Dr. Spine #44 @3473 Sat Feb 16 12:16:13 1991 MINIMUM LINE TESTING REQUIREMENTS AS SET BY THE FCC Your local telephone company is required by the FCC to provide a minimum level of quality on the lines it maintains for your use. Many lines do not meet these standards, and so are a source of considerable noise in the transfer of data between computers. A noisy line can make it very difficult to upload or download messages and files to a BBS. If a sysop complains to the telephone company about line noise, there is usually only one option offered: line condi- tioning. This is an extra cost item that they would like to sell you. However, if their line to your computer meets the minimum standards, there is no reason you cannot have error free transfers at 2400 bps and, if an error correcting proto- col is used, reliable operation at 9600 bps is the norm. If the telephone company seems reluctant to test your line and assure that it meets the minimum requirements (and they will), request that they run the following tests and provide you with the results. Let them understand that if they do not comply, you will refer the matter to the FCC. They will NOT be happy! The following tests should be run: 1) Frequency sweep. 300 to 3000 Hz 2) Roll off. 500 - 2500 Hz, with -2 to +8 range, and request 300 - 3000 HZ, -3 to +12 range. 1000 Hz tone loss: -16, 1% in either direction 3) Signal to noise ratio. 24 Db level 4) White noise C, message Dbrnco 5) Envelope delay measurement. 6) Phase jitter. Not to exceed 10% 7) Impulse noise test. Minimum 15 minute count Don't worry if you do not understand what all these tests mean, the telephone company knows. These standards are all available from the FCC upon request. When the lines provided to you meet these minimums, you will experience reliable, accurate, and noise free data transfers.