[vcf-midatlantic] Help me remember my first modem

[Martin Flynn]

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-and-software/.
> 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