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

 EV> 08-23-16 15:41 Bbsing Bbs wrote to Ed Vance about Re: Announcing the
 EV> 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!

 EV> -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.

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

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

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

 EV> -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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 EV> Before I purchased my C= gear a friend at Church who used a TRS-80
 EV> Model I, got a C=64.

 EV> He was telling me that he liked the C=64 but he didn't have any way to
 EV> SAVE the BASIC PRGs he typed in from the 64's Programmers Reference
 EV> Manual or from listings in books and magazines.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 EV> Enuf said.

Thank you for sharing. I love hearing stories like these because back then this
stuff was so new and such an adventure. 

Stories take me back to my start as well.
 
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