I-E. Dial-up and Bulletin Board Services

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1. Bulletin Boards are online service which you can dial directly. Most are either operated by companies as a part of their technical support services or are run privately.

  1. You access them directly through a dial-up connection. They ARE NOT a part of the Internet
  2. Most are focussed on a particular special interest or subject
  3. They typically offer the ability to leave messages and to read messages left by others as well as to download files
  4. They are rapidly being replaced by UseNet Services (see Session V.) which ARE a part of the Internet
  5. A directory of BBSs can be found at The BBS Corner

2. Making a new dial-up service connection - The Mercer County Library.

(NOTE: The Ewing SeniorNet Computer Literacy Center is located in Mercer county, New Jersey.  As a result this is a local call for our local students.  If you are located outside of the 609 calling area, we recommend that you DO NOT use the exercise that follows unless you are willing to incur the associated long distance charges. Perhaps your local library offers a similar service.  Give them a call to find out.)

  1. Run the HyperTerminal Program (Start | Programs | Accessories | HyperTerminal | hypertrm.exe)
  2. A Connection Description dialog box appears
    1. Give the new connection a name (Mercer County Library)
    2. Choose an icon for the connection (probably one with some books in it to help you remember that this is a connection to the library)
    3. Click the OK Button
  3. A Connect To dialog box appears
    1. The country and area code should already be correctly entered in the appropriate text boxes (this information comes from the Windows setup process)
    2. Enter the telephone number (883-8554)
    3. The Connect Using text box should display your current active modem or other Internet connection
    4. Click the OK Button. The Connect dialog box appears and you are ready to dial. But before you do, check out the features behind the Dialing Properties button
      1. In the Where Am I section you can give your location a name, an area code and a country.  This is useful if your program is being run from a laptop and you travel from city to city or country to country
      2. In the How I Dial From This Location section you set dialing prefix information, calling card and call waiting information and provide information about touch vs. pulse dialing
  4. Click the Dial button to dial the number. The telephone number is dialed by the modem and you hear a hissing or warbling "carrier tone." This is the sound that is "modulated" to carry your data over the telephone lines
  5. A sign-on screen appears
    1. Enter the Log-in Password (dialpac)
    2. You are next asked a series of questions to help the host computer configure itself to your terminal type. In this case each of the questions can be answered correctly by pressing the Enter Key. (It will take four presses to get to the main menu)
  6. When you get to the menu, you can explore it at will, following the directions on the screen to maneuver through the various screens. Note that your mouse in inoperable. This dial-up service is totally text-based
  7. When you are ready to quit, choose 19 - Log Off from the main menu.  The HyperTerminal program will hang up the phone and ask you if you want to save the information for a future connection. If you choose to save the information, the next time you want to call this particular dial-up connection, you simply need to click on the icon you chose earlier
  8. Finally, your computer will go "off-line" and once again function as you are used to having it function
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