VTX 5000 Anything I can dial into?
Is there anything currently available that I can dial into with a VTX 5000 modem?
Any BBS, etc.
With or without one of the tapes available to make it do comms.
Anyone have any ideas?
Any BBS, etc.
With or without one of the tapes available to make it do comms.
Anyone have any ideas?
Post edited by SteveINtheUKok on
Comments
Space is at a premium so I like my collection to be a practical one, stuff that sits on a shelf and doesn't do anything is better off in someone else's collection although It'd be interesting to see if there's still anywhere that you can dial into with one of these.
Wasn't there someone on css who had hundreds of them?
Yes, Brian Gaff but he's blind.
/Pedro
Don't know if it is still operational.
Seems a bit out of time to me.
I was never part of the world of BBSs. I imagine it was fun to have people connecting to your own BBS.
Unless you can change the speed to be symmetrical with jumpers or something.
Check this out:
Never fired them on.
Well, here's something that might be interesting to someone.
Are there any BBS's still around?
Its a shame these can't be used for anything, even just the odd bit of fun tinkering around.
1200 down and 75 (yes, seventy five, you can actually type faster) up. However, that's not just the only mode, there is also a 1200/1200 half duplex mode (that's what the TX/RX switch is for) for Spectrum-to-Spectrum communications. There were even a few bulletin boards that run in half duplex mode (I'm not sure how, perhaps there was also a software mode to change from TX to RX, or maybe my memory is just faulty).
Any bulletin board still around would in practise need to support "reverse viewdata mode" (i.e. 75/1200) and these things were rare back in the day. There exists the possibility that The Gnome At Home is still up, apparently the guy who ran it back in the day has kept one node in continuous operation, and this had the reverse viewdata mode. The phone number was (01) 888 8894, who knows what it is now!
I've rebooted the relevant boxes, as 25 year old kit tends to crash a bit, and nobody had noticed... There's one line working (I'll see if I can get another up though) available to my old Viewdata BBS, "Ringworld" ... it was mostly used for me testing software and page designs, but it did used to be publically available.
The number is 03333403311 - (that's a "Uk-wide" number that would be free if you have an inclusive calls package on your phone.)
If you get bored reading my old rubbish, you can key *prestel# for just a very few pages that might bring back memories.
Plenty more saved stuff, somewhat more accessible, at www.viewdata.org.uk
Rob
/Pedro
(Don't take my word for this, though - I‘d hate to be responsible for any fried Spectrums!) :)
The teletext adaptor (the TTX2000S mostly sold by Volex but also originally designed by OEL, I believe) used the same principle. Sadly I sold mine in the early 1990s - bit of a mistake, that, but I needed the cash at the time, mostly to pay the hideous phone bills being run up by my newly-found Micronet habit.
It was said that the standard ROM of the VTX5000 modem made it incompatible with the 128K toastrack machine, (could be swapped for a custom ROM that was compatible) but I'm sure I rememberer mine working with no problems. Then again, my 128K machine was repaired by Currys and actually seems to have an Amstrad ULA in it. That might also explain why some other peripherals I had like the Rotronics Wafadrive either worked or didn't work when they should have. Hmm.
Found a picture here at WoS, and you are definitely right: ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/hardware-pics/PrismVTX5000Modem_56-waySplitterCable_1.jpg
/Pedro
Tried hooking the VTX5000 to the 128k machine out of optimism, and remembered that it definitely didn't work - or at least not without hours of connector re-seating and resetting. Bah.
Think I might have to buy a new Spectrum! I will dial up Rob's BBS if it kills me. :)
If I remember correctly, the VTX5000 wasn't compatible with the Spectrum 128K. I remember one of the magazines was offering them for free (providing you covered the postage), but Spectrum 128K owners had to make a modification to the Sprectrum 128K's circuit board. I don't remember the exact details, but I do recall having to solder a wire from one section of the printed circuit board to another.
It was scary stuff, because I was anxious that I would damage my precious Spectrum. Thankfully it all worked well and I enjoyed the wonderful world of Pretel and Micronet 800 with my Spectrum.
I remember paying 1p for every email I sent in the early 90s. Great fun!