using an actual modem? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- frikandeloorlog · 2022-08-29 21:38 Is there some kind of way that i can hook up an actual modem to my retro hardware and dial into a bbs? the telnet solutions are all nice for newer machines. but retro hardware can't always run a TCP/IP stack. Plus i miss the noise actual modems make. would be great if there was some kind of VOIP that would offer enough bandwidth for modems to work properly and some cheap hardware solution on the client side to offer an analog line to connect the modem to. Does something like that exist? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2022-08-29 21:40 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2022-08-29 21:53 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OrganicPrinciple130 · 2022-08-29 21:54 V.151.1 baby, when the rest of us in telecom would just like the old analog crap to die. I do like me some retro bbs, I started with Wildcat 4.x ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RolandMT32 · 2022-08-29 23:01 There are wifi modem emulators that plug into a serial port, such as [this one](https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/f3zo61/r s232_serial_wifi_modem_emulator/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- auric0m · 2022-08-29 23:27 https//2600.network ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gen_angry · 2022-08-30 00:05 I use a null modem cable to a my main PC with [tcpser](https://github.com/fozztexx/tcpser) running. It works pretty well for me for both my Apple IIe (300 baud), 486SX laptop (9600 baud), and a 200MMX late DOS rig (115200 baud). Any other modern machine capable of connecting to the net with a serial connection will do, I used to use my P4 WinXP rig as the 'bridge' for a time before I got a serial card for my main (so I could do serial file transfers to my older machines without having to always use the P4 as a bridge). Here's a [guide](http://podsix.org/articles/pimodem/) for using a raspberry pi with tcpser as a 'serial wifi modem' complete with blinkenlights and a 'dial up ISP'. Takes a bit more work but this way would let you have a blinky box. If you just want a plug in all in one solution, [this](https://github.com/ssshake/vintage-computer-wifi-modem) might work for you. I've not used one though. If your older machines have an ethernet card (with a packet driver) and running DOS, there is also a [TCP/IP suite](http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/) for DOS that's been updated recently and works pretty well, including a telnet client that now supports RLE. Not sure about the noise reproduction however. I miss that too :( [Cathartic.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xalTFH5ht-k) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- sai_ruk · 2022-08-30 00:43 You can take a look at RetroNAS, it wont fit your hw use case yet but we include tcpser in the stack (virtual hayes modem) and are looking at dreampi/dc-pc/pppd support for older hardware. ​ https://github.com/danmons/retronas/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- frikandeloorlog · 2022-08-30 01:52 Thanks for your reply. Ideally you would just have a small device where you can plugin a phone cable. The device would have a fixed number and be connected to some remote server. Everybody connected would have their own phone number, creating an analog network over the internet. I wonder if this would be possible technically. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-08-30 08:21 You can use an Analog Telephone Adapter from Cisco (such as the SPA112 that you can buy used on eBay) and a regular telephone modem. For the VOIP service I use [voip.ms](https://voip.ms). I use that at the Diamond Mine BBS. I have two modems attached at the moment. (540) 369-2900. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CreepyValuable · 2022-08-30 11:44 I mean... you could slap a MAX3232 based UART level shifter on an ESP-12 with a decent AT commandset firmware and more or less do it that way. Just preconfigure the WiFi stuff, then set up custom AT commands on whatever computer to connect to whatever the IP and port is of whatever TCP based BBS you want to use.Maybe. e: MAX3232 and not MAX232 is important unless you use a 5v to 3.3v level shifter. Also you can probably use a better board with a USB port for power or something. Honestly I haven't tried this for this circumstance so YMMV. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- frikandeloorlog · 2022-08-30 11:47 Interesting! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- oldhag49 · 2022-08-30 16:23 I'm not sure that would work on todays lines, because the fidelity isn't there. (I mean, you might be able to get 2400 baud, tops maybe?) That said, a POTS line really isn't that complicated. It's more or less around 12v wetting current (use a coupling capacitor if you need to hook it up to something that doesn't expect the wetting current, such as a microphone/speaker/soundcard). You can easily connect a pair of landlines with just a 12v batter. I've done it. Where you get into issues is the ringing. You need about 90v with a 30hz signal for that. It's doable, but if you can arrange to have your modem just "always on", making your own pots line, without dialtone or ringing, is well within the realm of your average home hardware hacker. You should be able to exceed the 50 foot limit of an RS232 cable too, by modulating the signal with a modem. All you'd really need is a 12v clean DC power source. You could probably even run it through a sound card, sample it to something like flac (lossless) output your soundcard via a coupling capacitor to your make-shift pots line and route it through the internet if you wanted. :-) (you may need a hybrid circuit though, because otherwise you'll end up sending the audio from the sound card back into itself.) ``` modem <===[home brew pots]===> hybrid_circuit +-> mic (sound card) +-< spk ``` The hybrid circuit is complicated, the old ones were based around a complicated transformer that split the in/out into 4 wires. I had to wire one into a mixing board for a radio station I used to run. Look for "hybrid patch" if you want to find one. You may be able to avoid this if you have some way of filtering out the sounds output from its input. Your modem should handle this, it's your sound card that might have issues. I never tried it, but it seems to me you could make such a device with op-amps too. Of course, you won't need it if you do modem to modem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SqualorTrawler · 2022-08-30 17:32 VoIP does work, but in my instance I keep it at 9600 maximum; for whatever reason, faster than that (and sometimes at 9600), the data flow just dies - it remains connected but data does't come through. I have an old standard serial-connected-via-USB-dongle US Robotics hooked into an [OBi202](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=obi202&_sacat=0). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vga256 · 2022-08-30 19:11 I have done exactly this setup. It is the easiest to implement, and feels the most like the old days. 4800/9600 is the most stable baudrate for me. The most important thing it to set the SPA112 (or in my case, a Linksys PAP2T) to use the G.711u voice codec. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-08-30 23:31 Let me know if you want details. The trick is to tweak the settings to work with modems. Once you do that, it works rather well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- frikandeloorlog · 2022-08-31 00:54 Thank you, i might. I've always wanted to run a bbs (on original hardware, which i already have) so i might contact you in the near future. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- veeb0rg · 2022-09-05 05:56 I have a Obihai Obi200 adapter. I've linked it to my free google voice number. I can dial up with my USR Courier and get connection speeds of 26.4k pretty regularly with it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mike3y · 2022-11-12 21:47 What are you using for a modem? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-11-13 00:03 On the BBS I have two USR Robotics Sportster modems. I also have a USR Courier modem on another computer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mike3y · 2022-11-13 04:09 What is the connection to the computer? USB? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-11-13 21:15 USB to Serial adapter. You need a good one that will keep the connection up even when no data is passing through it. Cost around $30. (it used to be, prices have gone up) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mike3y · 2022-11-13 21:21 Got a link to one you recommend? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-11-14 00:40 [https://www.startech.com/en-us/cards- adapters/icusb2321f](https://www.startech.com/en-us/cards- adapters/icusb2321f) You can also get this one, which is a bit cheaper [https://www.startech.com/en-us/cards- adapters/icusb232pro](https://www.startech.com/en-us/cards- adapters/icusb232pro) Not cheap, but they work well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mike3y · 2022-11-14 00:51 Duh I wasn’t even thinking. I have these. I work as a network engineer and use these adapter all the time to access the console connections to switches and routers. So is the idea is I connect the serial end to a dial up modem that takes a serial connection. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-11-14 09:09 Correct. If you're running a BBS you can use SEXPOTS to do the conversion to any Telnet BBS (regardless of software, though I personally use Synchronet and WWIV).