TID: Mystic BBS 1.12 A46
MSGID: 1:387/26 b0453721
REPLY: 1207.clascomp@1:2320/105 275ce5bb
TZUTC: -0500
On 13 Aug 2022, Mike Powell said the following...
 MP> > ESP-12 modules can be programmed to all sorts of things, but almost all 
 MP> > them come from the factory programmed to be a WiFi modem. They behave pr
 MP> > much just like a Hayes-compatible modem, but instead of dialing phone
 MP> > numbers, one dials internet addresses. They accept AT commands and gener
 MP> > the usual "CONNECT" and "RING" messages, although there are some additio
 MP> > AT commands available to facilitate things like searching for and connec
 MP> > to a WiFi network.
 MP> I have seen those.  Some folks have used them to get some pretty old
 MP> machines (old in comparison to the public internet age) connected to the
 MP> internet.

The ESP-12 modules are based on the ESP-8266 microcontroller, but the
ESP-8266 has a big brother that itself is not that expensive at all: the
ESP32.

My favorite peripheral for getting an old machine online is the FujiNet,
which is made for the Atari 8-bit family. A couple of things to know about
the Atari 8-bits are that their primary peripheral interface is an SIO port,
and that they do not have a built-in RS-232 interface. Peripherals such as
disk drives, cassette drives, printers, and the Atari 850 RS-232 interface
are all daisy-chained off of this one SIO port, which is a serial port and
(arguably) a distant ancestor of the modern USB port.

The FujiNet device connects to this SIO port and emulates a number of
peripherals, most but not all with some vintage counterpart. It emulates disk
drives and cassette drives, sure, but its internet capabilities can be used
to mount a disk image from a server halfway around the world. 

It emulates printers in a very fun way, too. In addition to being configurable
from the Atari 8-bit to which it's connected, the FujiNet also has a small web
server built in which allows for deeper configuration, such as which printer
type to emulate. Options include raw Ascii as well as a number of vintage
printers  If one of the latter is chosen, anything printed from the Atari is
converted to a PDF, using a font very reminiscent of the specific printer
being emulated, and then the "printout" PDF can be downloaded from the
FujiNet's web server. Additionally, printer #4 can be configured to be a
primitive voice synthesizer reminiscent of the era.

A Hayes-compatible modem connected to an Atari 850 RS-232 interface is also
emulated, so that older software expecting such a configuration (such as BBS
software!) can run unmodified. However, for modern Atari 8-bit software,
that's an unnecessary complication of things, since one shortcoming of the
850 was that it took over the SIO bus when it was in use, which meant that no
other peripherals could be used at the same time (yep, downloading files
larger than the available memory was impossible).

To address this, the FujiNet also has a peripheral that never existed before:
the N: device. This cuts out the 850 and modem entirely and allows an Atari to
open internet connections as easily as opening a file or a printer. Most
importantly, perhaps, it does not suffer from the aforementioned shortcoming
of the 850.

As if all of that wasn't enough, the FujiNet also has running on that same
microcontroller an emulated Z80 CPU running CP/M, which can be accessed from
the Atari.

Jeff.

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