[vcf-midatlantic] Help me remember my first modem

[John Heritage]

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 at 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
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> ------------------------------
> *From:* vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces at lists.vcfed.org> on
> behalf of John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <
> vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org>
> *Sent:* Friday, December 24, 2021 9:22:07 PM
> *To:* vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org>
> *Cc:* John Heritage <john.heritage at 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-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
>