jaguar modem exists, I'm sure someone can answer this question pretty quickly. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 quoteIf you're thinking of the standard phone jack on the back, I don't think that's for modems... No, there's apparently a nine pin serial port on the back. I just won a catbox on ebay so I'll let you know as soon as I get it. Do you know if that phone jack works with the Jaglink? As an aside, I noticed that the Telegames UK website lists the catbox (and Aircars) as still being available. It seems to be fairly reasonably priced for a catbox. Assuming that the website isn't out of date. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 If you can get an e-mail through to Telegames UK let me know. It keeps boucing back telling me it's not a valid e-mail address. Last time I check they didn't have any Cat Boxes in (and they obviously won't get any more), but I want to know about Air Cars. My suspicion is that they don't have it either. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Helper Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 No, Telegames has neither catboxes or aircars. They are famous for outdated listings like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted November 26, 2001 Share Posted November 26, 2001 I owned a catbox at one time and it does indeed have the DB9 connector for external modems, or whatever other devices use such things. It's to bad 4play didn't program JUGS to work through it, that would do away with the Jaglink altogether for owners of the catbox. Maybe it would work anyway? Either way it would connect to the DB9 com port on the PC... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted November 26, 2001 Author Share Posted November 26, 2001 quote: From the CatBox manual: Communications Section: Two new communications methods are available on CatBox along with a DSP pass through. These are called CatNet and RS232. With the appropriate cables, communications allow you to connect two or more Jaguars together for multi-player games either directly or with modems. Each method is exclusive depending on the toggle switch position on the rear. The three position communications toggle switch next to the RJ11 jacks, points to the port which is enabled. UP = CatNet, Center = DSP Pass through, Down = RS232. The dual purpose LEDS (lights) also show communications activity. They should turn on when CatBox receives power and they should flicker when the CatBox receives data. Depending on the data transferred, the flickering should be visible to the human eye up to about 115K baud. Game Support for Communications: Since the Jaguar is a cartridge based system and not user programmable, drivers, baud rates and protocols are set by game developers. You cannot play a game over a modem unless that feature is supported by the game you are playing. You cannot play a game over CatNet unless your game specifically supports CatNet. As of March 1995, there are two Jaguar games that currently support communications. 1) Doom from Atari has a two player head to head more that supports the CatBox RS232 ports using a null modem cable. 2) Aircars from MidNite Entertainment Group supports the RS232 null modem cable for two players as well as CatNet from two to eight players. Other games which support communications are under development. Check your game manual for more information on communications support. RS232: RS232 was an early serial communications standard that became popular in the 1970's for computers and terminals. It has been widely endorsed in the electronics industry and is found on virtually every computer made today. RS232 is used primarily for connecting input and output devices like printers, modems, and pointing devices although many other creative uses have been found for it. Simple RS232 is provided on CatBox through a male DB9 on the I/O PCB. This is connected as in the IBM AT standard as follows. DB9P on CatBox 1 NC (DCD) 2 RXD (receive data) 3 TXD (transmit data) 4 DTR - always on 5 Ground 6 NC (DSR) 7 NC (RTS) 8 NC (CTS) 9 NC (RI) Note that there is no hardware handshaking. DTR is fixed on. DSR is connected to RTS. An IBM AT type null modem cable may be used to connect two Jaguars together by their RS232 ports. An IBM AT type modem cable may be used to connect CatBox to a modem. CatNet: The communications toggle switch should be in the up position to select CatNet communications. CatNet was developed by Black Cat Design to be a low cost, reliable network standard that would allow up to 32 Jaguars to play in a local network type environment. Catnet is a half duplex, dual-differentiating type of communications based on the RS485 standard. CatNet uses inexpensive 6P4C RJ11 phone type connectors and cabling and is reliable up to 115K baud with long cable lengths. Although it was designed to support up to 32 devices, we expect to see it used more often in small local networks with a maximum of 4 or 8 players. Although common American Standard telephone extension cables may be used, 4 or 6 conductor cable is required. Because of the wiring scheme used, polarity does not matter. Cable runs of 1000 feet have been successfully tested but it is more practical to keep cable runs under 100 feet between Jaguars. Terminator plugs are not required but should be left in the unused CatNet ports (at the ends of the network) when running a network with long cables over 100 feet. Low cost 25 foot cables and replacement terminators are available from ICD. Sorry for any mistakes, I've tried to type it out as faithfully as possible. The manual also discusses the DSP pass through, and some observations on network experience, but that's as much technical information as there is to be found in the manual. Hope that helps... --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 I found this info on the Atarihq site in an interview with the Battlesphere guys. quoteIn the next few weeks, RS-232 Modem support will be added to the game. We hope it goes off without a hitch, but that remains to be seen. There is little hope of using the Voice Modem, because it uses a proprietary command set, and is only 9600 baud. A few interesting things are brought up here. Apparently at one point Battlesphere was going to have modem support which didn't make the final cut. Unless it's just hidden real well. It would also appear that the Jag modem uses a non-standard protocol, if they are correct. However, they do have the baud rate incorrect, it's actually 19.2 max. I guess I'll just have to try it and find out. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Helper Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 I believe, just like a lot of the Jaguar hardware, that the protocols that the modem uses are severly bugged. If you want to know more about this I suggest you invite Thunderbird from Scatologic to this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagMod Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 >However, they do have the baud rate incorrect, it's actually 19.2 max. I guess I'll just have to try it and find out. > >Mitch Actually, the baud rate is 9600 baud from the jag to the modem. However, the modem can be configured to send/rcv at 19.2. But the max rate from the jag to the modem is 9600. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted November 27, 2001 Share Posted November 27, 2001 quotethe max rate from the jag to the modem is 9600. OK, thanks for the clarification. Mitch http://atari7800.atari.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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