aj19+@andrew.cmu.edu (Anthony Johnson, II) (12/30/87)
Hello, I am just about clueless about connecting my Atari 600xl to the hosts at my school. I don't even know if it is possible. All I have is the keyboard. I don't have any pheripheral attachments. Can anyone tell if I would be able to use the thing as a sort of dummy terminal, just to log in to the host and enter info in my school accounts. I don't have alot of money to buy a new computer and I figured that this may be a possibility. If it is possible can you also tell me what other equipment I would need and where to get it. All advice and help will be appreciated. Thanks in Advance
andrew@dasys1.UUCP (Andrew Huie) (01/03/88)
In article <wVq-lpy00XoHzKA0DX@andrew.cmu.edu>, aj19+@andrew.cmu.edu (Anthony Johnson, II) writes: > Hello, > > I am just about clueless about connecting my Atari 600xl to the hosts at my > school. I don't even know if it is possible. All I have is the keyboard. I > don't have any pheripheral attachments. Can anyone tell if I would be able > to use the thing as a sort of dummy terminal, just to log in to the host and > enter info in my school accounts. I don't have alot of money to buy a new > computer and I figured that this may be a possibility. > > If it is possible can you also tell me what other equipment I would > need and where to get it. All advice and help will be appreciated. > > Thanks in Advance That's tough. If you want to log in to your favorite mini/mainframe, you are going to have to buy a modem, and possibly software to run that modem. If you want to use one of those Hayes-compatibles, you will also need an RS232 inter- face (P:R: connection or the Atari 850) and cable. From there use the school's dial-in numbers. Otherwise, there is nothing you can do unless you are a hardware superguru. The cheapest setup is to buy a second-hand 1030 modem (it runs at 300 baud, it isn't produced anymore) with its built-in terminal software (extremely primitive, and it doesn't emulate anything useful). You'll have to hunt around for those. A more sophisticated setup is 1) Get the Atari SX212 300/1200 modem w/ terminal software. Check with Atari dealers or mail-order companies. May need a disk drive to run the soft- ware. 2) Get a Hayes or Hayes compatible modem from almost any computer dealer (prices will vary) that can go 1200 or 2400 baud. You will need an RS232 interface and cable (available from mail-order houses or Atari dealers) and software (850 Express (Shareware), Amodem 7.x (???), or Kermit-65 (PD, posted here before, but I missed it 8-(). Kermit-65 is the only one of the 3 with decent terminal emulation, but the others have good features also. You will also need a drive here and this setup can cost bet. $300-$400. But at least if you switch computers, you can still use the modem. Couple of notes: If your system has not been expanded to at least 48K ram your only option may be the 1030. In that case, it may be better to just start again with a new computer system. Also, all these options assume that you are able to connect the modem to a standard phone jack in some way. They cannot communicate through the phone receiver (like the old acoustic modems).