This is a Modem for Commodore 64 to allow the connection to the Compunet services.

Compunet was a United Kingdom based interactive service provider, catering primarily for the Commodore 64 but later for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. It was also known by its users as CNet.

Compunet hosted a wide range of content, and users were permitted to create their own sections within which they could upload their own graphics, articles and software. A custom editor existed in which the “frames” that made up the pages could be created either offline or when connected to the service.

The editor’s cache allowed users to quickly download a set of pages, then disconnect from the service in order to read them, thus saving on telephone costs.

Gallery:

I don’t feel like unwrapping the Modem box so i will only take a pictures of the outside.

The 1670 was Commodores first “Hayes Compatible” modem. Hayes compatibility meant that the modem understood a series of control commands that had become the standard modem “language” (a language still used today).

Commodore marketed the 1670 at Commodore 128 users, even going so far as to claim that the Commodore 64 was too slow to use the 1670 at 1200 baud.

This was false, however; the Commodore 64 could use the 1670 without problems. The original 1670 also had an annoying feature of answering your phone on the first ring automatically whenever it was plugged in.

Later, a newer version of the modem was released with a dip switch allowing you to turn this “feature” off. This later version was called the “New 1670″ or the “1670CR”, and except for the extra dip switch in back, was identical to the old 1670 modem.

Gallery:

The VICMODEM it’s been the first modem to cost under 100$ and the first to sold over a million units, contributing to the diffusion of online services and BBSes outside laboratories, universities, big Companies and military agencies.

Much of the credit for the project goes to Michael Tomczyk, who also created the Commodore Information Network to decrease the workload of the customer service department of the company. In 1982 the section with the most traffic on Compuserve was the Commodore network.

The modem connects to the user port of the Commodore VIC 20/64/128; on one side there’s a switch to choose if the computer answers the call (A) or originates it (O).

On the back there’s the plug for the cable that usually is connected to the phone handset – the modem couldn’t directly dial the number, so you had to dial it on the phone and then connect the modem in place of the handset.

You can read the full article by Giacomo Vernoni here

Gallery:

Autopsy:

from Zimmers homepage:

The Commodore 1600 was an extremely prolific and inexpensive modem, introducing millions of computer users to the online world. Marketed to the VIC-20 user, the “VICMODEM” as it was nicnamed, operated in an extremely strange manner.

Instead of connecting to the phone line directly, the VICMODEM relied on a connection THROUGH the phone to the handset. One would dial the number they wished to connect to, then remove the extension from their handset, plugging it into the modem after a carrier signal is heard.

Some customers in Canada were lucky enough to get their VICMODEM packaged with this telephone manufactured in Canada by Northern Telecom. Ironically, the phone did not have a detachable handset, making it useless by itself for use with the modem. Therefore, the set also included a small adaptor which allowed one to plug the VICMODEM directly into the wall line cable, daisy chained to the phone. After dialing with the phone, a switch on the adaptor would redirect the carrier signal to the modem.

Download: Commodore VIC Modem Model 1600 Manual (1717)

source: zimmers.net

autopsy:

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This is my first Modem, this is a Acoustic coupler modem for Commodore PET but i could use it with a IEEE488 Interface for the Commodore 64.

The Commodore’s 8010 Modem is an IEEE-488 (1978 standard) device which communicates via any standard telephone.

The 8010 Modem meets Bell 103 standards for communication at a fixed rate of  00 BAUD. The telephone interface is acoustic so the modem is portable. This means Commodore computers can communicate with, large computer systems like The Source and MICRONET, and other small computers.

Initially Commodore supplied software will support the following applications, with many more to come.

1) Terminal emulation.
2) Disk file send and receive.
3) Wordpro 3 sequential file send.
4) Hardcopy using Commodore printers.
5) Disk spooling.

A switchable four-section bandpass filter provides out-of-band rejection assuring accurate processing of the input from received carrier, even at signal levels of less than -47 dBm.

Jitter-free data is guaranteed by a soft limiter and phase lock loop discriminator. The carrier detect circuitry prevents the CBM Modem from operating when excessive noise would produce errors or cause marginal operation. This feature also assures accurate teleprocessing connections and inhibits chatter when the received signal fades.