From the GMS point of view I live and work in the boondocks: Grand
Forks, North Dakota. (OK, so there is a decent argument that the
entire US is GSM boondocks.)
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way of sending and receiving text
messages using a tool like smstools and a CDMA modem.
I've found the MultiTech CDMA modem (MTCBA-C-N3-NAM) but I can't seem
to find any success stories to go along with it.
I was wondering if anybody has had any luck with either this modem and
smstools3 in particular, or with sending/receiving text messages with
a CDMA modem.
From the GMS point of view I live and work in the boondocks: Grand
Forks, North Dakota. (OK, so there is a decent argument that the
entire US is GSM boondocks.)
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way of sending and receiving text
messages using a tool like smstools and a CDMA modem.
I've found the MultiTech CDMA modem (MTCBA-C-N3-NAM) but I can't seem
to find any success stories to go along with it.
(I gather you mean smstools.meinemullemaus.de)
Does it support the AT command set ? But even if it did, I think
that the first question in the FAQ says it all regarding requirements,
but I may be wrong.
Alternatively, have you considered a Nokia handset with Gnokii ?
1) What hardware do I need? You need a Computer with at least one serial
port. It does not matter how fast the CPU is and how much memory you
installed. An old 486DX processor with 32 MB memory is enough. You
also need at least one GSM modem with SMS command set according to the
european specifications GSM 07.05 (=ETSI TS 300 585) and GSM 03.38
(=ETSI TS 100 900).
When a vendor writes "SMS command set" without giving the specification
names, then the device typically supports a subset of this
specification. In this case you can surely send 7bit text messages and
you can probably receive them. But its not sure, if status reports,
binary messages or unicode messages work.
I have a RHEL server that I connected MultiTech CDMA modem (MTCBA-C-U-N3)
and running smstools3 with it. Some hackery was needed and it still does not
work ideally. What I mean by that, i had to modify the source code of
smstools3 to work around GSM SMS message format.
In the end it works except one thing: I believe, because of the way smstools
addresses memory where the message to be sent is stored, it never releases
that memory back. So as a result, it always retains the last message in
memory and when a new one needs to be send and if it's shorted then then
previous one, I see the new message and leftovers of the previous one at the
end.
Let me know if you want some documents that I wrote up when I was messing
with it.
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out a way of sending and receiving text
messages using a tool like smstools and a CDMA modem.
I've found the MultiTech CDMA modem (MTCBA-C-N3-NAM) but I can't
seem to find any success stories to go along with it.
(I gather you mean smstools.meinemullemaus.de)
Yes, that seems to be a popular package.
Does it support the AT command set ? But even if it did, I
think that the first question in the FAQ says it all regarding
requirements, but I may be wrong.
Yes, it has the AT command set, and MultiTech also sells a GSM modem
(MTCBA-G) that is supported by smstools3, but a fairly casual reading
of the reference manuals for both show quite a bit of diversity in the
command set between the CDMA and GSM modems.
Alternatively, have you considered a Nokia handset with Gnokii ?
No, not really. I was thinking that a "modem" would be a little more
robust and easier to deal with in the rack than a handset would be. If
I'm given a choice, I think I'd stay away from a handset, but I may
not have a choice.
From what I found is that smstools will only work with GSM AT command set,
so if you are 'locked' into CDMA you are screwed in regards of using
smstools.
I'm attaching the html page that I wrote up after I got the modem working in
case the server dies. I have to mention that i was only interested in
sending sms, so that's the only part I was messing with.
> Alternatively, have you considered a Nokia handset with Gnokii ?
No, not really. I was thinking that a "modem" would be a little more
robust and easier to deal with in the rack than a handset would be. If
I'm given a choice, I think I'd stay away from a handset, but I may
not have a choice.
Think about it: mobile handsets have built-in UPSes
Just in case you were contemplating getting the USB one and using it
with a Mac, be aware that the serial-over-usb drivers are early-alpha
quality, and although they were supplied as a universal binary, once
my boss pried the source code to the original driver out of TI it
became clear to him that due to endian reasons they had no hope of
working on a PPC mac. So much for the G5 XServe that has run Nagios
cleanly for ages.
And in my experience (many years back), a nokia handset would start
draining its ups as soon as it got a full charge, requiring daily
reseat of the supply cord. YMMV so test and retest.
