1964 300baud Modem Surfs The Web

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9dpXHnJXaE]

[phreakmonkey] got his hands on a great piece of old tech. It’s a 1964 Livermore Data Systems Model A Acoustic Coupler Modem. He recieved it in 1989 and recently decided to see if it would actually work. It took some digging to find a proper D25 adapter and even then the original serial adapter wasn’t working because the oscillator depends on the serial voltage. He dials in and connects at 300baud. Then logs into a remote system and fires up lynx to load Wikipedia. Lucky for [phreakmonkey] they managed to decide on a modulation standard in 1962. It’s still amazing to see this machine working 45 years later. He’d love to hear from you if you’ve used a similar device.

[via Waxy]

105 thoughts on “1964 300baud Modem Surfs The Web

  1. It always cracks me up when people refer to things from the 90’s as “ancient”, as he did referring to a dial-up network. If 90’s tech is ancient, then 60’s tech (like the acoustic modem) must be downright prehistoric.

  2. That’s a cool piece of hardware. Do you know what’s inside or how it works or an eletricial schematic.
    If I can get enough info about it, I think I will try to build one.
    Thanks

  3. Do you only need the 9 pin or 11 pin serial connection or the 25 pin connection. won’t 9 or 11 pins only be used? Also if your computer has the 25 pin serial connection can you use it?
    Thaks

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