Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle

General Chat => All the rest => Topic started by: level42 on September 25, 2015, 12:19:07 AM

Title: My first modem
Post by: level42 on September 25, 2015, 12:19:07 AM
Waha...now for sale on Marktplaats.....this is exactly the same first modem I ever had. No idea how I got it though...

There was no autodialing, na AT command set, had to dial with the phone and then switch over to the modem...I don't think I ever used it with my Atari 8 bits...mostly with the ST.

No there was no internet, you dialed into (local) BBSes :)

Basically it was a 300 baud modem BUT...it had a "viditel" mode which allowed 1200bd download/75bd upload....wooohooo, that was LIGHTNING fast, especially because downloading was the thing you did most :D
Title: Re: My first modem
Post by: Luigi on September 25, 2015, 08:32:46 AM
Wow, pretty old stuff :)

My first online experience was at a friend with his acoustic coupler...not much stuff going on bitd. My first personal modem had 2400 already and I used it with the first PC I bought in 1992. After discovering the BBSs the first phone bill was ~ 70 DM and I had to explain to my parents who never had a bill over 15 DM  ::)
Title: Re: My first modem
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on September 25, 2015, 08:55:11 AM
I almost thought you had an Atari one  ;) :D

(http://huguesjohnson.com/features/mgc2007/atari830.jpg)
Title: Re: My first modem
Post by: level42 on September 25, 2015, 11:13:31 AM
Haha no I don't think Atari ever sold that over here.....never had accoustic coupled modem, thankfully.
i _did_ own the 850 interface that you see under the acoustic coupler though, but only when they got dumped for low prices (still 150 guilders though). It had 4 RS232 and 1 Centronics port. Only used the Centronics one to hook up a printer.

Thorsten, I was lucky, my dad had a "phone from work" so his company payed the bills but of course I still had to be a bit moderate with use. It's almost unbelievable now, but in those days there were area's and as long as you called within your area, or one that was geographically right next to it you payed quite a low price. If you went outside that larger area costs quickly went up so I hardly ever did, let alone calling internationally !

At one point in time BBSes started relaying so they could almost always offer local connection, it was called FIDO net IIRC.
I even witnessed the very first graphical interfaces on BBSes...not pictures and icons but it was all drawn lines, like vector graphics I remember, but not much later I switched to (dial up) Internet....
Title: Re: My first modem
Post by: Luigi on September 25, 2015, 11:43:10 AM
It's almost unbelievable now, but in those days there were area's and as long as you called within your area, or one that was geographically right next to it you payed quite a low price. If you went outside that larger area costs quickly went up so I hardly ever did, let alone calling internationally !

Same in Germany...called "Nahgespräch" (near) and "Ferngespräch" (far). And twice a year the whole family gathered in front of the phone to call to the relatives in USA for half an hour....which had cost a fortune bitd :)
Title: Re: My first modem
Post by: level42 on September 25, 2015, 12:10:37 PM
Haha, very recognizable even calling to the US.....that was an event !

About a year ago my cousin opened up a Facetime conversation and when I saw him and his son I immediately saw where they were: at Funspot.....connected through the Wifi there....sound and video and connection costs zero......we can't say we didn't make some progress on some things ;););)