2400-Baud Modems
Specific System Requirements - 2400-Baud Modems
Color 64 BBS supports the Hayes Smartmodem 2400 and many good compatible modems. Without using the SwiftLink interface, you should find that your C64 and Color 64 can handle 2400 baud file transfers with very few errors.
Here is how I recommend you configure your modem to set up your system for 2400 baud.
Hayes Smart modems come from the factory with DTR and CARRIER DETECT forced true. The 1200 baud modems had switches while the 2400 modems don't. Instead, they have a series of commands that are entered from a terminal program then stored in permanent memory. The following commands are what I recommend you type to set up your modem. Just load a simple ASCII terminal program, and at 300 baud type the following:
- AT &D3 (some compatibles prefer AT&D2). Press RETURN and then enter the next command:
- AT &F &C1 &S0 X1 S0=0 M0 E0
- Now switch your terminal to 2400 baud and type: AT&W (this will write this to your modem’s permanent memory)
- AFTER you have performed the above, you need to run SETUP and, in the MODEM INIT command, enter: ats7=15s10=30
The first step above presets your modem to:
- Disconnect and reset to power on configuration when DTR is dropped
- Monitor carrier lost and disconnect if false
- Force DSR true
- Not auto-answer the phone
- Turn off the speaker
- Turn echo off; and
- Save this configuration in permanent memory within the modem.
After typing the ATE0 command, the modem will quit echoing to the screen. This is a more reliable way to send "at" commands at 2400 baud because in a few cases echo mode can cause garbled communications. Anyway, the BBS does not need echo and when you want to auto-dial another BBS, just use the autodialer built into the term.
The modem init command in SETUP will set the modem to wait for a carrier for 15 seconds. I found that 30 seconds was too long and often the telephone companies off-hook attention signal would confuse the modem to think it had carrier. Besides, 15 seconds is plenty long to wait for a carrier. This s7 register is not saved in permanent memory when using the AT&W command, so we need to enter it here in SETUP. The second part of the modem init set the modem to wait the maximum amount of time before disconnecting when carrier is lost. This is to help somewhat if there is line noise or if the caller is using some special service like call-waiting.