• i been using my 286 furiously

    From mary4@21:1/166 to All on Wed Apr 17 10:57:28 2024
    i never knew my 286 would be a neat bbs client! :D
    im only 33 but i been into vintage computing since 2008
    i only got my 286 in 2013 and been hooked on it all day from discussions on the BBS! XD i am finding myself in on my 286 more than the modern laptop i have FOR communications! xDD interesting how this works! lol

    --mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

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  • From Nightfox@21:1/137 to mary4 on Tue Apr 16 20:03:02 2024
    Re: i been using my 286 furiously
    By: mary4 to All on Wed Apr 17 2024 10:57 am

    into vintage computing since 2008 i only got my 286 in 2013 and been

    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules monochrome monitor. I got a 2400 baud modem with it and started calling BBSes right away. I really enjoyed it. I got a VGA graphics card & monitor months later, and my 12-year-old self was really excited. I remember also getting a Sound Blaster card for that PC at some point, because soon after getting the VGA card & monitor, I was playing Wolfenstein 3D on that PC, complete with color graphics and sound..

    Nightfox
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  • From mary4@21:1/166 to Nightfox on Wed Apr 17 23:54:19 2024
    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules monochrome monitor. I got a 2400 baud modem with it and started calling BBSes right away. I really enjoyed it. I got a VGA graphics card & monitor months later, and my 12-year-old self was really excited. I remember also getting a Sound Blaster card for that PC at some point, because soon
    after getting the VGA card & monitor, I was playing Wolfenstein 3D on
    that PC, complete with color graphics and sound..


    YES 16 BIT POWER!!!!!! :D thats sooo cool!!
    color graphics and sound is a huge upgrade!~
    im making a dos game that uses alot of wolf 3d code but not the renderer.
    i need help with the TED5 VGA version. it is part of the game

    --mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

    ... They say there's always one weirdo on the bus, but I couldn't find them!

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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Nightfox on Wed Apr 17 07:11:00 2024
    Nightfox wrote to mary4 <=-

    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules monochrome monitor.

    Amber or Green?

    That was the first political computer debate I recall, which phosphors
    were the True Phosphors.



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  • From Nightfox@21:1/137 to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Apr 17 12:39:43 2024
    Re: Re: i been using my 286 furiously
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Wed Apr 17 2024 07:11 am

    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules monochrome
    monitor.

    Amber or Green?

    That was the first political computer debate I recall, which phosphors were the True Phosphors.

    Mine was amber.

    Nightfox
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  • From Gamgee@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Apr 17 15:16:00 2024
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Nightfox <=-

    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules monochrome monitor.

    Amber or Green?

    That was the first political computer debate I recall, which
    phosphors were the True Phosphors.

    Amber!



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  • From Shurato@21:2/148 to Gamgee on Wed Apr 17 15:27:00 2024

    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Nightfox <=-

    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules
    monochrome
    monitor.

    Amber or Green?

    That was the first political computer debate I recall, which
    phosphors were the True Phosphors.

    Amber!

    Team Amber here, with my //e back in the day!

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  • From Ben Collver@21:1/149 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Apr 18 10:39:06 2024
    Re: Re: i been using my 286 furiously
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Wed Apr 17 2024 07:11 am

    My first computer had Hercules graphics with amber CRT.
    All of the computers in the lab had amber CRT's too.
    I mainly saw green CRT's with the IBM MDA video.
    It seemed to me that amber was brighter, thus easier to read.
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  • From mary4@21:1/166 to Nightfox on Fri Apr 19 10:47:26 2024
    :) My first PC was a 12mhz 286 PC in 1992, with a Hercules monochrome monitor. I got a 2400 baud modem with it and started calling BBSes right away. I really enjoyed it. I got a VGA graphics card & monitor months later, and my 12-year-old self was really excited. I remember also getting a Sound Blaster card for that PC at some point, because soon
    after getting the VGA card & monitor, I was playing Wolfenstein 3D on
    that PC, complete with color graphics and sound..

    oh yeah i remeber this story with the vga and the sound
    yeah yeah! <3

    --mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

    ... It said "insert disk #3", but only two will fit...

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  • From Blue White@21:4/134 to Ben Collver on Fri Apr 19 08:24:28 2024
    My first computer had Hercules graphics with amber CRT.
    All of the computers in the lab had amber CRT's too.
    I mainly saw green CRT's with the IBM MDA video.
    It seemed to me that amber was brighter, thus easier to read.

    While I was working at the college library, all of our dumb terminals
    were amber. Most all of the computers were also. Later, I worked for a
    couple of years at a company that had an AS400 and all of those terminals
    (dumb and PC) were usually green.

    I would have to agree that, on the PCs, the amber seemed brighter.


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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Blue White on Fri Apr 19 10:20:10 2024
    Re: Amber or Green (was 286s)
    By: Blue White to Ben Collver on Fri Apr 19 2024 08:24 am

    While I was working at the college library, all of our dumb terminals were amber. Most all of the computers were also. Later, I worked for a couple of years at a company that had an AS400 and all of those terminals (dumb and PC) were usually green.

    I would have to agree that, on the PCs, the amber seemed brighter.


    Green all the way for me -- amber was the color of dirty, dim ADM3a terminals in the computer lab. My computer, a hopped-up 286 clone with custom clock crystal and 287 math coprocessor powered a hercules graphics card and a greenscreen monitor.

    When I think of college, I think of typing quietly on a soft, rubbery keyboard in a dark dorm room lit only by a desk lamp. Green phosphors turned down, my roommate was either fast asleep or completely failing to get it on with the girl he was friendzoned by.

    I was either writing code with Turbo C or dialed into a VAX on campus.
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  • From tenser@21:1/101 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Apr 20 09:32:02 2024
    On 19 Apr 2024 at 10:20a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

    Green all the way for me -- amber was the color of dirty, dim ADM3a terminals in the computer lab.

    Hey now; don't mock the ADM3a. Those were actually pretty
    sweet.

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  • From mary4@21:1/166 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Apr 20 08:14:30 2024
    Green all the way for me -- amber was the color of dirty, dim ADM3a terminals in the computer lab. My computer, a hopped-up 286 clone with custom clock crystal and 287 math coprocessor powered a hercules
    graphics card and a greenscreen monitor.

    When I think of college, I think of typing quietly on a soft, rubbery keyboard in a dark dorm room lit only by a desk lamp. Green phosphors turned down, my roommate was either fast asleep or completely failing to get it on with the girl he was friendzoned by.

    I was either writing code with Turbo C or dialed into a VAX on campus.
    oooooooooooooooooooo i like creen as it is the og color of the pc! amber is nice too <3

    --mary4 (Victoria Crenshaw) the 286 enthusiast

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  • From Skylar to poindexter FORTRAN on Fri Apr 19 18:35:44 2024
    Re: Amber or Green (was 286s)
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Blue White on Fri Apr 19 2024 10:20 am

    I was either writing code with Turbo C or dialed into a VAX on campus.

    Which campus? I spent a lot of time dialed into the VAX at the University of AR at Little Rock. The campus had 2400 baud modems but my modem was 1200 baud. That's just one of the reasons that I preferred to hang out in one of the computer labs. :D
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Apr 20 12:56:00 2024
    Green all the way for me -- amber was the color of dirty, dim ADM3a terminals in the computer lab. My computer, a hopped-up 286 clone with custom clock crystal and 287 math coprocessor powered a hercules graphics card and a greenscreen monitor.


    The first PC I had, yup your 286 box.. for the BBS came with an Amber
    Hercules setup... I preferred green myself, and had CGA cards hooked to Apple Monitor IIs for a while.

    I always found the green easier on they eyeballs than amber..

    Spec


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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to tenser on Sat Apr 20 11:41:00 2024
    tenser wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    Hey now; don't mock the ADM3a. Those were actually pretty
    sweet.

    You know I'd gut an ADM3a in a minute, install a single board computer
    and hook up one of those chunky Logitech serial mice...



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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Skylar on Sat Apr 20 11:47:00 2024
    Skylar wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    Which campus? I spent a lot of time dialed into the VAX at the
    University of AR at Little Rock. The campus had 2400 baud modems but my modem was 1200 baud. That's just one of the reasons that I preferred to hang out in one of the computer labs.

    San Francisco State University. This was early on, mid-80s. No internet
    (yet). The first class was PASCAL, and taught on an old CDC mainframe.
    Lots of those ADM3a terminals in 3 computer labs. The next class was
    assembly language, taught on a VAX 11/750. They had something like 80
    students in 3 classes, 4 hardwired ports and 6 ports hooked up to a
    dial-up port selector. That meant that in order to get time in on the
    system you either had to sign up for blocks of time in the lab or take
    your chances dialing in.

    I got to be a night-owl, take a nap from 2000-2400, then try dialing in,
    get connected around 0130 and work until I was disconnected - I think
    you got an hour max. Lather, rinse, repeat - luckily my first class was
    at 11!



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  • From fusion@21:1/616 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Apr 20 17:13:07 2024
    On 20 Apr 2024, poindexter FORTRAN said the following...

    tenser wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    Hey now; don't mock the ADM3a. Those were actually pretty
    sweet.

    You know I'd gut an ADM3a in a minute, install a single board computer
    and hook up one of those chunky Logitech serial mice...

    i kinda want one because they're apparently pretty well regarded for CP/M software.

    but also i could wear a fallout vault suit and do a photo shoot lmao

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  • From tenser@21:1/101 to poindexter FORTRAN on Sun Apr 21 09:37:39 2024
    On 20 Apr 2024 at 11:41a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

    Hey now; don't mock the ADM3a. Those were actually pretty
    sweet.

    You know I'd gut an ADM3a in a minute, install a single board computer
    and hook up one of those chunky Logitech serial mice...

    I'd be down with that, as long as the original keyboard
    (or at least the arrow keycaps over the H, J, K and L
    keys were retained. vi ftw!).

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  • From Skylar to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Apr 20 19:32:10 2024
    Re: Re: Amber or Green (was 286s)
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Skylar on Sat Apr 20 2024 11:47 am

    San Francisco State University. This was early on, mid-80s. No internet (yet).

    I started using UALR's VAX in 1986. UALR got on BITNET in 1988, I think, and then was the second university in the state to get Internet in 1990.

    Lots of those ADM3a terminals in 3 computer labs.

    In the mid-to-late 80s, UALR had two computer labs for VAX access with VT220 terminals. Their VAX was a cluster of four 11/780s.

    4 hardwired ports and 6 ports hooked up to a dial-up port selector.

    Yikes. There were VT220 terminals all over UALR, as the system was used for both administrative work and academic classes. I want to say there are 24 modems, although I my memory could be way off. There were certainly more than 6. Those same phone lines/modems were used to access the BBS, although the BBS could only be accessed on one of the trunk lines.

    I'm thinking three phone numbers and each one connected to eight modems. Maybe someone with more telecom knowledge than I can set me straight. Because I don't know much more than how to run a 4-wire RJ45 through my house. :)
  • From tenser@21:1/101 to Skylar on Mon Apr 22 00:41:20 2024
    On 20 Apr 2024 at 07:32p, Skylar pondered and said...

    I started using UALR's VAX in 1986. UALR got on BITNET in 1988, I think, and then was the second university in the state to get Internet in 1990.

    This implies those VAXen were running VMS? Ah, JNET.
    There was also a Unix implementation of RSCS that ran
    on at least Data General machines under DG-UX, called
    "UREP". BITNET relays were the prototype for IRC.

    Lots of those ADM3a terminals in 3 computer labs.

    In the mid-to-late 80s, UALR had two computer labs for VAX access with VT220 terminals. Their VAX was a cluster of four 11/780s.

    4 hardwired ports and 6 ports hooked up to a dial-up port selector.

    Yikes. There were VT220 terminals all over UALR, as the system was used for both administrative work and academic classes. I want to say there
    are 24 modems, although I my memory could be way off. There were
    certainly more than 6. Those same phone lines/modems were used to access the BBS, although the BBS could only be accessed on one of the trunk lines.

    DEC sold several products that could help here, among them
    the DECserver 100 (and later model) terminal servers.

    These were little boxes with an Ethernet, a bunch of serial
    lines, and a microcontroller and some RAM. They booted off
    of the network, from a VAX (or whatever could speak the MOP
    protocol) and let locally connected terminals connect to a
    "host" computer (e.g., a VAX, but also a PDP-11 or perhaps
    a PDP-10) over the Ethernet, using e.g. the LAT protocol.
    It was an evolution of the TIP idea from the ARPAnet, a
    decade prior. Eventually they might have gained the ability
    to speak TCP/IP and perhaps TELNET, but I can't remember
    anymore; I haven't touched one in years. Anyway, the point
    is that by using these as terminal concentrators, you could
    support vastly more terminals than, say, a VAX could support
    serial ports for, even with DZ11 and DL11 boards (the former
    were awful because they had no buffering, and interrupted the
    host for every character received or transmitted).

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