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Telecommunications and power
by Thomas Caldwell
Hi-speed modem problems
Several people have complained about the inability of their imported high-speed modems to work at their full speeds in Japan. One fellow I spoke to was scared the modems he bought for his company wouldn't work at all. He thought that since they were not "approved" for use in Japan by JATE, the thousands of dollars worth of gear he purchased for his employer was useless.
If you're having problems getting your imported modem to work properly in Japan -- and you've ruled out the AT commands being wrong -- don't panic. The problem is not a difficult one to solve.
First, some background. The official voltage in Japan is 100 V, while in the US -- where the best modems are still made -- it is 120 V. The reason I use the term "official voltage" is because the actual voltage depends on the wiring used in your building or what part of town you are in. In Japan, the output voltage often varies from 95 to 108 volts; in the US, it varies from 105 to 125 volts. The variation in voltage is not a problem for most electrical appliances, including most computers. Modems, however, are another matter.
In some parts of Tokyo -- even in some of the newer buildings -- the real voltage can get as low as 93 V. Modems use a lot of juice (that's why they get so hot), so if your modem is expecting 120 volts and it is only getting 95 volts -- significantly less than it was designed to run on -- it won't be a happy camper.
A further complication is that there are two different voltage cycles in Japan. Parts of Japan work on 50 cycles AC, which is about an additional 12% power loss compared to the 60 cycles used in the rest of Japan and the US. Given these two factors, the power available to your modem in a 50-cycle area can be as much as 25% less than its design calls for.
The problem is easily solved, though. You can get your high-speed toy to work by plugging it into a special transformer designed for the task. Go to a well-stocked electronic parts shop (my favorite is the parts arcade on the west side of Akihabara station) and look for a 100-V to 117-V step-up adapter. (They go for about ¥2,000 or ¥3,000 each.) The one I use, the UT-100 Box-Up Travel Trans Former, is made by a company called Kasuga Musen. It is a solid (and ugly) device that can work with anything pulling up to 100 watts of power. "English" name aside, it fixes the problem rather nicely.
Working (on power) on the railroad
Ever see an AC power adapter on a train in Japan? Ever think of plugging your PC into it? Don't! Your PC may not survive.
Those outlets you see on trains are not designed for PCs or any other sensitive electronic gear. They were designed to work with motors, not transformers. The sockets in the bathroom were put there for electric shavers and toothbrushes. The ones in the floors or next to the seats are meant for vacuum cleaners and other maintenance equipment -- stuff designed to take a voltage beating.
There is about 25,000 volts AC running through a train's power system at any given time -- lots of juice. Spikes and surges strong enough to jump through the transformer that your notebook takes its juice from are not uncommon. Your equipment may survive, but why take the chance? Play it safe and fully charge your batteries before you hit the road.
Analog cellular phone connectors
After I mentioned analog cellular phone connectors several issues ago, some readers contacted me claiming that there was no such animal to be had. Not true; the beast is endangered, perhaps, but not yet extinct.
Cellular phones are now going digital, and manufacturers have started to cut back on accessories for their analog products. But there is still one place to go for an adapter if you are using an analog cellular phone: good ol' IBM.
That's right, folks: it's Big Blue to the rescue -- for a price. Look around for a device called the IBM Personal System/55 Cellular Cable Kit (IBM part number 07G3319). For a cable with few electronics, it's pretty pricey (¥6,500 in Akihabara). But it is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new digital cellular phone, and for a cable, it is very well built. It even comes in a real slick-looking black box (which accounts for half the price, I'm sure).
I use one with my analog phone, and it works fine. Come to think of it, it's the first thing I've bought from IBM since I paid a small fortune for my PC/XT, back in the days when 64K of RAM and 10 megabytes of hard disk space was all any of us would ever need.
Windows 95 anyone?ç
Thomas Caldwell @ Shinjuku West in Tokyo, Japan
Freelance writer and radio journalist
caldwell@gol.com
