Comspec Digital Products, Inc.

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Comspec DPI's communications solutions "JFT" and "ffastestsPC" can save you thousands of dollars over the lifetime of use, while providing the fastest and most reliable links to your most difficult locations. We are specialists in Inmarsat system utilization. We offer hardware, software and consulting to maximize your utilization and minimize your cost. We produce the "Hummer or Land Rover" of data communication software. Our major focus is to provide a RELIABLE communications package that gives the user high data THROUGHPUT with maximum ERROR TOLERANCE when operating on less than optimum communication circuits, such as international switch telephone, radios and Inmarsat.

Who is Comspec DPI and what are our products? Comspec Digital Products was the software, hardware and system integration arm of Comspec, Inc. formed in 1972. We were the developers of a system called “TapeTran” in 1978, which transferred half-inch data tapes from Rigs, or Seismic Boats to office locations over the Inmarsat and dial telephone network. In 1982 we designed a synchronous 9600 bps modem for Inmarsat use called the 9600C. The 9600C was the first modem to achieve 9600 bps on the Inmarsat “A” analog voice service and it is still in use today. We were some of the first users of the Inmarsat Simplex High-Speed Data service offered by Comsat in 1982. In 1987 Comspec Digital Products, Inc. was spun off as an independent company from Comspec, Inc. and our products ffastestsPC and JFT were developed for use in the dominant Personal Computer market. Our major focus is in specialized communications software and hardware that will work in areas where there is no “Information Super Highway” or where the “ISH” is to slow or costly for use. If you use Inmarsat we will save you more money on your communications bill than our software and hardware costs. Comspec Digital Products, Inc. is a manufacturer of hardware and software for the transmission of data on the asynchronous and synchronous International dial network, Cell Phone, ISDN, V-Sats, and Inmarsat HSD & ASD Systems. We produce the "Hummer or Land Rover" of data communications software. We are focused on the Inmarsat “A & B” High Speed Data (HSD) service, both simplex and duplex. We have developed special software and hardware to allow the IBM compatible PC to move large data files to and from a remote Inmarsat Terminal to another Inmarsat Terminal or to a headquarters’ office location. Two synchronous HSD systems are available. One for the DeskTop PC called ffastestsPC-HSD, a short slot AT-ISA buss board. One for the LapTop PC called ffastestsPCMCIA, a Type 2 PCMCIA card. The Windows 3.1X, 95, 98, or MS-DOS software systems can function like a simple electronic mail gateway to other Unix, Mac, Windows or DOS networks using the on demand dialup Switched 56 kbps, dedicated V-Sat, or ISDN 56, 64, & 128 kbps International Networks. The system is an easy to use turnkey package with built in diagnostics and a very error tolerant transmission protocol which can re-link and resume from a sender power fail or complete link disconnect. The only thing the end user needs to do is setup methods (batch files) of moving his data into and out of our mailboxes (Subdirectories/Folders) precompressed and ready for transmission. The “ffastests protocol” is a proprietary protocol written in very tight code to maintain the maximum data throughput, in the presence of multiple satellite delays with high errors, and to give the user a minimum Inmarsat bill for large data file transfers. This software is not a warmed over implementation of the TCP/IP, SDLC, or HDLC protocols. The code is very demanding on the PC’s processor and the interrupts. We are now delivering a Windows 95, 98, 3.1X, and DOS versions of the software. The Windows & DOS Inmarsat throughputs, when transmitting precompressed files, of 350,000 & 410,000 bytes (8 bits per byte) per minute at 56 & 64 kbps are typical. We recommend you obtain your computer systems from a local vendor to be sure you get the best service possible when you have a problem. If you want us to supply a total solution with computer and software loaded and tested we can provide a quotation. We are resellers of the Getac line of Industrial and Military grade LapTop computers. Our AT-ISA buss card will function in 95% of the 386, 486, and Pentium computers manufactured. Our PCMCIA card will function in most LapTops with Windows 3.1X / 95, 98, or MS-DOS loadable Card & Socket services for the Type 2 cards. The ffastestsPC-HSD board is a short slot AT-ISA buss board with physical dimensions of 7.75” depth behind rear panel and a height of 3.9” above the socket. The board will function in an 8 or 16 slot. It must be in a 16-bit AT slot to use the higher interrupts. The Serial Communications Controller (SCC) USART is an 85C30, which is capable of both synchronous and asynchronous communications and has been tested up to 256 kbps. The board has been tested in a minimum computer configuration of a 386/33 mhz to a Pentium 233 mhz system. If you wish the system to be a standalone communicator at speeds of 64 kbps only the 386/33 with a fast disk is a good solution. If you want the computer system to be networked and to do other things such as compression and graphics display the more powerful the computer the better. Stay away from non-Pentium computers like the Compaq Presario. The ffastests DOS software system cannot be run as a shell from Windows, the computer must be in the DOS mode. You can run the DOS software from a Windows 95 only system by creating an MS-DOS icon to exit WIN 95 direct to DOS with a AUTOEXEC.BAT and a CONFIG.SYS that is compatible with our software. The ffastestsPCMCIA card is installed in any LapTop PCMCIA Type 2 standard location. The Windows installation is a simple run the setup program to install the software under Windows 3.1X, 95 or 98 operating systems. Under Windows we have written a virtual device driver to give us the maximum priority for services. On the faster Pentium class machines the Windows software can out perform our DOS software. Our Windows driver cannot be installed by the “Plug and Play” functions in LapTops. The Windows PCMCIA software must leave our card alone before we can install. The LapTop solution is very handy when used with a Ethernet LAN PCMCIA card for access to other UNIX or MAC networks. We have tested with the 3Com card and TCP/IP and FTP software from FTP Software (PC-TCP), Novell (Lan WorkPlace for DOS) and Sun (PC-NFS). The Comspec DPI software only asynchronous package Just File Transfer (JFT) is designed for use with “off the shelf” async modems with speeds from 2.4 to 33.6 kbps and with the ISDN terminal adapters which support V.120 and Bonding async protocols at 64 and 128 kbps. JFT is ready to use with Inmarsat M, B, and Mini-M terminals and with AMSC satellite terminals with setup scripts for the direct data modes of those terminals. JFT does not need any of the modem’s internal error correction and it will transmit data with 100% packet errors on the line. If you need to send data on expensive and error prone circuits, such as: HF, VHF, UHF, and Cellular radio; Third World and some other International telephone links; Inmarsat satellite land mobile or marine, then it is costing you a lot of money not to use "JFT". The JFT system has a resume function that will recover and resume sending a file from a sender disconnect or a complete power fail. JFT will never send the same file twice. JFT will run on the Inmarsat HSD service at 28.8 kbps isosynchronous or will operate behind our DT-101 multiplexer at 115.2 kbps and transmit a compressed one million-byte file in 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The DT-101 multiplexer is a voice/data multiplexer from MultiTech modified for use on the Inmarsat HSD system. The DT-101 “DataTalker“ will provide a 115.2 kbps asynchronous link that looks like a, “buffered null modem cable” with a 850 millisecond satellite delay, when used on the Inmarsat HSD service. The DT-101 can be used to allow high-speed data connections for any asynchronous software package such as “CC-Mail, Notes, MS-Mail, PC Anywhere, LAN access, and Internet access”. The most important function to reduce your communications bill is to use good data transfer technology and reduce the volume of data with state of the art data compression techniques. Comspec DPI recommends the Kernel Technologies, Ltd. (403-264-5454)PC seismic data compression utilities. The Kernel Technologies, Ltd. “Swift” software compresses and decompresses seismic SEGY data, using the Aware engine, in any SEGY format. Swift utilities deliver ease of use and critical feedback in the application of Lossy Compression Technology. The Swift feedback enables you to choose the most appropriate compression ratio suitable to your data or your particular application of the technology. If you had a 100-megabyte file to send, compressing it just 10 to 1 will save you $ 2,000.00 dollars on your Inmarsat bill. Compression programs from Aware Inc. 617-276-4000, Iterated Systems, Inc. 404-840-0633, LEAD Technologies, Inc. 704-332-5532, PKWARE, Inc. 414-354-8699, Ascent Solutions, Inc. 513-885-2031, JPEG, MPEG, and others can be used to get higher effective throughputs.

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