Subj : +++ Day
To   : All
From : nelgin
Date : Thu Oct 16 2025 15:00:05

October 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Hayes receiving the patent for the well known +++ code which is usually followed by ATH to hang up the phone.

What are some of your memories of using modems back in the day?

My first modem was free with a subscription to Micronet 800, an information provider on the British viewdata system Prestel. It came with a comms rom that I had to fit inside the computer.

The modem was 1200/75 baud (yes, I send at 75 baud!) and it had no software dialer. I had to connect a phone to the modem, manually dial the Prestel number, which was 91-81-1111. I remember it cleary since I had to dial it so many times! Once I got an answer tone, a button on the modem was pressed and it did the rest. I hang up the phone and wait for the login screen.

The problem...back in the UK in the 80's there's no free local or long distance phone called. You paid by the minute. This made telecommunications an awfully expensive affair, especially for the unexpecting parents.

To help stop the dialing out, I wrote my own BBS software. Of course, the modem didn't have autoanswer either, so I had to wait by the phone and wait for it to ring then press the connect button.

It works well but one of my callers ended up buying me a proper autoanswer modem because he was tried of waiting for screens to load at 75 baud.

Uploads were hella quick tho!

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