Connection experiment successfully completed ZX Spectrum To Telnet-BBS via the network Internet. Computer used ZXM Phoenix r.4, which has a built-in serial port. Any Spectrum-compatible computer equipped with a serial port supported by the program can be used Melon Terminal.
To connect a computer to the Internet, a simple experimental device based on a microcomputer has been assembled Arduino, which acts as a bidirectional information converter between the ZX Spectrum serial port and the Internet server running Telnet BBS.
The device includes: a homemade board with an Arduino Pro Mini microcomputer (based on the Atmega328 microcontroller), a homemade TTL-RS232 adapter board (based on the MAX232A chip), an Ethernet adapter board (Ethernet-shield based on the Wiznet W5100 chip).
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoEthernetShield
The components are cheap and available on Aliexpress.
All three boards are connected in a stack with standard connectors. The Ethernet adapter operates via SPI and uses pins 10, 11, 12, 13, and the last three should only be taken from the ISCP connector. The TTL-RS232 adapter board only uses RX/TX pins. The design would look much simpler if you used an Arduino Uno R3 and a cable with a USB-RS232 converter, or even simpler if you used a Freeduino MaxSerial board, which already has a COM port. With these boards, you don't need to solder anything. However, for the experiments, it was the Arduino Pro Mini board that was at hand, and after assembly I had to throw in three wires to connect to the Ethernet adapter via SPI. To program the Pro Mini, a USB programmer on the CP2104 chip was used. On a UNO board, a conflict between two RS232 adapters on one UART is inevitable.
A simple program with a Telnet client has been written for the Arduino Pro Mini microcomputer, which selects a Telnet BBS number, exchanges information via a serial port, and connects to the Telnet BBS server via port 23. To operate the Ethernet Shield board, a ready-made Ethernet library is used, a detailed description of which is located at : https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Ethernet. It should be noted that the library has various classes, supports TCP/IP, UDP, DHCP, DNS, HTTP requests, etc.
ZXM Phoenix runs Melon Terminal 1.9a. The computer plays the role of an intelligent terminal. The ZX Spectrum is connected by a null modem cable to the TTL-RS232 adapter board, and the Ethernet adapter board is connected by a network cable to the switch (hub). It should be noted that the Ethernet adapter on the W5100 chip does not work with some D-Link switches, and there are no problems with ZyXEL switches.

The Melon Terminal program starts on the computer. The speeds of the COM ports in the program and Arduino must match, otherwise a set of characters may be displayed instead of messages. To configure the Melon Terminal program, you should hold down the Shift key during startup so that after loading you can immediately get to the settings menu. Otherwise the program may freeze. In the settings menu, select the interface type that matches the hardware configuration of the serial port. For ZXMC - a serial port with Kondratieff addressing, for the SMUC adapter - set “SMUC” accordingly. The COM port speed should be changed using the Ctrl+6 keys. Exit the settings menu – Ctrl+Space. Reentering the menu – Ctrl+Shift.
After completing the settings, you should turn on the Arduino, after which a message about connecting to the Arduino will be displayed and a proposal to select a specific Telnet BBS server. After selection, the device searches for a server and tries to connect to it via the Internet. If the connection is successful, a corresponding message is displayed and the Telnet BBS prompt appears. Well, then - the usual work with BBS, as was done during the Maximus and Terminate programs, which many Spectrumists remember well. The text does not fit on the entire screen of the terminal program, but when registering on a BBS, you can choose the type of interface.
In this case, the connection is made with a Telnet BBS running the Synchronet BBS package. Information on this package and a list of Telnet BBS are located at:

Recommended reading for all those who have a home page on the Internet or have had one before, those who are planning to build one soon, as well as those who would like to make their own home page, but do not know how.

Now there will be a short introduction... To begin with, I will ask you this question: “Do you know what a BBS is?”

Quote from the ancient manuscript "FIDONET BEGINNER'S GUIDE" (dated 1991 AD):

"... As you know, since ancient times every person has strived to communicate with his own kind. For this purpose, the postal system, telephone, telegraph and other benefits of civilization were created. But, as a rule, such communication was limited to two interlocutors. And every person, as a rule , a speaker at heart: he needs an audience to whom he could express his thoughts, with whom he could argue, in general, this state of affairs in our age, when spaceships plow the vast expanses of the Universe, did not suit many. And so the group of those dying Out of longing for communication between computer owners, a brilliant idea came to mind: what’s stopping us from setting up something like a bulletin board, where everyone could “hang up notices” with their smart thoughts and read the smart thoughts of others. did not arise. No sooner said than done. The result exceeded all expectations! In addition to the opportunity to “chat,” there was a unique opportunity to jointly solve important problems, discuss new ideas, and exchange information. This is how BBS appeared. BBS stands for Electronic Bulletin Board System..."

Much water has passed under the bridge since then, and the boom of terminal BBSs in Russia took place somewhere in 1998-2000, just after the advent of the “system for housewives” - Windows 98 and the public Internet (accessible to housewives).

However, we must not forget that many BBCs are still working, and you can now safely call some BBC in your city and download something from there (and completely free).

The emergence of WEB-BBS-ok

But this is not a fairy tale, but only a saying. And this is where the very thing begins, which is why I wrote this article:

Recently, due to the emergence of new technologies, people have begun to remake BBSki into WEB-BBSki. You ask: "What does this mean?" Users usually access BBSes using a terminal program (such as HyperTerminal).

Apart from downloading files and reading mail, the BBS provides virtually nothing of its own. WEB BBS is an extension of the regular BBS, based on Internet standards.

When working with WEB BBS, the user no longer uses a terminal program, but a browser (for example, such as Internet Explorer).

Navigating WEB BBS reminds you of traveling on the Internet, i.e. you enter the desired URL into the browser and view the information received. WEB BBS, unlike BBS, can be designed as a website or portal.

Why do you need your own W-B?

Now THINK, doesn’t this WEB-BBS remind you of anything? Not buying yet? What about your home page, which you did a week (month, year) ago. WEB-BBS is the same home page for friends. Just to access it, you do not need to connect to the Internet. It is enough to call WB (call the same way as on the Internet via “Network and Remote Access to the Network”, the phone number is accordingly not Internet). And after connecting, type in the Internet Explorer address bar the address of W-B to which you connected.

The differences between W-B and your Internet page are huge. As a rule, free hosting gives you limited space for your website and does not allow you to use scripts (PHP, Perl). These features are only available on paid hosting services. In your home, the size of the site will be limited by the size of your hard drive. In addition to this, you can install any scripts on your site. That is, your home site can have its own forum, chat and much more. Naturally, there are also disadvantages.

• For example, an Australian or an American will not be able to access your W-B.
• Two people will not be able to log in to your W-B at the same time.

Think about it: how often do Americans visit your site, especially in a crowd of 20 people at once? If not, consider transferring your home page from some “public” hosting to your home, to your computer.

For the first time, my website openly talks about how to do this - everything is not as difficult as you think. In addition, if you do this, you will have experience configuring a web server, and this may be useful to you if you work as, say, some kind of administrator. Yes, even if you don’t work as an admin, it’s just interesting to look at the work of a web server, so to speak, from the inside. What benefit do you get from this? W-B is a new phenomenon and now few people have W-BBS. You will have something that others don’t have. You can create a full-fledged Internet portal at home, which your friends can access. And, if you open it for everyone, then other computer specialists in your city. A person connected to your W-B will be able to:

• Download from you and upload some useful programs to you.
• Chat with you if you deign to be present in the chat.
• Leave a message in the Guestbook or on the Forum.

This will be much more useful than a simple home page (after all, no one will upload anything to your page). What will it take to create a W-B?

• A computer with a modem and the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system installed (in general, Windows 98 and Linux are also suitable).
• Hands, preferably growing from where they need to be.

Attention!!! Your W-B will only work when your computer is on and your phone is not busy. Accordingly, you can enable it:

• When your friend (girlfriend) calls by voice and asks (then your W-B can be called private).
• During certain “working” hours (then your W-B can be called public).

It is unlikely that you will be able to do it around the clock at home (your relatives will not like it). But you can, if your relatives don’t mind, make it work at night. It is so accepted that most W-Bs work at night, for example, my W-B work hours are from 23:00 to 7:00 and you will not be an exception if you set yourself the same work hours. I will note: you will not need to sit at the computer all this time; it will be enough for it to be turned on. The next day you will be able to respond to messages left on your forum and collect the harvest of new files that you have grown overnight. That's all for now. If I interested you in this article, go to my website and read more about how to make your own WEB-BBS. By the way, this is so far the only site in RuNet dedicated entirely to WEB-BBS "cameras. My "Tutorial on creating W-B" is posted on the site. Now there is a half-draft version that needs improvement. However, with the help of this option you can make your own W-B is your real home page.

P.S: It’s not for nothing that the page is called “home” and not “national”. The point is that it should be in your home, and not in front of the People.

FidoNET- Networks, FIDO, BBS and ZX-Spectrum.

ATTENTION! This material is taken from the magazineBlack Crow-2 bears full responsibility on the editor of this magazine.Mikhail Maksimenko (MAX) Networks, FIDO and ZX-Spectrum ───── ──── FIDO is a network of friends. Treat those around you the way you would like to be treated.(C) Jesus If you have any idea what a modem is, computer networks in general and FIDO in particular, you don’t have to read this section. It is intended to give a general idea of ​​these things to beginners. Contents ──────────── 1. Lyrical digression. 2. BBS. 3. FIDO. 4. Network structure. 5. How to become a member of FIDO. 6. Connection diagram for internal HAYS modem.Lyrical digression ──────────────────────── Suppose (for starters, just assume) you have a computer, modem and phone at hand. By combining all this into a single whole, you suddenly find yourself in a completely new, exciting world, the existence of which you may not have even suspected before. You find yourself at the center of events not only in your country, but throughout the whole world. Your social circle expands to such an extent that you are unable to retain the names of all your friends in memory. All news is available to you almost the moment it appears. Cities, countries, borders no longer exist. There is a huge cyberspace without borders, authorities, censorship and other things unnecessary for a normal person. And you get all this without getting up from your comfortable chair. All of these are computer networks. And to access all this, you just need a computer, a modem and a phone. BBS ─────── (Bulletin Board System - Electronic bulletin board). BBS is the simplest solution for a computer network. In this case, there is a server answering phone calls and you calling that server. After connecting your modem to the server modem, the latter runs a special terminal program that can transmit something to the screen of your terminal and read commands from your keyboard through the modem. The main purpose of the BBS, no matter how they try to elevate it, is file exchange. By calling the BBS, you can use the same modem to pick up something that is available to you, or transfer something. And although many sysops (system operators) add a bunch of additional functions to their stations, transmitting and receiving files remains the main purpose of the BBS. There is no need to talk about any acceptable network communication. Most often, all communication comes down to communication with the owner of the BBS, a discussion of his interests, or, at best, to communication between users of a single station, whose circle is most often limited to one locality. FIDO ──────── Once upon a time there was a man. And all night long this man was calling his friends on the BBC. I rang and rang and got tired. And the man made himself such a gadget that called itself at the appointed time, transmitted letters pre-written by the man to the necessary telephone numbers, and took away the answers, if any. This is how the network appeared FIDO which the mentioned man named after his dog (Fido in English translation means faithful). The year was 1984. Over the years, the network grew and expanded. It included more and more new stations. New, more advanced programs appeared. The technology and network structure have improved. Soon, the network participants found it not enough to communicate with each other in person, and they came up with echo conferences, where it became possible for everyone to communicate together at once. Echo conferences are like magazines or newspapers that are distributed throughout the world and to which everyone in the network can write. The network crossed the borders of countries, and network members realized that in order to send a letter to a distant friend it is not at all necessary to spend a lot of money on an international call. It is easier to send a letter to a nearby node, which will forward it to the next one, again avoiding large costs. And so the letter, even if it takes some time (currently, for example, a letter from Chelyabinsk to Quebec, Canada, takes about three days), will reach the addressee, a direct call to whom would require a lot of money. The network continued to grow. The volume of transmitted mail is proportional. The nodes worked mainly at night, and then it turned out that sometimes in order to transmit an important personal message to a node you have to work pretty hard, since this node is busy pumping echo mail over the modem all night long. Then the network participants entered fidosh"radio silence hour" - ZMH, zonal postal hour. During this hour, which is set according to the time zone, you are prohibited from transmitting anything other than private personal mail online. Here are the basic technical principles of FIDO in general terms:network (personal, personal) mail;echo conferences;routing (the path of a personal letter from one node to another through other nodes, when the sender does not even know through which nodes his letter will go, but can be sure that it will arrive).Zonal Mail Hour. Currently, there are more than36 thousand nodes worldwide. In addition, each node can have as many points as desired - network nodes of a lower order. Therefore, no one knows the real number of network participants. The official list of official nodes of the FIDO network is published centrally and updated weekly. On any BBS that is part of FIDO, you can find Nodelist - that’s what this list is called. More detailed and more comprehensive information about FIDO can be found in the official documents of the network, which can also be found on almost any BBS that is part of FIDO. This is fidopol - fidonet policy, a document describing the network structure, hierarchy and basic rules of behavior; echopol - echo policy - a description, respectively, of the structure and ethical standards for FIDO echo conferences; FTS*.*, FSC*.* - technical standards and recommendations for Fidonet Technology Networks (FTN).Network structure ──────────────── The functional unit of the FIDO network is a node. A node is, most often, a computer with a modem on which the appropriate software is installed, which communicates with other nodes according to a special schedule. Each node has its own unique address on the network. Theoretically, all network nodes have equal rights. Topologically - no. Typically, nodes are grouped according to territorial characteristics in a network, networks into regions, and regions into zones. All this is reflected in the node address. Those. Knowing the FIDO address, it is most often possible to determine the location of the node with precision down to the locality. Currently, a 4-dimensional address system is used. Those. an address in FIDO consists of 4 numbers separated by special characters. Namely: zone_number: network_number/node_number. point_number For example: 2:5010/14.7 - my point address. Here:└─┼─────┼─┼──── Zone 2 - Europe and Russia └─────┼─┼──── Network 5010 - Chelyabinsk and│ │ area. └─┼──── Node 14 within the 5010 network └──── 7th point of the 14th knot. Obviously, the node with the address 2:5010/14.0 is hierarchically higher than 2:5010/14.7. And indeed it is. Full members of the network are only nodes with a zero point number (hereinafter simply nodes). Most often, in their address the 0 after the dot is not indicated, but simply written 2:5010/14, for example. The node is free to choose with whom it maintains network contact within the network. The point is attached to a node, and all its communications with the outside world are carried out only through this node, the sysop of which is called its “boss”. A node can connect to itself as many points as it likes, and it bears full responsibility for any of their actions. A node that has a constant connection with a certain number of other nodes is called a hub. Most often, there are no BBSs at such nodes due to their high load. In each network, the sysop of the node with node number 0 is the network coordinator, which determines and controls routing (passage and passage of signals inside and outside the network), changes in the operating mode of nodes, and performs other administrative functions. There are also regional, zonal and network coordinators. All these positions are elective, and in no way provide any advantages over other units, except for responsibility for decision-making. Perhaps that's enough. It seems to me that the information provided is enough to get started. You can find everything else in the official FIDO documents, or simply by talking with a familiar sysop - fidoshnik.How to become a member of FIDO ─────────────────────── The first step is to call the BBS. BBS phones are not difficult to find if you have access to a computer. They are often published in newspapers and magazines. Call, don’t be afraid, make mistakes, communicate with sysops. Sysops are usually benevolent people and will be happy to explain to you anything you don’t understand. The only thing I want to say is NEVER HANG UP THE HOOK IF THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE ANSWERED BY VOICE. Be sure to pick up the phone, apologize and politely ask about the operating hours of the BBS. Well, after the first step is taken, it’s easy to get your bearings. If the BBS sysop is a FIDO node, you have every right (of course not right away) to ask it to give you a point address. Although, he has every right to refuse you. If the BBS sysop is also a point, you can ask him for advice. In general, I’m tired of describing obvious things here. Find your own way. The main thing is to take your time. And remember - no one owes you anything (just like you owe no one). Each network node works on its own enthusiasm and completely unselfishly, so a lot will depend primarily on your attitude towards others.