[Coco] Internet/BBS connectivity via Coco1

[Kip Koon]

Hi Chris!
Welcome to the Wide Wonderful World of the Color Computer once again.  There
are quite a few people on this list now and I would think that someone may
have a similar interesting situation that you could work together with.  As
far as getting the old modems working again, I've never even considered that
because I wanted to implement as fast a connection as possible between my
Coco 1, 2, and 3 and the outside world.  I'm running a Coco 3 and a Coco 1
to the same Drivewire 4 Server with just a config change when I want to
switch between the two Coco machines.  Many of us have Wiki pages and/or
web pages and there a some telnet based BBS systems on the Internet these
days, so finding information is maybe just a few keystrokes and clicks away.
Well, maybe more than a few.  :)  I have a wiki page myself at the following
link.
http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Kip_Koon
The web page for the Drivewire 4 Server software is at this link.
https://sites.google.com/site/drivewire4/
One of our list members makes quite a few upgrade items for our beloved Coco
at 
http://cloud9tech.com
Feel free to ask questions and make comments.  The more ideas that traverse
this Coco Email List the better.  It keeps all our noggins going!  
Again, welcome to the Coco Community once again! 
Kip

-----Original Message-----
From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Chris Oliver
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2013 7:44 PM
To: coco at maltedmedia.com
Subject: [Coco] Internet/BBS connectivity via Coco1

All,

I am new to this list, and am very glad and humbled to be able to interact
with such a storied group of Coco enthusiasts. The 4K Coco1 was my first
computer -- back in 1983 when I was 11 years old.  It introduced me to
gaming and programming -- and opened up a whole new world for me, which
eventually led to my studying Computer Science in college and taking jobs
since then with Sun Microsystems, SAP, and Apple.  When I turned 40 a couple
of years ago, I wanted to reclaim some Coco nostalgia -- so I began piecing
together a vintage system.  As things like this often go, my Coco collection
has taken on a life of its own -- and I'm now getting to the point where I'm
trying to find fun ways of integrating the old with the new, and getting the
Coco to work within the structure of today's technology.

So in that vein: My question is about Internet and BBS connectivity options
for the Coco.  It sure would be neat to be able run a Lynx-like browser on
the Coco -- but also be able to connect to real or simulated BBS's that
might still be out there on the Internet today.  And it would be
*especially* neat to be able to do this using as much original
hardware/software as possible.  Here is a listing of some vintage items that
I have on-hand:

- Coco1 16K -- field upgraded (by me) to 64K
- Multi-Pak Interface
- Modem 1B (#26-1175)
- Deluxe RS-232 Program Pak (#26-2226) w/cable
- Direct Connect Modem Pak
- Videotex Program Pak
- Color Compac (on cassette) (#26-3330)

In addition to the vintage items, I have:

- (soon to arrive) One of Mark Blair's CoCoEpromPak boards, modified by Chad
Hendon and flashed with the DW3, DW3DOS, and CoCoNet ROMs
- DriveWire cable
- late-2012 iMac (which currently functions as my DW server)

Here is what I don't have: an old rotary phone, and land line service at
home (I went to mobile-only years ago).

Given all these various ingredients: Are there ways to use the 1B, the
Direct Connect Modem Pak, Videotex, etc. in live situations, perhaps via
simulated dial tone from the Mac or some other device?  And are there still
some BBS services out there that could be reached?  It would be so much fun
to get this old dialup equipment "live" -- just not sure how possible this
is today.

Thanks to all for any guidance!  And again, it's such a pleasure being on
this forum and interacting with you.

Regards,

Chris

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