Radio Telephones are telephones used in the outback that act like an ordinary telephone, but which are linked by radio to Telstra's Network. There are quite a few outback users of Auzzie.net that use these types of phones - and there are a few characteristics unique to these sometimes monstrous contraptions. Here's a rundown...

DRCS or HCRC. The two common types. DRCS is the old slow type, HCRC is the new fast type.

"Which one have I got?" It's easy to tell. Just pick up the phone. If you get a dial tone straight away, you probably have an HCRC type. If you get click click ... dialtone it's probably a DRCS. DRCS also have a tendency to go Click Click now and then as iff you'd hung up for 1/4 of a second. Why they do this god knows.

HCRC users can typically get between 19,200 and 26,000 bps connections through their modem. It's a good idea to restrict your modem speed to 38,400 or 19,200 if you're having trouble with connection reliability. Also, all radio phones tend to have different line signaling levels and impedance to ordinary lines, which can be a problem for cheap modems. It is generally best to get a medium to high quality external modem to use on any radio phone. NetComm WaveSP modems have proven reliable in these environments, along with the now out-of-date LightSpeed 336 modems.

DRCS users don't have such a happy life Internet-wise. The speed is typically 4800 to 7200 bits per second, roughly 1/5th to 1/6th of what people get on normal phone lines. (Some people close to towns may get up to 12,000) They also have tendencies to make odd noises now and then that cause periods of no internet activity as the modems recover. These phones are now getting very old - if you are a cheeky person and open the cabinet you can probably find the service history in the box. (While you're there, you might want to top up the water in the batteries to increase it's lifespan.)

On a DRCS phone you will most likely need to turn off dialtone detection on your modem, and also add one or two commas before the phone number that you want it to dial. This is because some modems don't wait long enough for the dialtone to appear, and others dial the number too soon - before the phone has had a chance to give a dialtone.

Again, external modems seem to cope better with the unusual line levels sometimes produced by these old beasties. You will probably need to reduce the modem speed to 9,600 to be able to connect reliably, if at all.

I may be wrong, but I suspect Telstra is replacing the DRCS phones with HCRC ones based on usage, amongst other factors. This is because the DRCS system can only hold a limited number of calls at once - DRCS users are probably farmiliar with picking up the phone and not being able to get a dial tone at all. It's in Telstra's interest to get the heavy surfers off first, as they have the greatest impact on the system.

For either types of phones, you may want to consider adding a satellite dish to your computer. They tend to be more expensive, starting at roughly $70 per month, but will give you speeds of 250,000 bps instead of 7,200. Auzzie currently expects to be able to provide you with satellite service in the near future.

For further information, email michael@auzzie.net :)