When OEL went bust a while ago, QL owners looking forward to the company's promised communications package were left wondering when, if ever, they would be able to link their new computers into the outside world. Needless to say, Sinclair was equally upset as QL communications was seen as vital for the computer's marketability in the bottom end of the business market rather than just the top end of the games arena.

Tandata, however, came to the rescue and took over the production and marketing of the OEL product and the company's QL communications package is likely to have appeared by the time you read this article. According to Tandata, orders are already being shipped to those unfortunates who sent in their cheques to OEL before it went over the brink of bankruptcy.

Another QL communications package, the QL Bright Star manufactured by Modem House, recently hit the market and both products sell at just over £200. Although nobody expects two companies fighting over a fairly small market of QL owners to be the best of friends, there have been some hostile vibrations emanating from Modem House which suggest a competitive spirit bordering on the embittered. Tandata have yet to join in the mud-slinging, but if they do then micro mags should get a lot of fun copy.

I had hoped to review both products here but despite repeated promises over the last month, Modem House's PR firm has yet to supply even the elementary Press Release package, much less a modem for test. As Tandata supplied both pretty quickly, I see no reason to keep the company hanging around waiting for its review whilst I cultivate the patience of a statue trying to get even a few scraps of paper out of the competition.

From what I do know of the Bright Star, it appears a good product. It is an intelligent modem which, in some ways, is a more versatile communicator than Tandata's although - at least for the moment - it lacks some of the other's most useful features. Bright Star ought to be a serious candidate for QL owners anxious to get on-line but, since all I've had out of Modem House so far is an odd collection of empty promises, self-praise and thoroughly bitchy remarks about Tandata, I can only recommend that potential buyers ensure that the company's after-sales services are better than its public relations.

Tandata's product consists of three separate units, two of which are optional. The essential piece is Q-Connect, an intelligent module supporting QL communications from 75 to 9600 baud supported by an extensive package of software on a QL microdrive. In my review package, the software looks to have been written in Basic - a slight inconvenience that I hope Tandata corrects in the final product - which obviously makes loading a longer and clumsier process than machine code. A fully machine coded version would give Q-Connect's software the same professional feel and appearance as the latest versions of the four Psion business packages that come free with each QL and give the owner five efficient, compatible and highly user-friendly programs.

Q-Connect is powered directly from the QL's external transformer unit and, in turn, power the QL via a cable to the appropriate port on the back of the computer. This is a handy feature which avoids yet another wall plug but won't work if other peripherals are being powered from the QL. Other technical features include separate transmit and receive buffers, a 25-pin RS232 data port, and flow control. Q-Connect can be used with just about all asynchronous modems and communicates with the QL at 9600 baud via a cable connected to the computer's SER2 port at the back.

Extensive software features include a CET telesoftware downloader, a number of configuration menus including a mailbox, spooling for saving incoming data to microdrive, transmission of files on microdrive, a phonebook, off-line message preparation, error correction in user-to-user file transfer and VT100 terminal emulation for accessing databases such as Telecom Gold. There is an encryptation feature for encoding files before transmission. I haven't had much chance to play wth the encoding procedure yet, but it has a unique key per file system which makes it look pretty secure. The only drawback being that - if each file has its own key - you have to keep track of all the cyphers.

The encryptation feature is for transmission to other QLs and is essential if the QL is ever to be taken seriously as a business machine or for anybody who simply wants a bit of online privacy. To encode on Q-Connect, the computer will request a key and the user must then enter a string of up to thirty characters. The key must be entered again for decyphering which, since you have to keep all the different keys on record, makes things a bit clumsier than I would have liked.

Systems like the RSA use a public key for encoding, and a secret key for decoding, which are based on the immense difficulties involved in factoring very large numbers. There is no need to use different keys for different batches of data and the system is, for all practical purpose, unbreakable. British Telecom is developing cryptographic products based upon a similar procedure and I wish microcomputer companies would being to look seriously at these sorts of user-friendly (more or less), but secure systems for encoding and decoding data.

The two other units which make up the Tandata QL communications package are Q-Mod and Q-CaII. Both are optional but are designed to work with Q-Connect's telesoftware. Q-Mod is the modem which communicates at 1200/75 baud (full duplex) for links to Prestel-format databases and 1200/1200 baud (half duplex) for QL to QL exchanges. The lack of a 300 baud facility is likely to be the chief criticism but, as Q-Connect can be used with virtually all asynchronous modems, the user will be able to extend the system's capabilities at some added cost. Q-Connect's software has a real-time clock facility for those who care to monitor the charges of accessing remote computers.

Q-Call is the auto-answer/auto-dial unit. To use it, a filename from Q-Connect's Phonebook is entered. The computer displays the number listed with that filename and Q-Call takes over for an automatic dial. Without Q-Call, the user is asked to dial the number displayed himself. An LED on Q-Call indicates that the auto-dial facility is functioning properly while an LED on Q-Mod shows that communication has been made and is in progress.

The three units are all smartly designed. Each is made of QL-style black plastic to match the computer in appearance. They are joined in a stacking system using vertical bus connectors. Q-Connect is the base with Q-Call fitted above it. Q-Mod rests on top of the stack and the whole package forms a compact, attractive unit without a lot of extra wires adding to the spaghetti at the back of the computer. My only real criticism is that the possibility of slightly careless handling runs a risk of damaging the bus connectors as they are the only links joining the three units. After all, even the best of us can make a mistake and a slightly securer joining ought to make the user rest easier.

The launch of the QL was marred by bad marketing, software bugs and the financial collapse of the company preparing the communications package. What promised to be a 'quantum leap' in home micros floundered at the beginning, but is picked-up and carrying on with the OEL modem. Tandata have gone a long way towards getting the QL back on the path it should have been on from the start.