In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Neil Riley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>>>> I seem to remember these items appearing originally. Are they still used >>>> today or are they museum pieces? >>>They were very slow (remember the QL serial port is only capable of 19K. >>>and only reliable for reception at 9K!) To get 56K you would need to >>>upgrade your QL with a SuperHermes (£53 new from Tony Firshman). Then >>>you could use a conventional serial modem, which are still made: I have >>>one with my PC (£30 new). No broadband, though! >>>Jon Dent's soQL-PPP has got as far as giving email access, but not (yet) >>>web access. When (if?) the latter comes, there's already a QL version of >>>Lynx for browsing. >>>Until then, the only way to browse the web on a QL seems to be by >>>finding a secondhand copy of the MSDOS emulator, PC Conqueror, and >>>running Arachne (graphical) or Bobcat (text). >>>However, I remember that the Minix operating system was ported to the >>>QL, which should be faster than a DOS emulator. If you could get that, I >>>assume it would be possible to compile and run a Linux/Unix version of >>>Lynx. > >So, my interpretation is that, The SuperHermes (lite?) replaces the >8049 co-processor >which is pretty rubbish at the job it does (not through fault of it's >own). This plus my >old PACE 56k modem would in theory, with other software in development, >allow dial up internet access sometime in the future, or via an >alternative operating >systems or msdos emulation running something else. The point is, it is >possible should >I really want to use my QL ( original QL, not a PC cased variant ) for >Web access. I >think that is a remarkable achievement ! Interesting that you should ask about this, Neil. Regrettably the QL Black box hardware was not that reliable on the serial line. 9800 baud being normal, with the possibility of 19200 baud at times. I believe that upgrading to a Hermes circuit improved this to 19200 baud, and then SuperHermes to even higher rates. Although Tony will have the exact details on these products ... :-) I used a small device which I think was called a "QL Modem" - which was a small black box not much larger than a match box, which allowed connection to Bulletin Boards - BBS - at around 1200 baud. I also upgraded to the Tandata stack later on, and used that very successfully for BBS access. It takes a bit of configuring when you first start out, although quite a good feature set. Plus parts of the stack of 3 boxes didn't exactly do much anyway. If there are any BBS's still out there you should be able to get access with a Tandata ... ? The move towards email access, and potential www access is through Jon Dent's work. In a more oblique way, Phoebus did some articles in QL Today for email, www and ftp, using various bits of software written for the QL - however this was via a QL emulator, so it used the PC hardware for serial / modem. I followed through his detailed instructions and got it all working via Emulator and PC. The Lynx browser is text only though. Other people may correct me, yet I believe that the aim was to get a high end black box system to be able to do it - QL + Gold Card / Super Gold Card + Disk drives + upgraded serial SuperHermes + a 28K or 56K modem. Supported by QL oftware, yet not necessarily needing a hard drive. Not sure if SMSQ required rather than QDOS. This sort of specification would meet with a lot of equipment still in use. At the same time, though, PC's became cheaper and better specified so that a QL system would be the more expensive to set up for use. -- Malcolm Cadman _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
