Is it possible to go online the old way with a Vic?

rwv01 · Post by **rwv01** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:47 am

Is it still possible to go online or network the old way with a Vic?
Ie old hardware/software? Are there any online services that allow this?

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:11 am

Do you mean BBS'ing?

All you need is a terminal program and a VIC or Commodore modem (or an RS232 interface and a modern external modem).

You then need to find a BBS that allows direct dial-up service (there are still some around - and some Sysops here on Denial).

The other way is to interface the VIC to a PC and use the PC to connect to the internet, and use the VIC as a sort of dumb terminal.

rwv01 · Post by **rwv01** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:27 am

Yes, that's what I meant, thanks.
What exactly makes a modern modem necessary? ISP protocol requirements?

Also, is it possible to have two Vics communicate with each other
through modems or in some other way?

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:34 am

Well, if you are just logging onto an old style text only BBS, even a Commodore 300 baud modem is fine.

You don't need a modern modem (like a USRobotics 56K) at all, but they may be easier to find than an older Commodore modem. With an RS232 interface they can be hooked to a VIC-20 and will still operate at 300 to 2400 baud speeds if needed.

Usually, though, original Commodore VIC-20/C64 modems are plentiful and cheap on Ebay (nobody wants them like they do cartridges). These plug straight into the USER port.

I think you can interface several VICs via the USER port, but you would need to write or find software to make them communicate.

brain · Post by **brain** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:13 am

You'd need to find an ISP that offers "shell" opr "terminal" access.

Jim

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:24 am

Lee Davidson many years ago created an ISA interface and some TCP/IP stack that let him connect a VIC-20 directly to Ethernet. You might be able to find that old thread. I think Ruud also made some ISA interface with similar functionality but it is far from a ready-made product. Perhaps it would be possible to develop something similar to the various C64 Ethernet solutions, if there was enough demand. TCP/IP stack(s) and simple software like text based web browser exists in theory in Contiki, but it poses a problem with memory requirements.

Schema · Post by **Schema** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:10 pm

You could also use an RS232 adapter and something like the Lantronix UDS10/100 like many C64 users do.

Stinky · Post by **Stinky** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:47 pm

UDS10 operates like a modem, transparently working with existing C= serial and terminals. BBS like yesterday!

Doppleganger · Post by **Doppleganger** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:51 pm

Or, try an EZ-232 interface, plugged into the User port. Find whatever terminal program you prefer, and use TCPSer or BBS Server to telnet out thru a PC. As long as you have a PC in the same room as the Vic, you'll be able to do it....

Mikam73 · Post by **Mikam73** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:11 am

By the way.. Is there pics of Vic20 terminal or Vic20 terminal connected to BBS etc?

I have never seen Vic online

wiskow · Post by **wiskow** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:44 am

Schema wrote:You could also use an RS232 adapter and something like the Lantronix UDS10/100 like many C64 users do.

Lantronix recently released a new model, the UDS1100... I'm not sure if it has any benefit to Commodore users over the older models though.

Mikam73 wrote:By the way.. Is there pics of Vic20 terminal or Vic20 terminal connected to BBS etc?

I have never seen Vic online

I haven't taken any... But I could.

I actually just set up a new BBS yesterday, running on one of my C64's with a program called ICE BBS v1.1. This is an ASCII-only BBS program from 1987, inspired by C-Net. In the user setup, you can define your screen width from 22-80 charachters. So this would be a great BBS for VIC-20 users to try out! You can Telnet to it at cottonwood.servebbs.com:6400 using VICTERM I or another ASCII-capable terminal program. I'll try taking a couple photos of my VIC-20 "online" with this BBS and post them here.

-Andrew

Mikam73 · Post by **Mikam73** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:44 am

Thanks

wiskow · Post by **wiskow** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:56 am

Okay... Here are some photos I just shot of "going online" with my VIC-20, calling Cottonwood II, which is running on my C64 via Telnet...

First, here's the startup screen for my unexpanded VIC-20 with JiffyDOS installed:

Then, I loaded up VICTERM I (which I copied to a disk earlier from the original cassette that came with the VICMODEM), and I typed in the command to call Cottonwood II:

I made the connection, signed in, and then got the BBS's welcome screen:

(notice that the date says it's 1988... that's because the BBS software allows you to enter a year from 86 - 99. I set it 20 years back... That way, I'll be good to go for another 11 years.

)

I went into the e-mail subsystem... I have 1 message waiting.

After reading my e-mail, I went in to the bulletin section to check for messages:

Cyberjank was nice enough to be my "guinea pig" for this software, and here's a message he posted in the bulletins:

That's it! I hope you enjoyed those.

-Andrew

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:02 pm

You should try it with one of the 40 (or 80) column terminal programs.

wiskow · Post by **wiskow** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:56 pm

gklinger wrote:You should try it with one of the 40 (or 80) column terminal programs.

Do you know of one that works with an unexpanded VIC-20? I'm going to have to get myself one of Eslapion's expanders...

-Andrew