Stuff I Use with my Zenith

I am a gadgeteer. I love gadgets and little things. I'm also very serious about mobile computing. Of course, the SuperSport is not my main weapon of choice in mobile computing anymore, it still proves to be quite handy in a pinch. I still keep a small stash of stuff in my official Zenith Data Systems carrying case, since it's got lots of room for goodies inside.

RadioShack Portable Laptop Power Supply- The original power supply works fine, but it's horribly bulky. I found a very versatile AC/DC Transformer that's got the ability to put out pretty much every voltage needed by today's laptops. It's much smaller than the original one, to say the least, and lends itself to the traveling types such as myself.

Telecoupler II Acoustic Coupler - Technology born of the 1970's and 1980's quickly became a staple of the 1990's road warrior. Acoustic Couplers allowed one to dial up to a mainframe, BBS, Internet, Intra-Net, or UNIX Server from almost anywhere there was a telephone and a dial tone. The Telecoupler II was the last generation of acoustic couplers manufactured. It offered speeds up to 28,800 bps on a good telephone line, which was uncanny for an acoustic connection. With modern technology such as Cellular Data (PCS Vision, Verizon Express Network), Wi-Fi and high-speed-internet available almost everywhere in the US, the road warrior has lost the need for acoustic connections.

A case of floppy Diskettes - Hand modified and formatted to 720K. Most of them are blank, but some have backup copies of software that I use in the 184-02 that lacks a hard drive.

Serial Cables - Null modem adaptor, 2 straight-through serial cables , gender adaptors, and a Cisco Console cable. With Telemate on a desktop and the zenith, I can use these cables to transfer files between computers over a slow serial connection. Floppy disks are usually faster.

An external battery-powered modem - Made by MultiTech Systems, this is a far cry better than my old Viva 2400. It's capable of speeds up to 14.4kbps, and can do FAX as well as data. It provides backup in case, for some reason, my internal 2400 bps modem dies. In my experience, data loss on COM ports is very high above 2400 BPS regardless how fast your modem or serial connection will accept a connection at.