New! --- Phone Guardian (Telephone Long Distance Controller)
New! --- Jetport II (PCI 2 Port Intelligent UART Serial Board)
New! --- Cyclone 16/32 PCI (Multiport Serial Expansion Boards)
New! --- Linux support for the Jetport II and Cyclone 16/32 PCI
Subj: CYCLONE 6 is Small Business Solution for Remote Access
Bay St. Louis, MS: GTEK Inc., a leading manufacturer of high speed, serial communications, has released another product in its growing family of Intelligent UART serial boards. The CYCLONE 6 offers the flexibility and control today's business needs for Remote Access solutions. This innovative six port board has features no other manufacturer can match!
Intelligent UARTS are the most advanced on the market today. While some companies still refer to these new UART chips as non-intelligent, GTEK has harnessed the power of the 16C654 UART's enhanced features. The CYCLONE 6 has 64 byte transmit and receive FIFO buffers, automatic handshaking, and flexible addressing (including vertical) options. The 16C654 UART is backwards compatible for all applications built on 16C550 technology. Drivers are available for all popular operating systems: WindowsNT, Windows95, Linux, OS/2 and DOS.
Today's modems are fast. Data rates up to 460.8 Kbps can keep up with the modems of today and tomorrow! The V.34, V.FAST and ISDN modems offer more speed and reliable connections for Remote Access; and GTEK's CYCLONE Family of products take advantage of this new technology - before it becomes widely available. What does this means for the multiuser and Remote Access markets? It means the products you purchase will not be obsolete in the next year.
Visit our Product Page for more information on the CYCLONE 6 or any of GTEK's products. Call us at 1-800-282-GTEK (in the U.S.) or (601) 467-8048. GTEK builds only quality products and sells them at a competitive price. We also offer free technical support. Return to Product Description
Bay St. Louis, MS GTEK Inc., a leading manufacturer of high speed, serial communications, has released a new version of their popular BlackBoard-8 Intelligent UART serial board. The BlackBoard-8A has more features, more flexibility, and a better price than ever before!
Intelligent UARTS are the most advanced on the market today. GTEK has harnessed the power of the 16C654 UART's enhanced features. The BlackBoard-8A is equipped with 64 byte transmit and receive FIFO buffers, automatic handshaking, and flexible addressing (including vertical) options. The 16C654 UART is backwards compatible for all applications built on 16C550 technology. Drivers are available for all popular operating systems: WindowsNT, Windows95, Linux, OS/2 and DOS.
Capable of keeping up with tomorrow's technology, the BlackBoard-8A features data rates up to 460.8 Kbps - This easily meets the demands of V.34, V.FAST and ISDN modems. IF more speed and reliable connections are what you need - GTEK delivers!
Whether you're looking at Remote Access, Internet or Intranet connectivity, or BBS expansion, GTEK's New and Improved BlackBoard-8A will take you through to tomorrow's technology and beyond. What does this means to you? It means the products you purchase will not be obsolete in the next year.
For more information on the BlackBoard-8A, call us at 1-800-282-GTEK (in the U.S.) or (601) 467-8048. Check out our web site at www.gtek.com, for complete information on all our products. GTEK builds only quality products and sells them at a competitive price. Return to Product Description
GTEK has released a new product in its expanding line of Cyclone Serial Expansion Units. Do you need a non-intelligent board with 16 ports? GTEK offers the new Cyclone16/550! Look around, you won't find another non-intelligent serial board that performs like this one.
Built with non-intelligent 16C550 UARTs and, 16 byte transmit/receive FIFOS; this multiport serial board has data rates up to 115.2 Kbps! A built in power supply takes the load off your computer, so you can run all sixteen ports. No other non-intelligent 16 port serial expansion board can make this claim!
Setup is a breeze and configuration is flexible! Our innovative I/O board, packed with powerful features includes 8 addressing modes (horizontal and vertical!) and 9 IRQ selections - perfect for operating systems that support shared IRQ's, like Windows NT and Windows 95. Linux, DOS, and OS/2 are supported, as well as all types of modems.
Priced competitively - Call about the Cyclone16/550 Today! You'll see that our Cyclone Serial Expansion Units are unlike any other on the market today. If you're an ISP, our products will pay for themselves in no time! Return to Product Description
Today marks the release of GTEK's long awaited 16-port serial board - Cyclone16/32. This next generation, Intelligent UART serial board is an exciting addition to our already outstanding line of serial boards. This impressive piece of engineering will take the industry by storm! Just take a look at some of the amazing features we have included:
Incredible speed with second generation 16C654 UARTS!Large transmit/receive FIFOS and automatic handshaking do all the work with resultant data rates up to a remarkable 460.8 kbps! On board power supply also takes the load off your computer. No other serial expansion board can make this claim!
Setup is a breeze and configuration is flexible! Our innovative I/O board, packed with powerful features includes 8 addressing modes and 9 IRQ selections - perfect for operating systems that support shared IRQ's, like Windows NT and Windows 95. Linux, DOS, and OS/2 are supported, as well as all types of modems - including ISDN.
Priced competitively - You'll see that our Cyclone Serial Expansion Units are unlike any other on the market today. If you're an ISP, it will pay for itself in no time! Call today for more information!
An expansion to our popular and powerful BlackBoard-8™ , the Cyclone16™ has more than twice the capabilities. Built to anticipate the changes in the industry, this board will be more than capable of meeting the demands of tomorrow's modems. You won't find another serial board that can out-perform this one. So heed the warnings and . . .
The SmartCard-8 is becoming more and more compatible with the recent release of Windows 95 and OS/2 Warp drivers. The Windows 95 driver allows up to 128 ports per PC and the OS/2 driver allows 16 ports per PC.
How to get the drivers:
The driver is free to download from our FTP site.
For more information, or to place an order, call our Sales office at 1-800-282-GTEK. Return to Product Description
GTEK, Inc. announces the BlackBoard-8,
Intelligent UART Card, supporting LINUX and Windows NT. GTEK's popular BlackBoard-8 is now
compatible with LINUX! The BlackBoard-8 also works natively with Windows NT.
BlackBoard-8 and LINUX facts:
OS/2 Driver Available for the SmartCard-8! OS/2 users now have a driver available for the SmartCard-8 . The SmartCard-8 provides 8 intelligent ports for native OS/2 Apps as well as FOSSIL services for DOS applications. SmartCard-8 also comes equipped with the Guardian Watchdog circuit, designed to keep your BBS up and running. Ship Date: 11/95. MajorBBS and WorldGroup Driver Available for SmartCard-8MajorBBS and WorldGroup users can now enjoy the speed of GTEK's SmartCard-8! We are proud to be one of the first to offer an Intelligent card for use with MajorBBS (for versions later that 6.25) and WorldGroup by Galacticomm. SmartCard-8 also comes equipped with the Guardian Watchdog circuit, designed to keep your BBS up and running. Order your SmartCard-8 today! Ship Date: 11/95.Windows 95 Driver Available for the SmartCard-8Windows 95 users now have a driver available for the SmartCard-8 . The SmartCard-8 provides 8 intelligent ports as well as FOSSIL services for DOS applications. SmartCard-8 also comes equipped with the Guardian Watchdog circuit, designed to keep your BBS up and running. Ship Date: 12/95.
Printed in Sysop News and Cyberworld Report
by Lorraine Quigley
For the past several months, we have been telling you about our new Cyclone Serial Expansion Units. The core of this innovative board is the next-generation 16C654 UART chip. We call it an Intelligent UART. GTEK has been using this technology since it became available. Now it looks as if some of our competitors want to get in on a good thing too. Anyway, we have received a lot of questions about this new product so I wanted to spend a little time answering those questions.
What is an Intelligent UART?
Intelligent UART is what we call the latest UART technology. The 16C654 UART has enhanced features over the 16C550 UART chip. GTEK was the first to use these next-generation UART chips. Enhanced features include:
What is the main advantage of the larger FIFO buffers?
The 16C654 is designed to work with high speed modems and shared network environments that require fast processing time. By increasing the number of characters in the FIFO, networking units can handle more data within the same time as smaller buffers. This will give additional time for the CPU to process other applications and reduce the interrupt servicing time.
GTEK Innovative Features
In addition to using the most advanced UART technology; GTEK also incorporated other features into our newest serial boards. These features make the Cyclone serial boards very versatile and compatible with all types of PC's and operating systems. Here are some other questions our customers have been asking.
What is Vertical Addressing and how do I use it?
In order to configure the Cyclone Serial Expansion Board correctly, you need to determine which base address has enough available I/O space to support it. The Cyclone is supported by 2 horizontal addressing modes and 6 vertical addressing modes. Vertical addressing is preferred for 16 or more ports because the chance of creating conflicts with other types of hardware is less likely.
Each port on the Cyclone is controlled by a UART chip, occupying 8 contiguous bytes of I/O space. Therefore, since the Cyclone16 has 16 UARTS, it requires 128 bytes of contiguous I/O addressing space. For this reason, it is preferable to use one of the vertical addressing modes, to avoid conflicts with other hardware devices. Improper selection of an appropriate base address will not only cause some of the ports to not work properly, but may also cause conflicts with other devices.
What IRQ selections are available?
Cyclone Serial Expansion Units requires only a single IRQ for up to 32 ports, and can be any one of the following: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15.
What does the built-in power supply on the Cyclone do?
In addition to the low operating current of the 16C654 UART, GTEK has built in a -12 (volt) VDC power supply onto the interface board. This also takes the load off the host computer's -12V power supply. Other serial board manufacturers would have you purchase a separate power supply to make up for the drain their product places on the PC. With a built in power supply, there is no need to purchase an additional power supply.
What is the maximum data throughput?
Up to 460.8 Kbps transmit and receive on all ports (depending on hardware and software configuration). Meets the demands of the next generation V.34 modems, V.FAST and ISDN modems.
I am using WindowsNT (or Windows95). Is installation easy?
YES! We have improved our technical support by distributing the GTEK NT/95 Installation Program. It virtually takes care of the installation for you under WindowsNT and Windows95.
Linux users will appreciate the flexibility the Cyclone offers. A couple of command line instructions and the Cyclone is up and running. Even OS/2 is supported, using the widely distributed SIO. Our installation manual clearly outlines the steps and you should be up and running in short order.
If I buy the Cyclone16 and want to upgrade to 32 ports, do I have to take up another ISA slot in my PC?
NO! The second 16 ports are serviced by the same I/O board. All you have to do is rerun the setup program to define the other 16 ports.
What is the maximum number of ports I can install?
This is mainly limited by the number of slots available. Each slot can support up to 32 ports. As far as the operating system goes, Windows95 limits you to 128 ports, while WindowsNT supports 256 ports.
One must also consider the type of application when deciding how many ports to put on one computer. If there is a lot of high speed communications on each port, then it would probably not be advisable to go beyond, say 96 ports per computer. This depends on the efficiency of the application software that is driving the ports. Some programs are designed to handle a lot of ports with a lot of traffic very efficiently. Some are not. For example, an ISP might use a fast PC with Linux as a portmaster for up to 64 - V.34 modems quite nicely.
Where will you find GTEK multiport serial boards?
What else is new at GTEK?
Cyclone6! Built on the same technology as the Cyclone16/32. No other company makes a 6 port board with these advanced features. It's perfect for remote access applications! RS422 or RS485 interfaces available.
BlackBoard-8A! A revision to our very popular BlackBoard-8, takes advantage of the enhanced features of the 16C654. RS422 or RS485 interfaces available.
Remember, GTEK products are super capable and competitively priced. These boards will make the transition into "the next generation" more effortless than ever before.
How do you reach GTEK? Well, the only way you cannot reach GTEK is through mental telepathy. Our apologies to the Psychic Friends Network.