Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this video I originally wanted to focus on examining actual serial signal at various baud rates, to present a real feel of what a bit is (electrical pulses) and how they are serially communicated across systems. While I did do that after coming up with a way to intercept the serial pins, the video also grew into doing a presentation of various "terminal emulator" software for the Color Computer system. This shows a nice evolution of capability throughout the 1980s, while also showing increasingly clever software to be able to receive, process (parse escape sequences), and present this streamed data (ultimately using graphics mode to present non-native character sets).
This is not meant as a tutorial of any specific terminal program. But there are some "close up" shots towards the end that may help clarify how they are used.
The specific WiModem232 device I used is:
cbmstuff.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=60
This same model is also available for C64 and PET. Ask the shop about a case, I highly recommend a case because the edge of the LCD screen is fairly easy to crack when plugging it in without a case. And I do recommend the LCD version, to make it easier to verify what the current baud rate on the modem is.
For the DELUXE RS232 Pak:
The original versions of these are getting harder to find. What I used is a clone production out of Australia from "dr.ians_junque" (search eBay for "New RS232C Serial Interface for Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 1 2 3"). While it doesn't come with the same case as the original, it does operate identical to the original and uses much of the same components.
An excellent hardware walk-through of this RS232 Pak is available here:
youtube.com/watch?v=iIsdBGWa1kI
If interested in the terminal setup on the PET side of things, I have another video with more information about PETTERM used on that system:
youtube.com/watch?v=PH7YtoxOdrI
Table of Pertinent Time Indexes
00:10 CoCo1 SerialIO Setup
00:20 Loading COMPAC with CTR-80A Cassette (CLOADM)
00:47 Powering up the WiModem232 (initial router connection)
01:33 Observing serial signal with oscilliscope
02:25 PART 2: Swapping CoCo1 to CoCo3
03:30 Machine to machine bit-bang serial communication demo
04:04 PART 3: To show a variety of connection speeds (110 to 19200 baud)
04:14 CoCo3 SerialIO Setup (plus RGB to HDMI video out)
04:43 Demo of 110 baud speed
05:05 Demo of 300 baud (with signal view)
05:13 Demo of 2400 baud
05:30 Comparison of 9600 vs 19200 baud
05:53 PART 4: BBSing at 9600 baud
05:58 Greg-E-Term 2.5
06:49 PARTICLES BBS (since 1992)
06:58 Ultimaterm 2.4
07:53 Ultimaterm 4.1
09:19 V-Term Terminal Emulator 3.04.00
10:12 Twilight Terminal 2.12
12:13 NETMATE 0.53 beta
13:21 Comparison of 4800 vs 19200 baud
13:44 Official End :D
13:53 Graph of 110/300/19200 serial signal speeds
14:02 Oscilloscope monitoring various alphabet signals
14:33 Closeup View: Greg-E-Term 2.5
15:47 Closeup View: Ultimaterm 4.1
17:09 Checking weather using Ultimaterm
17:24 Closeup View: V-Term
17:55 Closeup View: Twilight Terminal
18:52 Checking weather using Twilight Terminal
19:14 (saying hello to hyjinx, AlsGeekLab SysOp)
19:36 Closeup View: NETMATE
20:27 Checking weather using NETMATE
21:36 Static Images: Greg-E-Term
22:07 Static Images: Ultimaterm 2.7
22:25 Static Images: Ultimaterm 4.1
23:07 Static Images: Twilight Terminal
23:33 Static Images: NETMATE
In this video I originally wanted to focus on examining actual serial signal at various baud rates, to present a real feel of what a bit is (electrical pulses) and how they are serially communicated across systems. While I did do that after coming up with a way to intercept the serial pins, the video also grew into doing a presentation of various "terminal emulator" software for the Color Computer system. This shows a nice evolution of capability throughout the 1980s, while also showing increasingly clever software to be able to receive, process (parse escape sequences), and present this streamed data (ultimately using graphics mode to present non-native character sets).
This is not meant as a tutorial of any specific terminal program. But there are some "close up" shots towards the end that may help clarify how they are used.
The specific WiModem232 device I used is:
cbmstuff.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=60
This same model is also available for C64 and PET. Ask the shop about a case, I highly recommend a case because the edge of the LCD screen is fairly easy to crack when plugging it in without a case. And I do recommend the LCD version, to make it easier to verify what the current baud rate on the modem is.
For the DELUXE RS232 Pak:
The original versions of these are getting harder to find. What I used is a clone production out of Australia from "dr.ians_junque" (search eBay for "New RS232C Serial Interface for Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 1 2 3"). While it doesn't come with the same case as the original, it does operate identical to the original and uses much of the same components.
An excellent hardware walk-through of this RS232 Pak is available here:
youtube.com/watch?v=iIsdBGWa1kI
If interested in the terminal setup on the PET side of things, I have another video with more information about PETTERM used on that system:
youtube.com/watch?v=PH7YtoxOdrI
Table of Pertinent Time Indexes
00:10 CoCo1 SerialIO Setup
00:20 Loading COMPAC with CTR-80A Cassette (CLOADM)
00:47 Powering up the WiModem232 (initial router connection)
01:33 Observing serial signal with oscilliscope
02:25 PART 2: Swapping CoCo1 to CoCo3
03:30 Machine to machine bit-bang serial communication demo
04:04 PART 3: To show a variety of connection speeds (110 to 19200 baud)
04:14 CoCo3 SerialIO Setup (plus RGB to HDMI video out)
04:43 Demo of 110 baud speed
05:05 Demo of 300 baud (with signal view)
05:13 Demo of 2400 baud
05:30 Comparison of 9600 vs 19200 baud
05:53 PART 4: BBSing at 9600 baud
05:58 Greg-E-Term 2.5
06:49 PARTICLES BBS (since 1992)
06:58 Ultimaterm 2.4
07:53 Ultimaterm 4.1
09:19 V-Term Terminal Emulator 3.04.00
10:12 Twilight Terminal 2.12
12:13 NETMATE 0.53 beta
13:21 Comparison of 4800 vs 19200 baud
13:44 Official End :D
13:53 Graph of 110/300/19200 serial signal speeds
14:02 Oscilloscope monitoring various alphabet signals
14:33 Closeup View: Greg-E-Term 2.5
15:47 Closeup View: Ultimaterm 4.1
17:09 Checking weather using Ultimaterm
17:24 Closeup View: V-Term
17:55 Closeup View: Twilight Terminal
18:52 Checking weather using Twilight Terminal
19:14 (saying hello to hyjinx, AlsGeekLab SysOp)
19:36 Closeup View: NETMATE
20:27 Checking weather using NETMATE
21:36 Static Images: Greg-E-Term
22:07 Static Images: Ultimaterm 2.7
22:25 Static Images: Ultimaterm 4.1
23:07 Static Images: Twilight Terminal
23:33 Static Images: NETMATE
