SAMSUNG FAX MACHINE

A fax machine is basically a photocopier where the copy is produced at the other side of a telephone line. These are the steps that describe the operation:

  1. Scanning & Digitizing: A scanner reads the page line by line, converting light and dark areas (text/images) into a digital pattern of 0s and 1s (a bitmap).
  2. Compression: The digital data is compressed (e.g., using Modified Huffman) to reduce file size, making transmission faster.
  3. Modulation: A built-in modem converts these compressed digital bits into audio-frequency tones that can travel over analog phone lines.
  4. Transmission: The tones are sent through the phone network to the recipient's fax number.
  5. Handshake & Connection: Both machines communicate (the "handshake" tones) to establish a connection and confirm compatibility.
  6. Demodulation & Decompression: The receiving machine's modem converts the audio tones back into digital data, which is decompressed.
  7. Printing: The digital data is used to reconstruct the original image, which is then printed onto paper. 

I have acquired two identical Samsung SF-360 fax machines. The machines communicate via my Homevox Universal 2-6F telephone exchange. I replaced the M40 ink cartridges to get a fully operational demonstration setup.