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Peripheral compatibility question
KiT - Jun 25, 2002
    KiT Jun 25, 2002 
I searched the net but did not find a definite answer to my question, so I'll post it here.

Is it possible to connect a PAL 33.6k modem - or for that matter any "foreign" peripheral - to a so-called "corean" Dreamcast (i.e. Japanese DC w/o modem)? Or do I risk smoking either? That is to say, are they electrically compatible?

Thanks in advance for any precious hints.

    segasonic Jun 25, 2002 
To the best of my knowledge all modems and BBA's are fully universal, and will work with any region DC.

   Agent21KGB Jun 25, 2002 
I would say modem is a modem is a modem but japan is on a totally different electrical system. Naturally telephone lines also work with that system. You have a chance of frying it but i have never heard of someone frying one.

    KiT Jun 27, 2002 
Well, since it's my buddy's 33.6k I'm about to connect, I sorta need to know for sure I'm not risking his hardware.

    racketboy Jun 27, 2002 
Um -- I want to say don't do it.

But I'm not sure

Have you tried searching online?

Google?

    FLEABttn Jun 27, 2002 
They're fully interchangable.

    KiT Jun 27, 2002 
Thanks for your contributions to the cause.

    megametalgreymon Jun 28, 2002 
bba's definitely would be, since it connects to ethernet which is a worldwide standard anyway

modems im sure are ok the dc wont fry it anyway, the only risk would be if you plugged it into a jap phoneline, if they were different (which im sure they arent anyway) since the modem/phone voltage will be exactly the same regardless of what your connecting it to (its the phone system not the electrical system they connect to, which uses ~50v anywhere in the world afaik)

    megametalgreymon Jun 28, 2002 
the lightguns arent all compatable though

i think the offical sega pal one wont work on the us hotd for example

    KiT Jun 30, 2002 
The issue with the lightgun is probably due to the difference in video refresh frequency.

Anyway, since the modem is PAL and the phone line I'm using is european, I suppose I won't have issues connecting the modem to the line. I was afraid though that the DC peripheral connector was subject to country restrictions.

In an early FAQ I read it says PAL/US and JAP modems are not compatible because the JAP modem software requires registration with a japanese-only free dial.

Well, since I can get hold of a PAL DreamKey for a test (or go for the homebrewn F.I.S.A.), that's probably not an issue either.

I'll try and see what happens.

Again, thanks everybody for your submissions.

    megametalgreymon Jun 30, 2002 
1 other point since you mention dreamkey

you need dreamkey 3.0 now, 1.5 or 1 wont work at all any more unfortunately (the dial up number used by them isnt valid anymore)

    daffy duck Jul 7, 2002 
they are all the same apart from the connectors

ie phone line ones

as i have a us dc and took he modem out and put it in a pal dc and it worked fine

just the cable thats all to your phone line

    KiT Jul 9, 2002 
Thanks people for all the invaluable feedback.

I'm definitely going to try this.

Now, if only I could get hold of that friend of mine... must have gone on holiday.

    Pearl Jammzz Jul 11, 2002 
Let us know how it turns out k?