I recently opened two Terminal windows on my Mac and connected both to a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4. I typed a message in one window and watched it appear in the other. The Model 4 was running a Telnet demo over Ethernet. About forty years ago, I was trying to do much the same thing over telephone lines with a Montreal bulletin board system called Datamate.
Before Datamate, there were the CKGM loop lines
I used to listen to CKGM 980 AM at night. Listeners called in to dedicate songs, and sometimes a dedication came with a cryptic message. One I remember went something like “Meet me on 876 at 11:45.” I called the station to ask what that meant. The DJ explained that it was a loop line and told me how it worked. I remember hearing those dedications on Dan Willmott’s show. The radio archives put him on CKGM from 1979 to 1982, first in late nights and then in middays.
Loop lines were telephone circuits set up for testing. Two people could dial different numbers and end up talking to each other. Montreal callers figured out they could use them to meet people. I was 14 when I tried it and met a girl who was 16. Years later I came across Karl Plesz’s post about Montreal loop lines and left a comment telling that story. If you want to hear CKGM as it sounded back then, Rock Radio Scrapbook has a Willmott aircheck.
Karl Plesz’s Montreal loop-line recollections · Dan Willmott’s CKGM aircheck · How loop lines worked, Popular Communications, August 1983
A TRS-80 Model 4, 1200-baud modems, and two callers
I started Datamate on a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4. The modems were Hayes Smartmodem-compatible clones that topped out at 1200 baud. Callers dialed in with a modem and terminal software. On Datamate, two people could be connected at the same time and type messages to each other live. That was the part I wanted to carry over from the loop lines. I remember the dial-up number starting with 514-645, the old Anjou/Pointe-aux-Trembles exchange. The last four digits escape me.
Later I moved Datamate to an IBM PC XT clone. I remember the machine coming through David Sweeney’s Compupak when XT compatibles were catching on. The January–February 1986 issue of The Rising Star lists David with Compupak, Inc. at 3880 De Courtrai in Montreal. I haven’t pinned down the purchase date, but seeing his name and that address in a computer magazine from the time brought that part of the story back into focus.
The Smithsonian’s TRS-80 Model 4 · IBM’s PC and XT history · The Rising Star, January–February 1986 · Montreal telephone switching areas, 1987
From BBS handles to the Peel Pub
One Datamate regular was Steblublu, better known offline as Steve Monteith. Steve ran his own Montreal BBS, Juxtaposition, and kept a directory of boards in the 514 dialing area. In his November 25, 1988 list, he signs off as “S T E B L U B L U (AKA Steve Monteith).” It’s still possible to read the list he circulated, right down to his notes asking sysops to tell him if their boards changed numbers or shut down.
We also got together in person. I remember the Peel Pub and L’Annexe downtown, and a gathering out at the Hudson Yacht Club in Hudson, Quebec. We called that one the HYC-GT, and I remember Ken Grieg organizing it. You could know somebody by their handle for months and then finally put a face to the name. That’s the part of Montreal’s BBS scene I’d most like to hear other people’s stories about.
Steve Monteith’s Montreal BBS directory, November 25, 1988
Back on a Model 4
Today the Model 4 gets on my home network through an M3SE expansion card. It came with a Telnet server demo, which is what let those two windows on my Mac talk to each other. That little test got me thinking about bringing Datamate back as a BBS that runs on the TRS-80 itself.
Retro computing gatherings like VCF Montréal, part of the Vintage Computer Festival community, are a place to compare notes with people who still get these machines working. I’d love to see what Montreal BBS callers have kept over the years. A terminal capture, a floppy disk, or a snapshot from a get-together could bring back a few more names.
At 2MUCH.NET, I went on to build live video chat systems. The connection I see to Datamate is simple. I still enjoy getting two people connected and watching them have a conversation in real time. The picture and sound came later.
The M3SE project · VCF Montréal · My look back at Webdreams and the early days of 2MUCH.NET
Did you call Datamate?
If you dialed into Datamate, knew Steblublu, or came to one of the Montreal BBS get-togethers, I’d love to hear from you. Tell me your handle, what you remember, or who else was there. And if anyone remembers the last four digits of that 514-645 number, you’ll have solved a mystery I’ve been carrying around for years.