Help me remember my first modem
I'm trying to find a picture of my first modem online, and can't seem to find one.. I remember my first modem (I was ~ 7 years old or ~ 1983-1984 when we first got it, but had it for years later) being a 300 baud "Bell" modem. I *believe* it had an acoustic coupler, but it *might but I do not remember needing to use it to initiate connections to BBSes at the time. I'm not sure if there were hybrid modems where they still had an acoustic coupler, but also supported auto dial of some kind. My memory also tells me it was a black modem, rectangular (metal?) exterior. I think the modem might have said "Bell Labs" rather than just Bell on the front. I'm also 95% sure that the modem .. disappeared .. from Bell thanks to a family member who worked there/at AT&T (and also was an Atari 800 owner like us). We attached this modem (and later modems) to an Atari 850 interface, so it had a standard serial interface. Lastly, I'm certain it was *not* a Bell 103 modem - which would have been positively ancient by the early 80s, but some other design from Bell. Or at least not an original appearance one.. I know 100% for sure my *next *modem was an Avatex 1200 baud modem - which is really easy to find a pic of: https://atariage.com/forums/calendar/event/87-basement-bbs-upgrades-modem-an.... This became the modem for our first BBS in 1986. Anyway, any ideas what modem / model this might have been? Total shot in the dark, especially as my memory may be wrong here, but I figured this is the group to ask.. Thanks! John
WECO Dataphone 4800 meets this description, and would have had a bell logo on the front bezel On 12/24/2021 9:22 PM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I'm trying to find a picture of my first modem online, and can't seem to find one..
I remember my first modem (I was ~ 7 years old or ~ 1983-1984 when we first got it, but had it for years later) being a 300 baud "Bell" modem. I *believe* it had an acoustic coupler, but it *might but I do not remember needing to use it to initiate connections to BBSes at the time. I'm not sure if there were hybrid modems where they still had an acoustic coupler, but also supported auto dial of some kind.
My memory also tells me it was a black modem, rectangular (metal?) exterior. I think the modem might have said "Bell Labs" rather than just Bell on the front. I'm also 95% sure that the modem .. disappeared .. from Bell thanks to a family member who worked there/at AT&T (and also was an Atari 800 owner like us). We attached this modem (and later modems) to an Atari 850 interface, so it had a standard serial interface.
Lastly, I'm certain it was *not* a Bell 103 modem - which would have been positively ancient by the early 80s, but some other design from Bell. Or at least not an original appearance one..
I know 100% for sure my *next *modem was an Avatex 1200 baud modem - which is really easy to find a pic of: https://atariage.com/forums/calendar/event/87-basement-bbs-upgrades-modem-an.... This became the modem for our first BBS in 1986.
Anyway, any ideas what modem / model this might have been? Total shot in the dark, especially as my memory may be wrong here, but I figured this is the group to ask..
Thanks! John
John — try googling “bell dataphone modem” and look at the images. They had 300, 1200, 4800 and 9600 models but I think the 300/1200 fits. Rich http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS ________________________________ From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> on behalf of John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Sent: Friday, December 24, 2021 9:22:07 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Cc: John Heritage <john.heritage@gmail.com> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Help me remember my first modem I'm trying to find a picture of my first modem online, and can't seem to find one.. I remember my first modem (I was ~ 7 years old or ~ 1983-1984 when we first got it, but had it for years later) being a 300 baud "Bell" modem. I *believe* it had an acoustic coupler, but it *might but I do not remember needing to use it to initiate connections to BBSes at the time. I'm not sure if there were hybrid modems where they still had an acoustic coupler, but also supported auto dial of some kind. My memory also tells me it was a black modem, rectangular (metal?) exterior. I think the modem might have said "Bell Labs" rather than just Bell on the front. I'm also 95% sure that the modem .. disappeared .. from Bell thanks to a family member who worked there/at AT&T (and also was an Atari 800 owner like us). We attached this modem (and later modems) to an Atari 850 interface, so it had a standard serial interface. Lastly, I'm certain it was *not* a Bell 103 modem - which would have been positively ancient by the early 80s, but some other design from Bell. Or at least not an original appearance one.. I know 100% for sure my *next *modem was an Avatex 1200 baud modem - which is really easy to find a pic of: https://atariage.com/forums/calendar/event/87-basement-bbs-upgrades-modem-an.... This became the modem for our first BBS in 1986. Anyway, any ideas what modem / model this might have been? Total shot in the dark, especially as my memory may be wrong here, but I figured this is the group to ask.. Thanks! John
I think you guys are right -- (Martin and Richard) -- The really old AT&T logo "dataphone" seems to be it. I remember the 5 buttons on the front, and the red lights for SD / RD (send/recv data), etc look about right. So probably not an acoustic coupler.. Maybe Dad just kept a flat phone on top of the modem for some reason.. lol. Was there a 300 baud only version that looked similar to the 300/1200 model in pictures? or a similar version? I'm 99% sure we were 300 baud to begin with before switching to that Avatex 1200.. though it would be very funny in retrospect if we used 300 baud when we might not have needed to.. On Fri, Dec 24, 2021 at 9:39 PM Richard Cini <rich.cini@gmail.com> wrote:
John — try googling “bell dataphone modem” and look at the images. They had 300, 1200, 4800 and 9600 models but I think the 300/1200 fits.
Rich
http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group
Get Outlook <https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS
------------------------------ *From:* vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org> on behalf of John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> *Sent:* Friday, December 24, 2021 9:22:07 PM *To:* vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> *Cc:* John Heritage <john.heritage@gmail.com> *Subject:* [vcf-midatlantic] Help me remember my first modem
I'm trying to find a picture of my first modem online, and can't seem to find one..
I remember my first modem (I was ~ 7 years old or ~ 1983-1984 when we first got it, but had it for years later) being a 300 baud "Bell" modem. I *believe* it had an acoustic coupler, but it *might but I do not remember needing to use it to initiate connections to BBSes at the time. I'm not sure if there were hybrid modems where they still had an acoustic coupler, but also supported auto dial of some kind.
My memory also tells me it was a black modem, rectangular (metal?) exterior. I think the modem might have said "Bell Labs" rather than just Bell on the front. I'm also 95% sure that the modem .. disappeared .. from Bell thanks to a family member who worked there/at AT&T (and also was an Atari 800 owner like us). We attached this modem (and later modems) to an Atari 850 interface, so it had a standard serial interface.
Lastly, I'm certain it was *not* a Bell 103 modem - which would have been positively ancient by the early 80s, but some other design from Bell. Or at least not an original appearance one..
I know 100% for sure my *next *modem was an Avatex 1200 baud modem - which is really easy to find a pic of:
https://atariage.com/forums/calendar/event/87-basement-bbs-upgrades-modem-an... . This became the modem for our first BBS in 1986.
Anyway, any ideas what modem / model this might have been? Total shot in the dark, especially as my memory may be wrong here, but I figured this is the group to ask..
Thanks! John
Add “300” to the search and look. There is a picture of one with 5 buttons on the right side. http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS ________________________________ From: John Heritage <john.heritage@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, December 24, 2021 9:48:42 PM To: Richard Cini <rich.cini@gmail.com> Cc: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Help me remember my first modem I think you guys are right -- (Martin and Richard) -- The really old AT&T logo "dataphone" seems to be it. I remember the 5 buttons on the front, and the red lights for SD / RD (send/recv data), etc look about right. So probably not an acoustic coupler.. Maybe Dad just kept a flat phone on top of the modem for some reason.. lol. Was there a 300 baud only version that looked similar to the 300/1200 model in pictures? or a similar version? I'm 99% sure we were 300 baud to begin with before switching to that Avatex 1200.. though it would be very funny in retrospect if we used 300 baud when we might not have needed to.. On Fri, Dec 24, 2021 at 9:39 PM Richard Cini <rich.cini@gmail.com<mailto:rich.cini@gmail.com>> wrote: John — try googling “bell dataphone modem” and look at the images. They had 300, 1200, 4800 and 9600 models but I think the 300/1200 fits. Rich http://cini.classiccmp.org/ Long Island S100 User’s Group Get Outlook<https://aka.ms/qtex0l> for iOS ________________________________ From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org<mailto:vcf-midatlantic-bounces@lists.vcfed.org>> on behalf of John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org<mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> Sent: Friday, December 24, 2021 9:22:07 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org<mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> Cc: John Heritage <john.heritage@gmail.com<mailto:john.heritage@gmail.com>> Subject: [vcf-midatlantic] Help me remember my first modem I'm trying to find a picture of my first modem online, and can't seem to find one.. I remember my first modem (I was ~ 7 years old or ~ 1983-1984 when we first got it, but had it for years later) being a 300 baud "Bell" modem. I *believe* it had an acoustic coupler, but it *might but I do not remember needing to use it to initiate connections to BBSes at the time. I'm not sure if there were hybrid modems where they still had an acoustic coupler, but also supported auto dial of some kind. My memory also tells me it was a black modem, rectangular (metal?) exterior. I think the modem might have said "Bell Labs" rather than just Bell on the front. I'm also 95% sure that the modem .. disappeared .. from Bell thanks to a family member who worked there/at AT&T (and also was an Atari 800 owner like us). We attached this modem (and later modems) to an Atari 850 interface, so it had a standard serial interface. Lastly, I'm certain it was *not* a Bell 103 modem - which would have been positively ancient by the early 80s, but some other design from Bell. Or at least not an original appearance one.. I know 100% for sure my *next *modem was an Avatex 1200 baud modem - which is really easy to find a pic of: https://atariage.com/forums/calendar/event/87-basement-bbs-upgrades-modem-an.... This became the modem for our first BBS in 1986. Anyway, any ideas what modem / model this might have been? Total shot in the dark, especially as my memory may be wrong here, but I figured this is the group to ask.. Thanks! John
On 12/24/21 9:22 PM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I'm trying to find a picture of my first modem online, and can't seem to find one..
I remember my first modem (I was ~ 7 years old or ~ 1983-1984 when we first got it, but had it for years later) being a 300 baud "Bell" modem. I *believe* it had an acoustic coupler, but it *might but I do not remember needing to use it to initiate connections to BBSes at the time. I'm not sure if there were hybrid modems where they still had an acoustic coupler, but also supported auto dial of some kind.
My memory also tells me it was a black modem, rectangular (metal?) exterior. I think the modem might have said "Bell Labs" rather than just Bell on the front. I'm also 95% sure that the modem .. disappeared .. from Bell thanks to a family member who worked there/at AT&T (and also was an Atari 800 owner like us). We attached this modem (and later modems) to an Atari 850 interface, so it had a standard serial interface.
Lastly, I'm certain it was *not* a Bell 103 modem - which would have been positively ancient by the early 80s, but some other design from Bell. Or at least not an original appearance one..
I recall the Bell 300 modem (non-acoustic coupled). It had a AT&T Bell logo on the front. So either Commsphere or Dataphone, probably Dataphone. I think it had 103 on the front. Black plastic front, rest of it was metal and an external 48v DC power brick, 2 screws on the brick. I can't recall if the modem had screws or was hard wired. I do recall a DB25, male I think. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies
participants (4)
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John Heritage -
Martin Flynn -
Neil Cherry -
Richard Cini