Using Old DOS programs today ???

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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I'm intending in the near future to move home ( Just had the last chain collapse) When this finally happens I would like to take up my Ham Radio Hobby again using some old DOS software , I started to look into an Old 386 or 286 and realized two things one old PCs are worth a fortune and two how would I get the programs onto floppy disc from a more modern PC without a floppy drive ?? Will a floppy drive even work in a modern PC . Ok that sounds difficult so option 2 use a more modern PC , will Dos even work on a modern PC ? 2 if Dos did work on the modern PC how would I download the Programs onto said PC ? The other problem would be do modern PC's even have serial ports needed to use the programs anyway ? option 3 get a half way machine that will run Windoze but still have acess to Dos , I think the last timeI used Windoze was 95 ( am I right that you still had Dos access in (95) Will Windoze 95 be able to connect to modern broadband equipment ? Or option 4 give up and go home. What do you think is the best plan ? I seem to remember trying this before in some sort of Dos emulator and finding the comports did not work.
 
I don't know what what kind of old software you intend to use, but it sounds ancient, personally I would use something more modern, currently running FLdigi, WSJTX (FT8) and CubicSDR on a Windows 7 PC.

73s
M0YNW
 
I know zip about ham radio but I'd think this guy would know about new software that works with old kit.

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M0SZT amateur radio

Hello my name is Carl and my callsign is M0SZT. I have had an interest in radio since the mid 1980's which shows my age. My interests are working ham radio w...
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You are a bit far otherwise I have some old ThinkPads in the attic and an usb floppy drive to use.
And sorry about the chain collapse.
 
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I've a spare usb floppy drive and a new copy of MS-DOS (6 IIRC) tucked away somewhere. You should be able to buy some kind of usb serial port replicator too.

Probably time to drop using windoze - that was funny in '95 along with Microshaft jokes, but not so much now.
 
Back in the Windows 95-ME days, you could run DOS programs directly. Later 32-bit versions of Windows were still able to run DOS software via an emulation layer, but this was dropped in 64-bit Windows. So you'd need a virtual machine or emulator, which might not be able to talk to your radio hardware easily even if you are able to rig up a connection. Or maybe a legacy system you are prepared to dedicate to some old version of Windows or DOS.

Edit: It's hilarious what some people are charging for Windows 95 era PCs on ebay! Retro technology must be cool with the hipsters. That Pentium 2 I have in a box somewhere could be a goldmine...
 
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It looks virtual box will run DOS on top of a modern windows installation, so you could use modern 64-bit hardware.
You can also get PCI-e serial ports,'cos I'm pretty sure no one released USB drivers for DOS.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, I haven't used Windows since I'm guessing 97/98 so would most likley be as lost with it as I was with Linux originally. There was a few programs I really liked using Baycom and Graphic Packet for Packet radio ( a sort of text based radio version of the internet) and EZSSTV for sending images /photos over radio. The original plan was to get a cheap old PC thinking I would get it for pennies and put it in the radio room but how wrong was I !. I think my best bet will be just to buy something more modern but still old by todays standards (if that makes sense) for £50 or so and then run Linux on it. I'm not sure what radio communication programs are available for Linux but I'm sure there will be plenty.

Thanks again everyone.
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Thanks everyone for the replies, I haven't used Windows since I'm guessing 97/98 so would most likley be as lost with it as I was with Linux originally. There was a few programs I really liked using Baycom and Graphic Packet for Packet radio ( a sort of text based radio version of the internet) and EZSSTV for sending images /photos over radio. The original plan was to get a cheap old PC thinking I would get it for pennies and put it in the radio room but how wrong was I !. I think my best bet will be just to buy something more modern but still old by todays standards (if that makes sense) for £50 or so and then run Linux on it. I'm not sure what radio communication programs are available for Linux but I'm sure there will be plenty.

Thanks again everyone.
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for Linux I've used QSSTV, FLdigi for PSK-31, WSJTX for FT8, GQRX and CubicSDR, Dream for DRM decoding.
All set up with rig control too.

My flavour of Linux is Ubuntu
 
Linux? That's for softies :). If you're into ham radio then why not go the whole hog and treat yourself to a Raspberry Pi? Then you can stick FreeDOS on it

opensource.com

Running DOS on the Raspberry Pi

Differing CPU architectures mean running DOS on Raspberry Pi isn't effortless, but it's not very complicated, either.
opensource.com opensource.com
 
Just downloaded Qsstv Emily ,do you need an interlace for connection to the radio or does it use the soundcard ?
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
Just downloaded Qsstv Emily ,do you need an interlace for connection to the radio or does it use the soundcard ?
Click to expand...
Depends on your radio, my yaesu FT991A has a built in soundcard and USB CAT control all on one USB connection.

you can just use your computer soundcard for receiving, a good method for this is phones connection from radio to line in on PC, adjust volume on radio for best results.
A friend of mine uses VOX on the rig for transmitting SSTV taking sound straight from his PC speakers and feeding it into the mic, it's simple but works well.
 
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