I used CCGMS on the 64 to look at RLE images, myself. -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- "I think you underestimate the stupidness." --------------------------------

On 6/29/07, Curt @ Atari Museum <curt at atarimuseum.com> wrote: I was lucky to not have to resort to an acoustic coupler in the 300 bps days - the VICmodem, for those that don't know it, attaches to the user port of a VIC-20 or C-64, is fed 300 bps data through either a 6522 (VIA) or 6526 (CIA) bit-banged TTL-levels, and converts to and coiled handset cable. No Hayes Compatibility here - you picked up the phone, dialed the BBS/CIS, waited for the answer tone, then moved the cable from the handset to the waiting VICmodem. Call-waiting, on the other hand, _would_ drop the connection. :-( You then had to scramble to remigrate the cord to the handset and take the call, since your session was dead anyway. I never paid that - I *never* dialed peak, and I never had a 1200 bps modem when I was calling CIS, so I recall the $5.00-$6.00 off-peak charges. I didn't get a 1200 bps modem until 1984 when my employer loaned me a Ventel (still have it). It was in a rounded vacu-formed wrinkled black plastic shell with a row of LEDs across the front. You double-tapped the RETURN key to wake it up, then interacted with it in a human-friendly manner, entirely unlike AT commands and a Hayes Modem. The only thing that was really strange about it that I can recall was that the phone connection came out a DA15S connector and you had to not lose the DA15P-to- RJ11 cable or you were hosed. Solid performing modem, though. Great for sticking on a VT100. Probably less great for attaching to a computer for dialout because of the proprietary dialling CLI interface. I think the standard uucp dialler supported it, though. I'm thinking back now, and except for a trip to NYC in 2001 when I could only get connected to work from the hotel over a modem, I don't think I've used one in nearly 10 years. Out where my Farm is got cable modem service a while back, but when I first moved in, I was too far from the CO to even get DSL (plenty close enough as the crow flies, but thousands of feet too far as the cable goes). Those phone lines (which haven't been upgraded AFAIK) were so bad, I couldn't get as good as 19.2K with a 56K modem. Good riddance. -ethan

That reminds me... Somewhere I have a C64 Prestel modem. I think it was a Commodore product, probably only sold in the UK. It seems to plug into the expansion bus, and contains, amongst other things, an SAA5070 'Lucy' chip, which was part of the Philips Teletext/Prestel chipset (the modem part of said chipset, of course). It's also a direct-connect unit, to a UK phone line. If anyone wants to know more, I'll try to digit it out and have a look at it. -tony

On 6/29/07, woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: I grew up 6 miles from the CompuServe building, almost close enough to use tin cans and string ;-) Plenty of toll-free modeming around, but only free to BBSes - if you could get through. Best time was whenever "Star Trek" was on TV (18:00-19:00 in Columbus in 1982, IIRC). $1.00 a minute seems pricy to me for long distance in the 1980s - at least for off-peak. Were Canadian rates that bad everywhere, or just around you? -ethan

On 6/29/07, Jim MacKenzie <jim at photojim.ca> wrote: Daytime, I can see being pricey - it was in the States, too. Sure... I don't think I could make a "night rate" call (23:00 to, I guess, 06:00) for much under $0.40/min. We made most of our calls late back then. Sure. I was just at lunch with someone in the telecom industry. Not because of this thread but for independent reasons, it came up that their employer (a large wireless company) paid $0.005/min for long distance pumped from their customers to get onto a land line. That's why you can get Europe for $0.025/min now... there's room for profit even at that level. Thank you, Judge Green. -ethan (who never once did long-distance modem dialling, especially after that first CIS bill)

"Chuck Guzis" wrote: CALL/370? I used it. All 300 baud :-) wish I had not tossed out that AJ acoustic coupler. -brad

Ethan Dicks wrote: I was in the middle of the mountains. That is what came to mind when I wrote the email. 35 cents a minute could have been the night rate after midight. I do know that the cost of remote access and long distance charges where more than I could afford.