Tu-Lake Farm from over
The History of Microcomputers: 1923-2003;
From Tu-Lake Farm to the World Wide Wow!
Dedicated to Frederick F. Toeppner (1923-1974)
And Julianne E. Toeppner (1922-2004)
"There is no off position on the genius switch." -- David Letterman 1994
Written By Herbert G. Toeppner, Esq. © 2003-2005 All Rights Reserved.
This is just the first DRAFT of my ramblings. It is by no means complete, but I did want to share it with some special friends this Christmas.
So here you all go.
Herb
December 9, 2003
I’ve been inspired to write some more…. By a friend… TC… they actually read some of this so… on with the show.
Herb
November 9, 2004
Dedication and Thanks.
My Father, Fred Toeppner and my Mother, Julianne Toeppner: for obvious reasons.
My
brothers,
My sister Marilyn Ruth Toeppner: I wish that we had the opportunity to grow old together, gone but not forgotten.
My
grandparents: Herb and Susan Toeppner.
I will never forget the smell of baking bread, buns and cookies coming from the old wood stove that was used in Gramma’s kitchen.
I have since then never met a cookie that I didn’t like. But none of them will ever taste quite as good as hers.
It took her a long time to adapt to the new
‘
Gramma did finally manage to get the hang of it and I think that she even set the dial ‘Minute Minder’ correctly to chime when the time was right, but Gramma already had her own built-in timer… common sense told her when the cookies were done, she just knew!
Grampa clanking his spoon on the side of his coffee cup, indicating that the sugar bowl was empty, again! He never did admit that he knew perfectly well where the sugar canister was kept; someone would always refill the bowl for him.
Grampa always was ‘flipping a teaspoon’ into the coffee cup. Another great game to watch: particularly when Gramma would catch him, using the ‘for company only’ cups.
Feeding toast to Rusty or Snuffy his other companion and friend: his dog. Of course, they would have to perform a trick before enjoying their treat. This usually consisted of the old, piece of toast on the top of their nose trick. Now we wait until Grampa says ‘OK’… ‘Wait for it’… ‘OK now’, then one flip of the head and a quick snap at the toast and everyone was happy. Most of all, the grandchildren: who watched with fascination and delight.
Grampa bugging Gramma in some indiscernible way until she swatted at him with the tea towel, again much to the delight of the grandchildren who are crammed around the kitchen table, just waiting for Grampa to start bugging Gramma again.
Building a fire in the stone fireplace or lighting the woodstove with a wooden match, but only if Gramma or Grampa were there to watch over you.
Walking with Grampa, he with his walking stick, up the lake road to pick raspberries in the hot summer sun… Rusty chasing something in the fields… The sound of the wind in the maple trees and the buzzing of the insects in the distance... Then back to the house to help Gramma make supper.
Going to the barn to ‘help’ milk the cows… Watching as the cats and kittens jockey for the best position for when Grampa or Gramma would ‘accidentally’ miss the milk bucket and let a warm, sweet stream of milk, fresh from the udder, squirt in a lazy arc to the waiting mouths of the kittens. The calves in the little pen looking on: with a very ‘put out’ expression on their faces.
The sugar spoon: with the blunt end.
Little things that I can never forget about that farm and all the people that have passed through the front door: that I can never remember being locked.
Unk getting up before sunrise and eating the breakfast that Gramma had just prepared: oatmeal, toast and homemade raspberry jam fetched from the pantry at the top of the rickety stairs to the basement, bacon, eggs from Gramma’s own chickens and coffee.
Gramma is making tea for the Thermos and
thick bologna sandwiches with mustard for lunch.
On Fridays we head to ‘town’. Powassan,
To shop at Cox’s General Store (http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/may_162003.htm) in Unk’s Chevrolet half-ton truck. Unk, Gramma and Gramma in the front: whichever grandchildren wanted to go to town that day, (which was everyone, of course), in the back.
The grandkids would each get a quarter to spend from Gramma and usually whenever she turned her back Grampa would slip us each another quarter… Shhh… Don’t tell Gramma or else Grampa would be in trouble with Gramma.
Now in the front window of Cox’s store was every young kids dream. Huge bins of penny candies… 3 for a penny, 5 for a penny, even 10 for a penny. Do you have any idea how much candy one child can purchase when they have the equivalent of 50 pennies in the form of two shiny quarters. I do! Big, huge, filled to the brim bag’s full… that is how much. I get a tummy ache just thinking about it. Of course, it would have to last us a whole week. ‘Town’ was fourteen miles away and a very long bike ride, but that is another story in a later Chapter titled ‘The Great Escape’
My
Aunts: Georgie, Greta and Irma, their husbands,
Jack, George and Chuck and their children, Fred, Susan, John, Eric, Karen,
David and little Lisa: sisters of my Dad, my uncles and cousins. Thank you for the time spent every summer at
My
cousins: Charlie Toeppner and Tim Toeppner.
Charlie’s Grandfather, Walter Toeppner, my Grampa’s brother and his wife
Collette lived nearby on another lake (
I am not kidding, exact same features, goatee and all. I think he even had a cane. Or was it only in my mind as a young child. No I have seen pictures of him after I grew up, he still is the ‘Kernel’.
Figure 1- Uncle Paul, Uncle Walter and Herb
When Charlie and I turned sixteen he acquired a Valiant ‘convertible’, red with a white top and the gear shift selector in the dash, what a cool car. I learned to drive in that car and I learned a few other things as well (in the back seat) with unnamed people of the opposite sex, doing things best left unsaid.
Figure 2- Little Red Valiant... Memories
Charlie and I shared many an adventure both
in Powassan and at the lake, riding mini-bikes or snowmobiles over miles of
country roads. Using his convertible and my access to a little green houseboat
to entice willing participants into a
However Charlie is included in another Chapter- The Great Escape. Charlie I hope you remember that little excursion, I know that I do. There are plenty of things that I remember happening to Tim as well, but I probably should not mention them here.
I would like to include a special dedication
to Tu-Lake Farm in
(http://www.toeppner.ca/).
The domain of
To the little green houseboat that gave everyone who came aboard a delightful ride or a ‘blast’ of the siren to the people who remained on shore.
To the children that played in the fields, built tree forts and log cabins from young pine trees, walked the lake roads, swam in the lakes and launched pieces of split cord wood, fashioned into great sailing ships, using baler twine and a nail to attach it to, into the streams of that farm: my cousins and friends. Time well spent walking from the lake to the farm and back again, laughing and playing from morning until nightfall. Building forts in the trees: chasing chickens, until the cows came home. Then up to the house for some of Grammas’ homemade lemonade.
I miss you very much Gramma and Grampa.
My roots: And source of my fondest memories, a little house on Tu-Lake Farm where the frogs can still be heard croaking down at the pond in the evening.
My Best Friends: Hank Carriere, a very good friend of mine who shared his passion of computers and the Internet with me over many cans of Coca Cola and none of that Diet crap either. I have never seen anyone grasp computers as fast as Hank did. Hank started late (in his 60’s) and finished way to early. I miss you Hank, every day, you where one of a kind.
Dean Scovell, we saw the beginning of the
micro revolution unfold before us in
Mike Bezzeg, one of the good people in this world, even if he has never sent an email in his life.
Martin Borrow, another one of the good people in this world. Martin at least has mastered sending email. Keep it up buddy.
Thank you to Brent Yanko and Jason Yanko and their dad Bill.
Max Switzer.
Steve Topham, Ivan Thompson, Mr
Vandersteeg. Electronics class at
Wayne Johnson (wherever you are), Bill Rennete, Bob Baechlor, Richard Paul, Nick VanWalraven.
Fraser Smith, Robert Baillie, everyone at GWG, Ken and Kaz longtime users and very genuine people.
The Stokes Family; Kelvin is an amazing kid, who I watched grow up. He has the same fascination with computers and electronics that Dad and I have.
To: The girls and women that have touched my life and my heart with love and or friendship over the years.
There will always be a place for all of you in my memories, even if it gets a little crowded now and again
Mom, Gramma, Tammy, Barb Yanko, Ruth Cullen (my other grandma), Aunt Judy, Laurie MacLeod, Ann Thorne, Susan (Suzy Q) Anderson, Traci Costa, Beatrix, Elizabeth Toerien, Shauna Mundle, Jenny Chance, RZ, Hazel Carriere, Marilyn, Rita Switzer, Maggie Borrow, Debbie Lake, Ruth Rowlandson, Anne-Marie Baechlor, Debbie C, Kathy Hummel, Marilyn Stuart, Sheryl (with an S), and Mary-Lynne.
All of the users that I have supported over the years, they provide me with my experience, wisdom and patience.
To everyone else that I mention in these ramblings: a big thank you.
Introduction.
I just realized that I have recently become quite philosophical and just a touch sentimental, for a wide variety of reasons.
I have already been through my Mid-Life crisis (should have bought the Porsche) and so now I will attempt to reach deep inside and put to paper (or some other digital medium) the memories that I have of growing up in what is now called the Digital Age.
This is not my first attempt at putting words to paper.
Figure 3- A Tall Tale - Grade 2.
Here is my first. As you can see I have been keeping my writing talent hidden for quite a few years. Science fiction is still my favorite and I still have that dream every now and then
It is time now to continue my creative writing.
I have all of these wonderful memories. I want to share them with anyone that will appreciate them as much as I do.
I think that I can tell a good story and writing a book about the memories that I have of my Dad and linking it to the development of computers and how that has evolved into the WWW of today is a good combination. My Dad was a part of history in the area that he was born and lived in his whole life. There are a few newspaper articles written about his accomplishments by the North Bay Nugget (http://www.nugget.ca), well two or three that I know of.
Contained in this writing are the memories I have of a time and place gone by. Yet, it isn’t even that long ago or that far away really.
They include a time when there wasn’t a computer on every office desk or at home, in every country in the world, connected together virtually by something we call the Internet, to create the Global Village we all live in today.
Today, I can send an email message to
someone in
Why, I can even send an email message from
my cellular phone while sitting in a park anywhere and they would still receive
it in
My dad would be amazed.
As a teenager living in Alsace, Ontario in the 1930’s he would get excited if the letter he sent to Toronto, Ontario (inside that envelope a postal money order and order form for photography chemicals and paper), would result in a package being returned in 6-8 weeks containing his hard earned and anxiously awaited materials.
A round trip totaling 400 miles and a transaction cost totaling, maybe, as much as 35 Canadian Cents. Including postage and handling charges!
How things have changed.
In fact, there wasn’t even a television in every home when my father was a young man choosing a career path. See Chapter 2 – The Visionary.
I can remember when a telephone was installed for the first time in the farmhouse at Tu-Lake Farm where my Dad grew up and my Uncle Sandy, to this day still lives in. It was in the 1980’s.
The 1980’s, what are you kidding me! My father grew up in a farmhouse that didn’t have a telephone installed until well after he died! That must have saved him a fortune in Long Distance charges!
I have only heard the telephone ring once
in that farmhouse in
When I did hear it ring, it felt so out of place. As a young boy growing up in that farmhouse the telephone never rang. There was not a telephone to ring within a mile of the place.
Can you imagine living somewhere that didn’t have a phone ringing anywhere, anytime like my cellular telephone constantly seems to be reminding me, no matter what time of day or night.
I can. I was there and it was home to me. I miss that place and time very much.
That place and time is my inspiration for writing this book.
I feel like one of ‘The Walton’s’ right about now, for some reason.
Good Night, John boy, wherever you are.
Herbert
G. Toeppner, Esq.
Far from my roots, Tu-Lake Farm in
Prologue: In The Beginning.
This is the history of the microcomputer as seen from the point of view of a young teenager about to enter the Digital Age.
Included in this history are some memories that I have of my Dad. The microcomputer didn’t really appear until 1973 and my Dad had nothing to do with the development of that or any other technology mentioned in these writings.
The memories that I have about my Dad are simply to illustrate that while he grew up and made a living fixing televisions that he also, in his own way made a huge contribution to the history of television and computers in this world. And I never fully realized that until now.
This is why I am telling his story as well as how I saw the computer world evolve from, Tu-Lake Farm To The World Wide Wow.
In the beginning, there was darkness…. Wait! That is too far back Let us progress a little further into the recent past.
Place: Rural
Year: 1923
Event: A son is born to Herbert and Susan Toeppner (Ulrick); they name him Frederick, after Herb’s father, Fred Toeppner, Senior.
Frederick Toeppner, Senior, my
Great-Grandfather came to
(http://www.visit-alsace.com/where_is_it/ou_c_ang_carte.html) or (http://www.franceway.com/regions/alsace/intro.htm).
Fred Sr. rode buffalo, drank whiskey and carved a new land out of the wilderness. No, wait that must have been someone else’s Great-Grandfather.
** Note To Self: Get more info on F.T., Sr. **
Chapter 1.
Choosing a Career
One day while I was home sick from school I was watching an educational television program about ‘Career Choices’. I was probably 11 years old and didn’t even know what a career was, but the narrator was saying that ‘Computer Programming’ would be a challenging and rewarding career and that Electronic Data Processing was the way of the future.
I remember thinking right then and there that I wanted to be a computer programmer. I had no idea in 1968 that I would be sitting here today in 2003 typing this into my own Personal Computer.
Imagine an 11-year-old boy deciding that he wanted to be a computer programmer. That very day I set myself a goal to work with computers and have followed my dream since then.
The computers in 1968 filled rooms and were maintained by a bunch of IBM employees in white lab coats. They used punch cards and magnetic tape drives that you can still see spinning in old sci-fi movies.
Dad always subscribed to Radio Electronics magazine and I read every issue from the age of 11 or so. Electronics fascinated me and I was always looking to learn more.
I could fix almost any tube radio that was brought in to Toeppner TV to be repaired. Dad had set me up with my very own workbench in his shop. It included an electrical power strip (power bar) and my very own soldering iron and a few old screwdrivers, pliers and other tools. Of course I could get to use the equipment on the big workbench when I needed to access an oscilloscope or tube tester.
When the 8-Track tape player was king, there was no one better to install them in a car or boat than Herb Toeppner. I remember hanging upside down in a little blue Mustang that belonged to a friend trying to get under the dash to fasten the tape deck securely. What a chore!
Figure 4- Dad's Shop 1957
Figure 5 - Toeppner TV 1972
It was a lucrative venture. The shop rate for radio repairs was $2.50 and Dad paid me in cash, under the table. I spent every cent I earned.
The best Christmas present that I ever received was something called a Heathkit 100-in-1 electronic projects kit. It was the coolest thing in the world. It had to be assembled first from hundreds of parts.
Using a fiberboard top with holes drilled into it and then painted red with white lettering that indicated the purpose and ‘co-ordinates’ of the electronic part that was designated for that particular spot.
I had to read probably 100 pages of assembly instructions with hundreds of steps in order to build the main kit. And that had to be done before you could even make the first of 100 different projects. I was in heaven.
There were almost one hundred springs that had to be attached with nuts and bolts to the ‘circuit board’. These springs would allow wires attached to them and whatever electronic part was in place to build the projects circuit.
There were resistors, capacitors, transistors, diodes, switches, buttons, knobs, lights, what-cha-ma-call-its and even a voltmeter. And in order to provide power to the circuits; nine-volt and ‘C-Size’ battery connectors.
I ripped the wrapping paper from the box, cleared a space on a designated table in the living room, pulled up a chair and spent all Christmas day and night reading instructions step-by-step, checking each step off with a pencil as I feverishly built this amazing thing. I think that Mom had to bring me Christmas dinner to where I was in the living room. She could not get my attention to come to the dinner table for some reason that day.
Figure 6- Today’s Version of 130-in-1 Kit
(http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=PL130)
No matter how much I pleaded Mom made me go to sleep that Christmas night with my kit only half completed.
I may have gotten other presents that year, but I have no idea what they where. I hope the givers of those presents are not upset that I only remember one present from that Christmas.
Finally on Boxing Day I completed the assembly portion of the kit. Now was the time to actually build an electronic circuit. What would it be? AM-crystal radio? Some kind of a timer circuit that lit up a bulb?
I know that Moms favorite was the ‘Emergency Siren’ circuit. It was really effective if you could make the sound rise and fall for hours on end. Sorry Mom.
I was 17 years old when I started tinkering
with microprocessors in July 1974, while sitting in my father’s television and
radio repair shop in a small town called Powassan in
This was the magazine that influenced Dad and I to build our own computer.
Figure 7 - The Beginning of the PC
There were a few other young people in the
world, mostly in
Dad and I managed to get ‘The Mark-8 Computer’ to blink LED's in a sequence and calculate 1+1 = 3.... uh oh, there was our first bug report.
Figure 8 - The Mark-8 Prototype
(http://www.his.com/~jlewczyk/adavie/mark8b.html)
Of course our design was a little different than the prototype.
Figure 9 – A Much Refined Mark-8
(http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=741)
Our design fell in-between these two illustrations, closer to the refined version. just not as refined.
If only Dad or I could have projected into
the future to the year 2003. If we did I can assure you that you would all be using
ToeppnerSoft ®, running on the F.R.E.D. 9000 Processor ™.
No, that doesn't sound quite right.
Besides, at almost the same time that Dad and I where tinkering with an Intel 4004 Micro Processor (http://www.intel4004.com), working on plans from a Popular Electronics Magazine (http://www.pcanswer.com/articles/historypc.htm) some other people started to tinker with other types of Micro Processors available at the time.
You may have heard of them, Steven Jobs and Steve Wozniak. They built the first Apple computer (http://www.apple-history.com) and in my opinion, started this whole mess.
I think Bill Gates was also getting a few good ideas together, but I cannot say for sure.
You may have heard of Bill’s little company called Microsoft. Why they didn’t even have a website until 1993 (http://www.microsoft.com/misc/features/features_flshbk.htm) which was only 10 years ago. Wow indeed!
Who could have possibly predicted in 1973 that in 2003 we wouldn’t be using flying saucer cars or living on the moon in domed buildings but, instead using computers in ways that could never be imagined.
After all IBM had earlier predicted that
there would only be the need for 5 computers in the entire world. "I think
there is a world market for maybe five computers."
--Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
(http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa033099.htm)
Or, that the Internet (http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/) would influence everyone’s life, in one-way or another.
In June 1974 I was supposed to graduate
from
I signed up for a Grade 11-Drafting course and a Grade 12-Introduction to Electronic Data Processing course. I drafted plans for my dream house and learned about computers.
I still have my Grade 12 Intro to E.D.P. textbooks and it is so strange to look at them today.
Data processing equipment in the 1970’s where truly machines. Lots of mechanical gears, switches, lights and levers. They hardly resemble anything that we call a computer today.
Included in the course they taught us a programming language called HYPO, which stood for Hypothetical Programming Language. It consisted of a syntax that used numbers for the commands and letters for the operands.
For example 10 was the command to add two operands and give the result in the third operand; 10 A, B C would result in C being equal to 3 if A=1 and B=2.
I was hooked.
Oh yea, did I mention that Almaguin Highlands. did not have a computer and that we had to simulate our HYPO programs using paper and pencils. But I knew that I was on the right track.
I had already applied to attend
My goal, to become a computer programmer, was becoming a reality. Assembler, COBOL, RPG here I come.
If only I could have predicted the future, I had no idea what was to come.
January 1975 at
It was a state of the art Honeywell Mainframe.
(http://www.vikingwaters.com/htmlpages/MFHistory.htm)
The H2000S. ‘S’ stood for special. It was wonderful. It was possible to ‘partition’ the computer system to perform two independent tasks simultaneously.
Wow! Multi-Tasking. What will they think of next? Ok, well two tasks are better than one.
Figure 10- Computer Honeywell-Bull H2000
You are looking at my first true love. No, not the woman behind the computer console, THE computer console. That isn’t me typing in commands in this picture, by the way.
I did type a lot of commands in to a
similar console at
Within weeks of starting my course I made friends with the Operator of the H2000S. I wish I could remember his name. I owe him a beer or two.
He showed me the basics of the operations of the system. I am forever grateful to him. He even showed me how to power up and ‘Boot-Strap’ the system so that it would accept commands and then would become capable of ‘running programs’.
That is when I became a one-man-show and have been one ever since. You see after being shown how to power up the system I was able to receive permission to access the computer room on weekends in order to run programs for my courses.
I think I was one of the first students ever to receive such a trusted status. You see, that computer’s price was in the neighborhood of $400,000.00. I could go in on a Saturday and turn the thing on.
(http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/univac/config1108.html)
Let me describe to you how I ‘booted’ up a computer in 1975.
You didn’t just press one power button and wait for the system to power up and ‘boot’ itself, loading an operating system like Windows XP.
There must have been 30 steps to get it to a point where it became a computer instead of just wires and metal. I think I can remember every one.
The H2000S computer lived in a very special room. It is called a ‘Machine or Equipment Room’. All Mainframe computers did. Many still do. These rooms have raised floors, so that large bundles of wires that connected the electronic equipment together did not interfere with us humans walking around. There are probably other things under there as well, like fire extinguishing systems and cooling systems. I hardly ever look under there. No dust though. Dust is a bad thing in these rooms.
It was also a climate-controlled room. Specific temperatures and humidity levels are critical to the care of these beasts.
There are always a lot of glass windows to ‘showcase’ the star and a securely locked door leading into the ‘inner sanctum’ of the Machine Room.
Look but do not touch is the motto here in 1975.
I had the authority to access the room anytime. I was given the ‘key’ to the door. A 4 digit code that you punched into a push button lock on the Computer Room door. It was changed on a regular basis and not too many people get that code. First line of security, lock the door to the computer room. No one gets in without a code or a key.
The security guards also required me to sign in and out of the room whenever I wanted to work in there, Date and Time In/Out. Just in case I broke something, I guess.
After satisfying all of the security requirements, you open the door and enter the Computer Room. It is usually dark. After all computers do not need any lights to perform their tasks. Especially when they are powered down.
I need light to see what I am doing. So I turn on the lights. Cool fluorescent lights blink on illuminating large cabinets of metal.
Usually the cabinets are gray in color or
blue. IBM prefers the color blue. ‘Big Blue’ is their nickname for a lot of
reasons, including their design color choices. I have seen probably 30 large
computer installations in my time. From Mainframe Machine Rooms to very large
Turning on a computer in 1975 required many steps. The H2000S was typical I suppose.
There was a lot of buttons with strange
markings on the back of the console. Some kind of “Secret Code” 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 A B C D E. What the heck is that? These buttons had to be pressed in a
specific order. Also, there is a strange typewriter looking thing. It has a
keyboard, QWERTY… sheesh… another weird letter pattern. Where is
The console teletypewriter was a work of art. It was electro-mechanical to say the least. No CRT display monitor… only a keyboard, a print head and a roll of paper that could be torn off and kept for logging purposes.
It was so cool… when you hit a key the print head, shaped like a cylinder with all of the letters and numbers in raised type, would jump up a bit, spin around to the corresponding letter that you pressed and hit an ink ribbon that would leave an impression on the paper behind it all, spinning back to hits “home” position and then dropping back down and advancing one position to the right. Wow, what a procedure just to get a letter or a number printed onto paper. But it worked… so let’s get this computer “Booted Up”.
The slight whisper of the air conditioning is barely audible. The Computer Room is always very quiet at this point.
Let me check my notes. (from my memory banks) I did this enough times that I can remember exactly the steps that I would have to perform to power on and boot up the H2000S and run a deck of punch cards through it to compile and run a program.
- Locate AC Power On button, top right corner of the console back. It is green in color. Press AC Power On until it starts to blink green. OK. Check.
- Wait for up to thirty seconds to let AC power supply stabilize and green light to stay lit a solid green color. The humming sound coming from the power supply sounds normal. You get to know what it should sound like after a while. OK, the AC Power On button is glowing a steady healthy green now.
- Locate the DC Power On button, just below the lit green AC
Power on button. It to is green in color.
- Wait for up to another thirty seconds to let DC power supply stabilize and green light to stay lit a solid green color. The humming increases a little now. Music to my ears. OK, DC Power On button is glowing a steady healthy green as well now. It is alive! Well, almost. It is powered up to the point where the circuits in the computer are able to do their thing. It is still pretty much a bunch of wires and metal still. No programming software is in place yet. Where is that BIOS when you need it. Oh right, this is 1975. It will be a few years yet before someone decides that what I have to do next should be built-in to these stupid machines. OK. What now?
- There are two rows of sixteen white buttons centered on the back of the console. To the left of those are some more white buttons. They are all dark now. The cryptic numbers and letters that these buttons are labeled with must be the ‘secret’ language of computers. The labels read 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E. The buttons to the left are just as strangely marked. I think the say things like ‘Run’ and ‘Execute’ or ‘Input’ and ‘Clear’. What is up with that?
- Press ‘Clear’ button. All sixteen white buttons should be dark.
- OK, I have to press the following buttons on the top row of
sixteen buttons. They will light up white when I press them. 1, 5, 6, 8,
A, C,
- Now press the following buttons on the second row of sixteen. 2, 4, 7, 9, B, D, E. They also light up white upon pressing them. OK, Check.
- Locate ‘Input’ button to the left of the two sets of sixteen buttons. Press ‘Input’. OK. Check.
- If “Accept’ light located below ‘Input’ is green. Press ‘ Execute’. Wait for ‘Execute’ light to glow green. Press ‘Clear’ button. Go to step 12. OK. Check.
- If ‘Accept’ light is red then check your lights on the two rows of sixteen and correct any errors by pressing ‘Clear’ and pressing the white buttons again. Get it right this time. Return to step 7. OK. Check.
- Perform another 10 or so sequences of button presses. Make sure you don’t make a mistake and enter two commands in a row the same or miss a sequence or two. That could result in a fatal-error-has occurred situation. I am programming this computer one freaking step at a time with buttons. There has got to be a better way. Patience. It will not be too long before we can enter commands from the consoles teletypewriter. Progress indeed.
- If you have successfully executed the Bootstrap code your H2000S will now actually behave something like a computer. Powering up and Bootstrapping this mainframe was an art and a science that few people knew how to perform successfully. Well I am able to write down instructions and follow them precisely later to do things like this. Many have tried and failed. I succeeded and it felt wonderful to me.
- The sound of the teletypewriter to the right of me is a sign that there is some life to the computer. It is hammering out some type of identification and query.
- HONEYWELL 2000S SYSTEM.
- ENTER DATE: MM/DD/YY?
- I should have known right then that in 25 years we would be having a Year 2000 crisis. How can a computer keep running in the year 2000 if we assume that there is always going to be a 19 in front of two digits? Oh right we don’t want something that takes 25 minutes to power up and boot running in 2003, do we?
- OK. Enter the date. Cool. This teletypewriter has a thimble shaped thing that hops up, spins around, hammers itself onto the roll of 8” paper running through the rollers on the console and then spins back to the home position and drops down, advances one position to the right. This happens every time I press a letter on the keyboard in front of me. Hooray! I can use two fingers to type to this day.
- Press Carriage Return. OK. Check.
- Now the teletypewriter is making another query.
- ENTER TIME: HH:MM?
- OK. What time does it say on the clock on the wall. 14:22. Remember, computers need 24-hour time. No AM/PM for them thank you. OK. Check.
- Press Carriage Return. OK. Check.
- Now we are getting somewhere. To the good stuff. Console Command Language stuff. Phew! No more button pressing bootstrap crap, now we get to bootstrap from another device. Where are those notes again? Right. I can now do some amazing things. Like get the computer to recognize and read from a punch-card reader. That has to be a good thing. Punch-cards rule!
- Power on Punch Card Reader. OK. Check. More humming sounds.
- Power on Line Printer. OK. Check. The printer is the size of a very large chest of drawers. It likely weighs 1,000 pounds. There are chains making the thing print 300 Lines Per Minute. Do not get your tie stuck in that thing. It has eaten a few people already, so stay back when it is running. Close the hood for safety.
- The console teletypewriter indicates that it requires attention by hammering out.
- ENTER COMMAND?
- Yea baby! Consult notes. Locate Bootstrap Loader Punch Card Deck. OK. Where is that special deck of 15 cards hiding? There it is.
- Load Bootstrap Loader Punch Card Deck into the Input Hopper of the Punch Card Reader Unit. I sure hope that that PCRU doesn’t decide to eat the Bootstrap Deck. Printers that can eat ties. PCRU’s that eat poor little paper punch cards. No wonder the door to the Machine Room is locked. This place is a menace to society. Place weight into input hopper unit. This holds the cards in place while they are read.
- At the console, type; LOAD INIT PCRU
- Press Carriage Return. OK. Check.
- The computers lights on the two rows of sixteen buttons are blinking some kind of semaphore code in white lights. I hope that is a good thing. I saw this in a movie once. Every computer needs to have rows of blinking white lights while it executes the instructions. I remember the Operator telling me that if the computer stopped running for some reason that there would be red lights glowing steady on those two rows and that if you wrote down the indicators you could determine what the error message meant by looking it up in the H2000S Systems Manual. I do not want to see any red lights, ever.
- The console teletypewriter springs to life with the following message;
- LOAD INIT DECK INTO PCRU: CONT Y/N?
- Check notes. Is the power on on the PCRU? Is the BLCD in the input hopper? OK. Check.
- At the console; type Y
- Press Carriage Return. OK. Check.
- More blinking lights at the console. The teletypewriter announces;
- LOAD INIT DECK START
- The Card Reader begins to process the loader program on the punch cards. The instructions punched into the cards are programmed in assembler language. I don’t even know what they do really, but the computer will store them into the memory and try to execute them until completed. The computer knows what they do. The sound of the Card Reader reminds me of a huge factory with a giant stamping machine. Ker-Chunk. Ker-Chunk. Ker-Chunk.
- A furious activity of blinking lights. They seem to be appearing in more of a pattern than a random display. The teletypewriter before me spits out several lines of some kind of message. What is it saying to me? I better look.
- LOAD INIT DECK END
- COMPLETED OK
- EXECUTE INIT START
- EXECUTE INIT END
- HONEWELL H2000S INIT COMPLETE
- LOADER PROGRAM EXEC READY
- ENTER COMMAND?
- Way cool now we are getting somewhere. Only 10 minutes to get this computer powered on and booted. And it can read a deck of cards too. Now we just have to feed it another deck of cards or two to load in the COBOL Instruction Compiler and we can really make things happen.
- Don’t forget to load in the Tape Drive Loader card deck as well. Tape drives are very useful to computer systems. Disk Drives come in handy to.
What a good memory I have. I knew that there were at least 30 steps to boot up that computer.
Another significant moment that I remember
was after I had started to work at my first computer job during 1977 in
I was watching a late show movie called
‘The Billion Dollar Bubble’. It was about The Equity Funding Corp. of
In that 1976 movie they showed how this company had ‘manufactured’ all of these insurance policies and how the programmer had used a special policy number ‘9999’ to indicate that it was a fake policy.
The reason I remember that movie is that on the computer systems that I was programming at the time, we also used a ‘9999’control-field that indicated a special record. However, there was no fraud involved. It simply indicated an End Of File record to our systems.
The concept of the movie fascinated me and I understood how the computer programming worked, so I was even more intrigued by the whole idea of how the company had managed to perpetuate the fraud for so long.
This is when I truly realized that trust and confidentiality where critical components of being a computer professional. After all the information stored on computers are crucial to the operation of corporations as well as people.
The two people who mentored me, in the professionalism and code of ethics of computers, where Jim Stirling and Jim Billings.
They are the people who “molded” me into the computer professional that I am today. Ok, so maybe I don’t fit the exact mold they had in mind, but I do follow their teachings to this day.
During one of my performance reviews Jim Billings told me that I was being promoted from Programmer/Operator Trainee to Operator/Programmer Jr. and would receive an increase in salary from $700.00 to $900.00 per month. Wow, that seemed like a lot of money.
Along with that raise came some responsibilities and expectations.
- Dress like a professional. Dress shirt, tie and dress slacks are a must. Jacket would be nice.
- Be available anytime of the day or night.
- Have a telephone number or pager number that you can be reached at.
- Have transportation... get a car.
OK, so I guess I better buy some ties, get a phone installed and a car… so much for the raise.
Chapter Two.
The Visionary
Where do I begin?
I have so many memories of my father. Some so fresh in my mind that I feel like they just happened. Others that are distant and foggy yet somehow, instilled into my memory banks.
Figure 11 - TV Service Course
This is a newspaper article showing my dad on a course for television repair. As you can see he is not the only one entering this field of work.
What the amazing thing is that Dad was learning how to fix TV’s and there was no TV station within 200 miles of Powassan at the time.
1955
Gerry Alger and Gerry Stanton, using a
feasability study by Bruce McLeod, who later became General Manager, put
CKGN-TV on the air on
http://www.rcc.ryerson.ca/ccf/index2.html
Legend has it that when the new TV station CFCH-Channel 10 was completed in 1955, and they threw the ‘switch’ that turned on the transmitter circuits; the engineers had no idea if the signal was going out of the top of the tall tower.
“Is this thing on?”
The equipment inside the station showed
that everything was functioning. Little lights and other indicators show that
the test pattern is being transmitted out, but wait, is any one receiving the
signal transmitted through the air? Well, there is only one person within 100
miles that might have a TV. That person was Fred Toeppner living in
Ring-Ring. A telephone rings in a small Repair shop in Powassan. Phone number 86.
86???
What the heck kind of telephone number is 86?
I guess 10-digit dialing is a ways off in the future.
Fred Toeppner answers, “Toeppner TV!” On the other end of the line a man asks, “Are we on?”
Dad looks over at the small 7” black-and-white television that is sitting nearby.
Figure 12 - A man slightly ahead of his time
Of course the television has been powered on and tuned to Channel 10 for days now. He has been patiently awaiting the reception of a television signal on that particular frequency. His daily visit to the transmitter site, 10 miles away, has allowed him to monitor the progress of the construction of the areas first television station.
Figure 13- Four Years Before CFCH Is Built.
Dad has been glancing over at the screen every few minutes all day today, seeing just “snow” every time.
This time there is a “test pattern” glowing from the screen. The old Indian Head test pattern that is used to calibrate the picture is displayed there.
History is made in a small repair shop in
Imagine that. The people living in the area
had never seen television before. I cannot imagine not having television. Today
I can receive over 100 channels. Dad could receive one now clearly and maybe
three others that where very fuzzy and faint from far off
I wish that I could have been there. I hadn’t been born yet. I guess maybe I was in some small way. You know. The small “gleam” in Dad’s eye; when he looks at Mom that certain way. Ha-Ha-Ha.
Dad realizes that he is holding the telephone in one hand and replies to the anxious caller on the other end, with these now famous words.
“Yep, you’re on.”
Okay, so maybe they didn’t record this
moment for posterity in the North Bay Nugget, make a CBC documentary or
otherwise include it in the
Figure 14 - Fred and Julianne Toeppner
Dad calls to Mom through the doorway leading from the shop into the kitchen of the house, “Julianne! Come and see this!”
Mom peeks her head around the corner, “What is it now, Fred? I’m drying the dishes.”
I am sure that Mom had been called into the shop many times before. Probably to show her something that she had no real interest in. After all, this electronic gadgetry was just something that she didn’t understand. As a young girl there was no electricity at the farm where she grew up. Light switches, electric stoves and such, are more than enough for her. The electric toaster and the new Sunbeam Hand Mixer sure help out in the kitchen when baking and cooking breakfast.
I think that I came along shortly after that, like nine months or so. Maybe Dad had that “gleam” in his eye again. Those dishes may have to dry themselves.
So after waiting for five years or more
Toeppner TV can now begin to prosper. All of those college classes at Radio
College of Canada in
Providing courteous and dignified service to his customers within a 50-mile radius.
Servicing just north of Callendar, to
Nipissing, Chisholm, Astorville south to Trout Creek, South River, Sundridge
all the way to
Figure 15 - Advertising At It's Finest
Mom disliked these particular ashtrays for some reason… she preferred the calendars with the pictures of trees and animals.
I didn’t seem to mind them so much in my teen years. That was when I found them all hidden away somewhere. Dad always wondered how they got packed in a box and put into the basement. All by themselves, apparently, I am sure Mom had nothing to do with their disappearance.
Chapter Three.
Tu-Lake Farm.
My father grew up on a small farm in
Uncle Sandy told me that it took 4 hours
each way. 14 miles to Powassan and 14 miles back. I can drive from the airport
in
The ‘big’ city of North Bay, ON is 30 miles away and Toronto, ON is a staggering 200 miles to the south.
I wonder what it was like? Living in
I am lucky. I can look back to that time, in the writings of my Dad. You see, Fred kept a journal, a diary of his day-to-day life, living on that farm and growing up.
It was hand written, of course, and kept in an old cigarette tin case. Player’s brand I believe. He kept it hidden away from prying eyes as he wrote in this diary. There are references of him moving the diary to different hiding places, probably to keep his sisters from reading it. After all, a diary is a personal thing, not to be shared with others.
Sorry Dad, but I have to share some of your diary entries with others now. Don’t worry I won’t divulge everything, just a few insights that I find fascinating.
Dad’s diary covered events from March 1st, 1936 up to December 1st, 1942.
He started the diary when he was 12 years old and continued until he was 21 years old. It is just amazing to be able to read this and feel like I am inside his head as he writes. Of course they are not too detailed and there are a lot of days and events that are not written about, but still it gives us an insight into the world back then.
It also shows that Fred was an amazing young man living on that farm, so far away from the rest of the world. No electricity, telephones, radios, televisions or computers. Yet somehow he discovered the wonderful world of electricity and what will become electronics.
Along the way we also see the usual thoughts of a young man. Social gatherings like dances and going to the movies (shows) meant interaction with members of the fairer sex, Girls!
So, with that I would like to include some if the entries from my father’s diary. Not everything of course, just the entries that mean something to me.
Thank you, Jamie, for carefully prying those brittle pages from the old tin case and making a photocopy so that I can read them over and over again.
Excerpts from the Diary of Frederick F. Toeppner
March 1st,
1936 to December 1st, 1942 .
Well, Well I have often wanted to make a diary, but I have really made up my mind to go on this time. Uncle Tom was here today.
I went to John Vanmerilo’s for butter. Daddy got his pills he sent for, for Bronchitis.
I done Schoolwork (as I call it) History and Arithmetic on lesson 27 in Gr. fourth
I went for the mail and got a parcel of
chocolates from A. Penn 176 Queensdale Ave Toronto
I finished the last lesson {No. 54} in Gr. Fourth
Daddy and I cut 12 pine logs and took them
to the mill. I went for the mail and on the way to the mill met Bernetta E. {at
I went to Uncle Walters and was going to get him to shoot poor old Buster (his dog) bet he smelt the rat and ran home. Went for the Mail. The story on air {Hold the press with Boots and Ginger} ended today.
Got a
Marie, Yvonne and Betty Toeppner are here today.
Uncle Walter shot poor old Buster behind
far west
(There is a small diagram showing the fatal spot, including the X that marks the spot)
Uncle Walter has worked here 3 days now. Started Grammar review. Daddy went to town.
Uncle Walter worked here. Find 500-hour radio battery is low. (First mention of his fascination with batteries and Direct Current-DC electricity)
Georgia (his sister) is 13 today.
We got 10 fish in the gill net {this is poaching}
Get 19 fish in net today. Go outside today for first time after having bronchitis.
Daddy goes to town today.
Send for book “The Boy Electrician” Go for
the mail. (Dad isn’t even 14 yet and living in rural
Bunny (his brother) is two today. Clean alley and stable extra clean today. Get done early.
Rained today. Daddy went hunting and got a deer like he did there in the fall.
Mamma gets tonsillitis. I do the milking.
Daddy went to Powassan. Cut wood. Sandy (his brother) and I hauled it. Got squirrel.
Get the book I sent for. It is the “Star Amateur Electrician” Boy is it a dandy. Will I make things now (I can feel the thrill right along with Dad)
Make a battery that works. Start a motor the 10-cent kind.
Motor doesn’t work. (I can feel his disappointment)
Went to church. See Bernetta E. Looked lovely to me.
Valentines day. Get valentines from Penns and Marie Toeppner (I guess Penn is a she)
Get motor going a few turns.
Work at motor. (Dad is winding wire around something called a ‘core’ magnet; there are a lot of windings in a motor)
Go to Nipissing. Get valentine from Billy Ackerman. Start a crystal radio. (The start of his career with Radios?)
Skid 3 logs for dam. Get motor going good.
Simeon and Abby are here. Go to bed at
Wind crystals for radio like this (Drawing of crystal with wires)
Start working on Electri… (Writing goes off page, wonder what it is?)
I go to Nipissing. Send $6.00 order to the T. Eaton Company. Nick (a horse I think) falls have a hell of a time. Frank and Simeon Mechefski help get him up. {Coldest day this winter}
Not quite so cold today. Sandy and I take out 3 trees we cut on Wednesday, Think radio (battery) is low but is alright tonight. Decide on getting cameraite camera.
Simeon helps us to get out some wood drags. Start this large diary.
Mamma and Daddy snow shoed out for the mail.
Make out order for cameraite camera. Go for mail.
Mail the order for camera. Go for mail. Go
to Uncle Walters. Get $6.00 parcel from Eatons. Get letter from Penns at 38
Parksview Gardens
Paul (Toeppner, dad’s cousin, son of Uncle Walter) is here. Have a chest cold. Work with my telegraph (I wonder who he was going to telegraph?)
Go out again after having bronchitis. Adam Shemleski is here to get his pay also Alex Grabowski (My Mom’s dad- My Grandpa- he lived for 107 years) is here for same reason. Mat Mechefski and Sylvester Grabowski are here to.
Marie and Yvonne are here. Georgia and Kit go for mail. Skid wood drags. Get camera, the “Baby Camera” It is a dandy and will I take pictures now. (Another of Dad’s hobbies – photography)
Saw a robin today, saw a crow last Tuesday. Simeon goes to corner with Lucy and Browney. Georgia and Irma (sisters) and Sandy go along. Write some more in my diary. Take first picture with little camera, will develop it tonight. Daddy trys to take Nick out and he falls. Put new roof on dog hut. Am going to tie him up at nights after this. Are going to kill Nick today.
March 20, 1938
Developed first picture but it did not turn out. Made reprint from big negative that worked. Hauled old Nick (the horse) away.
March 21, 1938
Took another picture with little camera hope it works. Daddy went to town to try to buy a horse. Frank brought Browney home, went for mail.
March 22, 1938
Daddy got a new horse for $115.00. Bonny.
March 23, 1938
Made 2 more pictures used all my print paper. Went to Uncle Walters. I might start selling the Star Weekly.
Made out order for 5 films and catalogue to Jameson Smith and CO. Wrote to Star Weekly. Simeon sent for a mouth organ.
March 27, 1938
Alban (Bunny) and I went to church. Saw Bernetta E.
March 29, 1938
Run off first batch of (maple) syrup for the year.
April 1, 1938
Sent order and letter to Star Weekly. Today reminds me of the April Fools story Dad told us; One April Fools day Uncle Walter came in from the barn and said “Take Dad out the broom” to Uncle Dave. So Uncle Dave took out the broom and Grandpa though it was a trick and gave Uncle Dave a whacking.
April 2, 1938
Run off second batch of syrup.
April 3, 1938
Tried to fix old watch. Found the snapshots all wet and ruined a lot of them.
April 5, 1938
Build “new 1938 truck” find out there are 70 nails in a 1-pound of 3-inch nails.
Got money for squirrels 15 cents a piece Heard from Star Weekly they…. (Black ink stains the rest)
Mamma told us about the time she chased the white gander (goose) around a stone until he died because he went in the mud and got dirty.
Went to corner. Get Jameson Smith
catalogue, 5 films for camera. Stay up till
Get answer from (a magazine or newspaper, I think) they only pay 2 cents a piece for selling them this isn’t enough.
Good Friday finish batch of sap today. Decide on getting (something about moving pictures and five feet of film)
Daddy brought Mamma another chocolate egg.
Ice went off
Mamma and I went to church. Got a ride with Aunt Rose and Bernetta was on the buggy too. I guess this is just puppy love but I have liked her ever since her and I went to… (Black ink stains)
Made an ant village yesterday. Today I got some frog eggs, am going to keep track of them. Took another picture, turned out no good.
Build another truck road from the gate to my bridge. Here is a map of my roads. (Diagram of roads and a bridge)
Took syrup cans off today. Picked some May flowers today. Earliest I ever saw…
Went to Johns. Got weighed 106 ½ Lbs. Come home in the dark, first time I ever did.
Went to picture show in Nipissing, it was a good one “Red Rock Tavern”
Went to corner twice. Got 23 fish in net. Decide to sell $3.00 worth of gold medal goods to get movie camera. Am going to make a sewage disposal for ????
Made a screen 28” X 16”. Made a pantograph, color red. Here is a picture of it. (Drawing of his invention)
Fix gramophone (record player) today
Am sick in bed today.
Fell a little better.
Dig little lake bigger. Hide diary under books.
Sent for new pants.
Ackerman’s are going home, wanted to take
Went to church. Marie and Bernetta seem to be good friends now. Went to Uncle Walters.
Make a barometer. Decide to sell lemonade. Went to movie, better than last one.
Finish fence at front of house. Smoke first cigarette in the house ( in front of Mom and Dad, I guess)
Queen had one chicken. Go to church. See Bernetta. Go to Uncle Walters. Marie sure are good friends.
Start new dam.
Find 4-leaf clover. Go to dance at Uncle Walters.
My birthday is today. At
15 Years
5,844 Days
140, 256 Hours
8,412,360 Minutes
504,751,600 Seconds old.
First day of summer, sure feels like it. Scuffle potatoes first time.
Was looking at giroplex (sp.) I thought of this idea in 1934. (I wonder what it was exactly).
Penn’s are coming up on Friday. Ralph Hearl and Betty Toeppner are here. Daddy and I peel 12 poles. Scuffle potatoes. Browney (the dog) runs away.
Penn’s got here at
Daddy and
Uncle Walter
Aunt Colette
Daddy
Mamma
Mrs. Penn
Mr. Penn
Mr. Clyde
Paul Toeppner
Marie “
Yvonne “
Betty “
Wanda “
Greta “
Bobby “
July 6, 1938
Peel 12 pulp poles. Uncle Paul comes down. Put new boxing’s on my old truck
July 8, 1938
Daddy slapped my face today for going * UNK *. He threatened to kill me with the axe the other day. (Teenagers, nothing but trouble)
July 10, 1938
Go to Uncle Walters. Come home after dark. Simeon is here.
July 11, 1938
Start haying. I am sick. Got Jameson Smith order, just two books.
July 21, 1938
They haul one load of hay. Am sick in bed,
get up in afternoon. The gramophone spring got broken.
July 22, 1938
Scuffle and hill potatoes. Got my new boots, they fit me. Size 7. Got my liquid transformer, cost 25 cents altogether. Am disappointed.
Fix some more at dam. Fix pen for little pigs.
Went to see Uncle Billy. He was sitting on the door step.
Go up to Uncle Dave’s. Go to show in Nipissing.
Go to Uncle Walters. Paul is not home. Marie, Yvonne and Betty and I play in the cabins.
Paul was here. HE has a bicycle. I can ride it!
All us kids go to Uncle Walters. Marie comes back with us. Play in cabins.
Uncle Walter and us play up at
Went to foul supper at the church, but I
did not dance, but
Buzzed more wood today. Lawrence Restoule’s well caved in on Fred Bush.
Went to funeral (Fred Bush, I guess) Mister Cheany took us, saw Bernetta, she was crying.
Penn,
Got a pet squirrel, always wanted one, now we got one.
Made a shipment of 26 squirrels and 2
weasels to
(OK, here is the thing he orders telephones and there isn’t a Bell Canada phone line for maybe 10 miles of the house. These phones are to connect the barn to the house – This is another amazing example of what Dad was capable of. Remember he is 14 years old.)
Got my phones, they work.
Got book an how to throw your voice (and impress girls?)
Got cheque for $2.50
Ground-hogs day. He saw his shadow. 40 more days winter.
Tell Orphan Annie I solved code for three years now. (Hmmm, what does that mean?)
The first crowned King and Queen of this
country ever to set foot on Canadian soil landed at
The creek opened today.
Put my water mill in creek today “Has it got power”
Fix grindstone to rotor on water mill today, it turns good.
Simeon was here; he said I should have a generator on the water mill.
(Dad always wanted to generate electricity)
I was just thinking today that five years ago we didn’t have a bit of Electricity or a battery of any kind around the place.
Now we have;
“The Radio Batteries”
2 – 45 Volt – tapped for 27 ½ V
1 – 4 ½ - 3 1 ½ Volt
1 – 2 Volt – 1,000 hour wet for filaments
1 – 6 Volt Hot Shot for starting Ford Esquire.
All Evereadies. They are my favorite brand. I also have 6 Volt Hot Shot above my bed for light
Wireless (radio) sure is a great thing. We
have a set and it keeps us in touch with the world. We get everything around
from the big cities.
Ice went off
Ice went off
Found first May flower. Still a little snow.
Got a new horse, “Ned” $115.00
The King and Queen were at the closest
place to here, “
Pile wood. Get Eaton’s
Chapter Three.
Logging On
My first connection to another computer system by using something called a modem, was sometime in early 1981.
110 Baud, then 300 Baud, 1200 Baud, 2400 Baud, 9600, Baud, 14,400 Baud, 28,800 Baud, 56,000 Baud. Then high speed Internet access after that, all the way up to 10 Megabits per Second fiber optic, there is no going back to 110 Baud.
CompuServe was king.
There was no IBM PC yet. It was being developed in secret by IBM. VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program, was the killer application of the moment, running on Apple computers.
(http://www.bricklin.com/ibmpcannouncement1981.htm)
I was working in
Programming the Datapoint systems that they used for Order Entry, Inventory Control and Accounts Receivable by day and working after hours part-time for a local computer store that sold Apple computers.
Somehow I found out about CompuServe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServe), some kind of an on-line computer system. Probably from a BYTE Magazine (http://www.vintage-computer.com/byte.shtml)
Who would want to connect to another computer somewhere other than where you were located? It didn’t make sense. Oh wait, what is this CB simulator? I have no idea really, but I want to try it.
How can I connect? I need a modem, short
for modulator/demodulator. Well, it so happens that I can get my hands on one.
They are rare at the best of times in 1981, but AGT (Alberta Government
Telephones) had left an old 110 baud modem behind when they upgraded the
leased-lines to the
It was no
Originate Handshake Sequence
March
1998
DIAL
1.
Go off hook
2.
Bring out of power down mode (CR0 bits D5-D2)
3.
Set DTMF tone (Tone bits D4-D0)
4.
Turn on transmitter (Set CR0 bit D1)
5.
Wait DTMF on time
6.
Turn off transmitter (Clear CR0 bit D1)
7.
Wait DTMF off time
8.
Repeat 3-7 for all digits
WAIT FOR CARRIER
1.
Start S7 (Wait for carrier) timeout
2.
Set to
(Set
CR0 bits D5-D0 to 110001)
3.
Wait for carrier detect bit (DR bit D3) to come on
4.
Start sliding window counter (Wait through
possible
2100 Hz answer tone period)
5.
Qualify RXD mark* for 150 ms (DR bit D5) to
detect
answer modem (Carrier detect bit must
also
be on)
6.
Raise DSR
FSK
1.
Wait 100-200 ms
2.
Raise DCD, start 755-774 ms timer; wait 426-446 ms, send FSK marks
(Set
CR1 bits D7 and D6 to 10, set CR0 bit D1)
3.
At end of 755-774 ms timer period (started in #2 above); raise CTS, unclamp
RXD
and TXD from marking (clear TONE bit D7; clear CR1 bits D7 and D6)
DPSK
1.
Wait 456 (V.22) or 508-626 ms (212A), switch
to DPSK
2.
Send scrambled marks (Set CR1 bits D7 and D6 to 10)
3.
Qualify scrambled marks from answer modem for 150 ms
4.
Wait for 231-302 ms of scrambled marks, raise DCD
5.
Enable RXD (Tone bit D7)
6.
Wait 774 ms, raise CTS, enable TXD (Clear CR1 bits D7 and D6)
*This
may be either answer tone from a
(RXD
is in tri-state mode, TONE bit D7=1)
Now all I needed was a terminal of some kind. No problem, the Datapoint 3600 terminal will connect to this modem. All I need is a cable. I dig out the manual for the terminal and start to learn about something called RS-232C.
(http://www.camiresearch.com/Data_Com_Basics/RS232_standard.html)
Wow, 25 pins to deal with. It seems to me
that a Datapoint service guy left a hand drawn diagram of the wires that are
necessary to connect. Looks like only 8 or 9 wires are needed. SND, RCV, CTS,
RTS, DCE,
After a couple of tries I manage to solder a cable together, with enough wires and pins connected together that satisfy this RS-232C thing.
Did I mention the modem commands? I can’t remember if Hayes had defined their famous AT commands yet. But I think that this modem could dial a telephone number if given the correct command.
(http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~am074/DLS_Modems.html)
Ok, we have a modem, a (hopefully) suitable cable and a terminal. Now we need a telephone line to connect to. No problem. I’ll just connect it to the fax line. No, wait, there is no fax line. We don’t have a fax machine. That comes later on this decade.
Wow,
am I that old?
(http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story051.htm)
Ok there is a phone line available. Let me
see now. I just need to somehow connect to that CompuServe computer. Their
telephone number is somewhere in the
343-7200 is the number of the
Computer Bulletin Board Systems (BBS’s) started some time after. First Fido BBS – Written by: Tom Jennings - 1984
FidoNet became the largest network of its kind - 1985.
(http://www.wps.com/FidoNet/index.html)
My first connection to the Internet was sometime in 1994