Appendix A:
SETTING UP YOUR COMPUTER OR TERMINAL
You need only follow this part of the manual once, when you set up your equipment for the first time.
You need four things to reach EIES®:
1. An ordinary telephone line (usually with modular, or "RJ-11" telephone cords) and a modem or a direct connection to a network. To connect to EIES®, your computer will dial a local telephone number with a tie-line connection to where EIES® is located. You may dial from anywhere; but if you are dialing through a business telephone system, you may need to arrange for an adapter connection, or an extra outside telephone line. For advice on this matter, contact your office manager.
You need a telephone line with this "plastic clicky" or "RJ-11" type of modular telephone jack, so your computer can dial out to reach EIES.
2. You need a personal computer or terminal. Any computer or terminal is fine, so long as it has a screen width of 80 characters. Acceptable computers include:
IBM PC and AT-compatible computers (this includes Compaq, Toshiba, Radio Shack 1000-3000, and many others). Apple //e, //c, and Macintosh computers CP/M computers (Kaypro 2-16, Osborne, etc.) Atari 520 and 1040 ST Commodore Amiga
Computers with a 40-column screen (Radio Shack Model 100, some Apple //, Commodore 64 and 128) do not work well with EIES®. Printing terminals like the TI Silent 700 are acceptable, but they make EIES® more difficult to use.
3. To "capture" incoming text and print it on your computer’s printer, you must learn to use communications software. Communications software controls the working of your personal computer. It turns the printer on and off, dials the telephone, checks the names of files on your computer, and performs many other tasks.
To use your own communications software to dial EIES®, read Appendix B: Installing Your Own Communications Software.
4. You need a modem to connect your personal computer to the telephone lines. There are two types of modems: Internal modems fit into the slots within your computer, and external modems are small boxes attached by a cable to your computer’s communications port. Either way, you must plug a telephone line cord into the socket at the back of the modem.
You do not operate the modem directly. It is controlled by your communications software.
When you buy a modem, you have to make several choices. The first is speed how fast does it send characters through the phone lines? We recommend 2400 baud (roughly 250 characters per second) or 1200 baud (roughly 120 characters per second). Another popular speed, 300 baud, is too slow to work effectively with EIES®. Also, make sure that the modem you buy is compatible with your communications software.
Go to Appendix B: Installing Your Own Communications Software