[Coco] Internet/BBS connectivity via Coco1

[Joel Ewy]

On 12/29/2013 06:44 PM, Chris Oliver wrote:
> All,
>
> I am new to this list, and am very glad and humbled to be able to interact with such a storied group of Coco enthusiasts. The 4K Coco1 was my first computer -- back in 1983 when I was 11 years old.  It introduced me to gaming and programming -- and opened up a whole new world for me, which eventually led to my studying Computer Science in college and taking jobs since then with Sun Microsystems, SAP, and Apple.  When I turned 40 a couple of years ago, I wanted to reclaim some Coco nostalgia -- so I began piecing together a vintage system.  As things like this often go, my Coco collection has taken on a life of its own -- and I'm now getting to the point where I'm trying to find fun ways of integrating the old with the new, and getting the Coco to work within the structure of today's technology.
>
> So in that vein: My question is about Internet and BBS connectivity options for the Coco.  It sure would be neat to be able run a Lynx-like browser on the Coco -- but also be able to connect to real or simulated BBS's that might still be out there on the Internet today.  And it would be *especially* neat to be able to do this using as much original hardware/software as possible.  Here is a listing of some vintage items that I have on-hand:
>
> - Coco1 16K -- field upgraded (by me) to 64K
> - Multi-Pak Interface
> - Modem 1B (#26-1175)
> - Deluxe RS-232 Program Pak (#26-2226) w/cable
> - Direct Connect Modem Pak
> - Videotex Program Pak
> - Color Compac (on cassette) (#26-3330)
>
> In addition to the vintage items, I have:
>
> - (soon to arrive) One of Mark Blair's CoCoEpromPak boards, modified by Chad Hendon and flashed with the DW3, DW3DOS, and CoCoNet ROMs
> - DriveWire cable
> - late-2012 iMac (which currently functions as my DW server)
>
> Here is what I don't have: an old rotary phone, and land line service at home (I went to mobile-only years ago).
>
> Given all these various ingredients: Are there ways to use the 1B, the Direct Connect Modem Pak, Videotex, etc. in live situations, perhaps via simulated dial tone from the Mac or some other device?  And are there still some BBS services out there that could be reached?  It would be so much fun to get this old dialup equipment "live" -- just not sure how possible this is today.

Hey Chris,

I got my 4K CoCo in 1981 when I was about 12 or 13.

Are you wanting to use the modem just for aesthetic purposes? Because if 
you're getting set up with DriveWire, that's probably the most practical 
way to get online with a CoCo at this point, and it would make the 
RS-232 Pak and modem redundant, unless of course you're looking for 
those crunchy modem sounds.  I'm fairly sure that my college roommate 
and I got two 300 baud modems to talk to each other over once over phone 
cable strung across our dorm room with no dial tone present between a 
CoCo 3 and an Apple ][, but maybe I'm remembering more success than we 
actually achieved.  If this is indeed workable, I suppose you could dig 
up an external modem and hook it up to your iMac with a USB/serial 
adapter, but again, except for a certain perversely nostalgic aesthetics 
you'd probably be much better off just using DW and keeping the modems 
out of the equation.

There are vintage BBS systems available over telnet, and I've dropped in 
on a few of them just for fun.  The CoCo can run a telnet server over 
DriveWire.  I saw a video on Youtube where a guy is running a BBS on an 
Apple 2e with a little help from a Rapsberry Pi.  The BBS was still up 
as of a couple weeks ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfJtD5OeR_k

JCE

> Thanks to all for any guidance!  And again, it's such a pleasure being on this forum and interacting with you.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris
>
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