--- Roger Merchberger <zmerch_at_30below.com> wrote:
> At 14:00 09/06/2002 -0600, Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk_at_jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
>
> >The C64/Coco/Apple was the quick and simple computer - 8k rom - 64k
> >D-ram and a graphics chip and CPU. It was the cost cutting that got ya
> >like none of the common 8 bit computers had a serial port.
>
> Huh? The CoCo had a standard RS-232 port, with the exception of the
> control lines. It ran standard RS-232 voltages & with software
> handshaking worked
>
> just fine, albeit slowly as it was bit-banged instead of UART driven...
The VIC-20 and the C-64 also had bit-banged serial ports. You could
drive a 300 bps modem directly from them (the VIC MODEM, bane of
CompuServe customer service people) and buy/make EIA level converters.
I had an EIA adapter for my C-64. I also transferred files to and
from an Apple II over 1200 bps TTL (my buddy had his own bit-banging
routines to use the game port - I used the built-in routines from
BASIC to transfer files ;-)
No UART, true. No RS-232, also true; but the VIC-20 and the C-64 _did_
have a serial port that even worked from BASIC (I wrote my own terminal
program to use with the VIC MODEM and CompuServe).
-ethan
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Received on Fri Sep 06 2002 - 16:10:00 BST