08-23-16 15:41 Bbsing Bbs wrote to Ed Vance about Re: Announcing the Pacifi
Howdy! Bbsing Bbs,

 -=> Ed Vance wrote to Bbsing Bbs <=-

 EV> 08-20-16 06:21 Bbsing Bbs wrote to rbernardo@iglou.com about Re:
 EV> Announcing the Pacifi
 EV> Howdy!

-snip-

 EV> I read that the C=64 could run at 2400 with a higher speed modem so I
 EV> bought a Packard Bell 2400 External Modem and a RS-232 Adapter.
 BB> I'll have to pick up that RS-232 adapter.

IIRC the adapter I bought was made by Omnetronics(sp?) but other companies
had them for sale.

I tried several Terminal PRGs to try to make it work at 2400 but my
set up couldn't make a Connect above 1200.

The Super Snapshot v5.0 cartridge also had a 2400 Terminal PRG built in it,
I tried using it also but didn't get a 2400 Connect with it either.

-snip-

 BB> I'm amazed C64 is still out there and some systems are still online. ..
 BB> for how much longer I suspect in 40 more years it will be really rare.

MOS Technology knew what they were doing when they created the 6510 and
the other intergrated circuits they put inside the C=64.

A friend of mine was hopeing I would buy a APPLE ][ so he could help me
learn about home computers.
He said he thought I made a good choice buying the C=64 instead of a VIC-20.

I had also tried using a Texas Instruments 99/4 and Atari 400 and 800
in the stores that had a demo PC set up for people to tinker with.

Both the APPLE ][ and Atari 400/800 had a 6502 instead of a 6510 in them.

When I typed a small BASIC program in the TI 99/4 I found out that to
get something to print on the screen I had to hold the FN Key and press
the Key with the "Print" label on it as I was typing the program in.

I gave up on the Atari 400's and 800's because no matter what I tried
to enter in a BASIC program and Run it, neither one of them did anything
except blink the cursor.

They acted as if I was using a "DUMB TERMINAL" instead of a "COMPUTER".

A while after I had bought the C=64 I learned that the 400 and 800 had to
have a BASIC Cartridge plugged in the hole in the front to be able to
use BASIC with it.

I had thought the cartridge hole was for Game Cartridges like the
Atari "VCS 2600" used.

When Atari brought out their 800XL (iirc) Model they had BASIC built-in
just as the C=64 did.

I bought my Commodore C=64, 1541 and VicModem 300 in March of 1984
for about $500.00 USD, a APPLE ][ with a 80 Column Card sold for
$800.00 USD then.
I used a B&W TV Set with it at first, then later bought a Color TV Set.

I can't remember what the Atari 400 and 800 computers sold for back then.

Before I purchased my C= gear a friend at Church who used a TRS-80 Model I,
got a C=64.
 
He was telling me that he liked the C=64 but he didn't have any way to
SAVE the BASIC PRGs he typed in from the 64's Programmers Reference Manual
or from listings in books and magazines.

I told him that I had seen a circuit in Popular Electronics magazine
(or maybe it was Radio-Electronics) that used a 7414 I.C. to connect
between the C=64's Cassette Port and a Regular Audio Cassette Tape
Recorder to SAVE PRGs on standard audio cassettes and LOAD PRGs from the
cassette and RUN them on the 64.

He built the circuit and it worked for him, he was a happy camper now that
what he typed in didn't disappear when he typed NEW or the C=64 was turned
Off.

I asked him to bring his 7414 circuit and Cassette Recorder to my house
so I could Load the Terminal Program that was on a Cassette that came with
the VICMODEM 300.

After we Loaded the PRG from the cassette tape I typed
SAVE"(the PRG name)",8 and pressed the RETURN Key and his jaw dropped when
he saw how fast the PRG was Saved to Disk, so He bought a 1541 the next week
or maybe it was two weeks later.

I had seen how long it took his TRS-80 to Load a program off of the tape
cassette recorder that came with it, and certainly didn't want to start
out using my first computer with a tape recorder.

I also had learned how fast a Floppy Drive worked from my use of BBS's
on the Amateur Radio Two Meter Band that other Hams who had APPLE ]['s
and ATARI PC's connected to their radio gear for other Hams to use the
Radio BBS on their Home Computer.

I used a Netronics ASCII/Video Terminal connected to my radio gear with a
Audio Demodulator circuit I saw in an article in Popular Electronics,
and a Home Brew 555 Audio Frequency Shift Keyer to work 60, 75 and 100 WPM
BAUDOT RTTY and 110 Baud ASCII before I got my C= computer.

I'm certainly NOT mister know-it-all about computers or anything else.
I just wanted to share some of my experiences with You and the Group.
Any one who has been in this echo for a long time has already heard me
spouting off about how I started out.

When I got the C- set up I bought a pack of two 5-1/4" Floppy Disks.
I tried and tried to Format a disk using the NEW Command in the 1541 book,
but didn't realize that I was suppose to use the OPEN Command shown as
the first Command at the begining of the book before the NEW Command and
afterwards use the CLOSE Command to get it started.

I got the first disk Formatted by running a PRG that came with the 1541
to TEST the 1541 Drive.

When I RAN the PRG and it asked me to put a unused Floppy Disk in the slot
and press the RETURN Key.

When it finished testing the Drive I saw the disk was formatted for me so
I could now SAVE things on it.

Enuf said.

... Have you checked your smoke detector batteries & Fire Ext, LATELY?!
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