The Forerunner

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M0XXQ
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The Forerunner

Unread post by M0XXQ »

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G0BHD
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Re: The Forerunner

Unread post by G0BHD »

Memories! :D
Well before I ever got the internet, at those heady speeds of 56K, I used to use a few telephone based "BBS's", my modem had the old telephone receiver "cup" attachment though, you had to place the handset in it! :lol:
In fact I had amateur Packet radio up and running well before I ever got online with a proper internet connection!
I used that all time for dropping "personal messages" to other Ham friends, dropped straight in their personal message inboxes if their terminal units did that, or via the local BBS, it was our local Ham "text messaging" service among ourselves. :D
Me and one good friend had our own personal link made up using a couple of ZX81's, as those that remember them will recall, they stored or loaded programs etc. on an outboard audio cassette player/recorder machine, that made them perfect for sending and receiving data over the radio, wrote a simple basic program, and hooked the audio in and out up to a couple of CB's as it happens, and could send personal messages text back a forth between our two stations. :D
He lived on the top floor of a nearby tower block, from my bedroom window at the front of the house I could look up straight at his balcony, so we also experimented with an "audio over laser light" link system, that we eventually got working quite acceptably, didn't break any distance records of course, but it did work well! :D
That was good fun as well.
I would also add I miss the old days of "teletext".
The first text decoder one I ever had was a "separate" set top unit that came as a self build kit, and once assembled, assuming you didn't stuff up the build, plugged into the TV via a flying RF lead! :D
There were few tellies about with it inbuilt then.
I used to read those "pages" avidly, there was a lot of info appeared on there on all sorts of subjects, I was quite sad to see it eventually go, and what is left to replace it via the "Red Button" menu system these days, is a very pale version of it, as crude as it was in its time with its block pixel pictures on some pages. :D
Sangoma
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Re: The Forerunner

Unread post by Sangoma »

Did the same with the ZX81, this was the mic I used, socket and switch added.

Worked great with a 2200.

ZS5ACO and I wrote the first satellite prediction programme for the ZX81, and we also used it to send the programme back and forth to each other.
He was the maths brains behind it. He was head of science at Hilton College at the time. (Very prestigious private school, they had a Wang computer when the rest of us still had Sinclairs)

I started in '79 with a UK101, which like the ZX81 when I bought it, you had to assemble yourself.

Also ran packet long before the internet, ran two RBBSs, ZS0HFS and ZS0HWK.

Our Prestel was called Beltel (because of sanctions it had to be called something different), also had quite a few private BBSs, which were run unknown on government and utility company computers :)

Initially we were lucky to get 9600 in internet, one bonus though was that our local calls only cost one unit for however long they lasted.
G 3 E J S
M0XXQ
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Re: The Forerunner

Unread post by M0XXQ »

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G0BHD
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Re: The Forerunner

Unread post by G0BHD »

Another walk down memory lane!
I had at various times, an Atari machine, a couple of Sinclair offerings, Commadore 64, a Dragon 32, A Tandy "Trash 80", and a BBC micro at one stage, acquired second hand! :D
But the first computer I ever had was the ZX81, with its "add on extra" wobbly Ram pack! :lol:
I never did get into Apple back then, and not really into them now apart from a given to me I-Pad.
ZX 81 plus Ram pack :D ......a whopping 16K! ;)
I still have a few radio related programs that various people wrote for them, stored on old cassette tapes!
One of them is to do with satellites, might even be the one you were involved in writing?, there is a RTTY RX/TX one via AFSK of course, and a morse tutor/ combinedreader as I recall.
Oh another that works out beam headings from locator squares, once you enter your own for reference of course.
The big problem was of course you could only load and run one program at a time! :D
And depending on size they took ages to load, if they didn't crash half way through! :lol:
I used it in the shack with a Green screen monitor I picked up, cos I thought it looked more "professional" than a black and white portable TV.
I tapped out the video feed from the modulator to a phono socket fitted on the back, and had to invert the video to give green text on black background, as black text on a green raster was a pain to read! :lol:
And I still have the ZX81 and Ram pack in its battered box somewhere in the garage stored junk! :D
Not got any of the other early ones I had though, they were either sold on or simply passed on, or even binned.
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