TX_Dj
Experienced Member
We've all likely been asked, usually by non-enthusiasts, "But what do you *DO* with them?"
I'm sure we've all played our favorite games, and done some general poking for nostalgia's sake, but...
Well, let me tell you guys what I do... with one of them, at least.
Do any of you Apple 8-Bitters remember Diversi-Dial?
DDial was a multi-line, networked, multi-user chat system in the mid to late '80s that ran on a simple Apple II. With an Apple //e and 80-col card, you could even have email, as it used the extra 64KB on the 80 col card for email storage.
Some of you might pause, and say "MULTI-USER!? On a IIe?" Yes. That was no typo. Up to 8 users per machine, that is one on the console and 7 on modems (one for each slot). It only ever worked with two basic types of modems, the Hayes Micromodem (and compatibles) and the Novation AppleCat.
Now, I'm a modem guy. The #1 most prolific items in all of my collection are modems. I just couldn't let myself keep collecting things without having a way to use them.
So, I built this:
This is a phone system (and some other bits, get into that in a bit) of my own "design" (I put that in quotes, because I just put pieces together, I didn't build anything except that rack from scratch), and some extra hardware and (some custom) software that lets me take incoming connections from the intertoobs and assign them to a modem, call across the phone system, and they will land somewhere in here:
That, in case the context is obscured, is an Apple IIe filled with 7 modems. The astute may notice that there are two Transcend/SSM modems, two Micromodem II's, and three Micromodem IIe's in there.
When these two meet, they end up looking something like this:
The system has been online just over a year, and is the result of a painstaking preservation project for RMAC, Diversi-Dial station #34, of which I was a user; which served the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metroplex through the mid-to-late 80's. I've posted about it in a few obscure places, but I figured since I've finally broken down and registered on this forum, this might be a good way to introduce myself to the readers here.
We're linked (networked) 24/7 with other systems, of which there is usually one other Diversi-Dial (via emulation), and three or more RetroDIAL (linux-based DDial work-alike) systems online at any given time. RMAC is the only (to my knowledge) internet-accessible DDial system currently operating in the world that is built on real hardware. There was another before me, but he shut it down years ago.
We're all very retro-friendly, if you pop in you may even see some familiar "faces".
For the telnet-savvy, you can connect to rmac.d-dial.com, for those who don't know what I'm talking about, but have Flash-capable web browsers, you can hit http://rmac.d-dial.com . In either case, please understand that you're connecting via real modems which must dial the connection, and negotiate the carrier- once connected, if you don't have a password, simply press <ENTER> to login as a guest. Help can be seen by typing /?<ENTER>, and we'd love to see you drop in some time.
Enjoy!
I'm sure we've all played our favorite games, and done some general poking for nostalgia's sake, but...
Well, let me tell you guys what I do... with one of them, at least.
Do any of you Apple 8-Bitters remember Diversi-Dial?
DDial was a multi-line, networked, multi-user chat system in the mid to late '80s that ran on a simple Apple II. With an Apple //e and 80-col card, you could even have email, as it used the extra 64KB on the 80 col card for email storage.
Some of you might pause, and say "MULTI-USER!? On a IIe?" Yes. That was no typo. Up to 8 users per machine, that is one on the console and 7 on modems (one for each slot). It only ever worked with two basic types of modems, the Hayes Micromodem (and compatibles) and the Novation AppleCat.
Now, I'm a modem guy. The #1 most prolific items in all of my collection are modems. I just couldn't let myself keep collecting things without having a way to use them.
So, I built this:
This is a phone system (and some other bits, get into that in a bit) of my own "design" (I put that in quotes, because I just put pieces together, I didn't build anything except that rack from scratch), and some extra hardware and (some custom) software that lets me take incoming connections from the intertoobs and assign them to a modem, call across the phone system, and they will land somewhere in here:
That, in case the context is obscured, is an Apple IIe filled with 7 modems. The astute may notice that there are two Transcend/SSM modems, two Micromodem II's, and three Micromodem IIe's in there.
When these two meet, they end up looking something like this:
The system has been online just over a year, and is the result of a painstaking preservation project for RMAC, Diversi-Dial station #34, of which I was a user; which served the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas metroplex through the mid-to-late 80's. I've posted about it in a few obscure places, but I figured since I've finally broken down and registered on this forum, this might be a good way to introduce myself to the readers here.
We're linked (networked) 24/7 with other systems, of which there is usually one other Diversi-Dial (via emulation), and three or more RetroDIAL (linux-based DDial work-alike) systems online at any given time. RMAC is the only (to my knowledge) internet-accessible DDial system currently operating in the world that is built on real hardware. There was another before me, but he shut it down years ago.
We're all very retro-friendly, if you pop in you may even see some familiar "faces".
For the telnet-savvy, you can connect to rmac.d-dial.com, for those who don't know what I'm talking about, but have Flash-capable web browsers, you can hit http://rmac.d-dial.com . In either case, please understand that you're connecting via real modems which must dial the connection, and negotiate the carrier- once connected, if you don't have a password, simply press <ENTER> to login as a guest. Help can be seen by typing /?<ENTER>, and we'd love to see you drop in some time.
Enjoy!