BS/DEL with xterm local & remote

[Richard Smith]

I have a weird problem with xterm. I have a number of _identical_
FreeBSD boxes (running 3.2R) which I talk to using xterm. Key mappings
for DEL and BS for zsh and emacs are pretty much sorted out by their own
configuration files. I notice a difference between the DEL and BS
mapping between a remote xterm and a local xterm when running simple
commands expecting command line input.

For example, run 'cat' and you can type some characters. A local xterm
maps BS to a backward-delete-char while DEL echos ^?. A remote xterm
maps DEL to a backward-delete-char while BS echos ^H.

Why the difference? The problem is symetrical, which is to be expected
as the configuration files on both machines are identical.

Any clues?

Thanks,
Richard Smith