Synchronous serial Re: E-Mail Formats RE: Future of cctalk/cctech

[Peter Coghlan]

Dave Wade wrote:
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> On Behalf Of Peter Coghlan
> > via cctalk
> > Sent: 18 June 2020 08:22
> > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> > <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> > Subject: RE: Future of cctalk/cctech
> > 
> > ED SHARPE wrote:
> > > Use modern email program that sees expanded char. Sets and
> > > graphics.... it is a brand new world !    I love old hardware to look
> > > at but if communicating  I like  the ability to see graphical
> > > things...  and I think tell majority of people like  images of
> > > things......   Ed#
> > >
> > 
> 
> Just beware. Some environments, especially old EBCDIC ones put different currency symbols on the same code points
> So:-
> 
> I wrote this as one dollar => $1.00
> This as one pound => $1
> And this as one euro => €1
> Lastly one cent => ¢1
> 
> I expect you all get that as sent except for perhaps the Euro which didn't exist when Peters VAX was built....
> ... but on an old UK EBCDIC mainframe Dollar becomes Pound and Cent becomes dollar. This was a real pain as a UK user of Bitnet. 

Well, Peter reads cctalk using VMS MAIL on his alphas and this has it's own
problems.  Around VMS 8.something, someone had the bright idea that VMS MAIL
should replace certain "unusual" characters (such as the tilde for example)
with (you guessed it) a dollar sign rather than present them directly to the
reader for some unknown reason...

However, Peter uses PMDF MAIL to post to the list because it has been
pointed out to him that VMS MAIL doesn't do References: and In-Reply-To:
headers correctly.  On that note, has anyone heard from Mouse?  I haven't
seen anything posted by him in a very long time now.


To get somewhere near back on topic, I am trying to set up a synchronous
serial link between two MicroVAX 3100 machines with DSH32 (or DST32 maybe)
interfaces.  One of the options I have is a BC19D cable and a BC19V cable
which seem to be identical or nearly identical.  Each plugs into a DSH32
at one end and has a V.24 DB25 connector at the other end.  I don't seem
to have anything available in the way of a pair of suitably similar modems
or a modem eliminator to put between the two V.24 connectors.  Can anyone
suggest some kind of a quick hardware hack that I could use to fill the
gap?  Is a pair of DB25 sockets with crossed over wiring betweeen them
sufficient or do I need something that generates clock signals too?

Regards,
Peter Coghlan.
 
> Dave