for modems, cables and test equipment. Although it is by no means essential, an ability to solder a few connections and scrabble among the circuit diagrams of 'official' products often yield unexpectedly rewarding results. The computer Almost any popular microcomputer will do; hacking does not call upon enormous reserves of computer power. Nearly everything you hack will come to you in alphanumeric form, not graphics. The computer you already have will almost certainly have the essential qualities. However the very cheapest micros, like the ZX81, whilst usable, require much more work on the part of the operator/hacker, and give him far less in the way of instant facilities. ** Page
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(In fact, as the ZX81 doesn't use ASCII internally, but a Sinclair-developed variant; you will need a software or firmware fix for that, before you even think of hooking it up to a modem.) Most professional data services assume the user is viewing on an 80-column screen; ideally the hacker's computer should be capable of doing that as well, otherwise the display will be full of awkward line breaks. Terminal emulator software (see below) can some- times provide a 'fix'. One or two disc drives are pretty helpful, because you will want to be able to save the results of your network adventures as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most terminal emulators use the computer's free memory (i.e. all that is not required to support the operating system and the emulator software itself) as store for the received data, but once the buffer is full, you will begin to lose the earliest items. You can, of course, try to save to cassette, but normally that is a slow and tedious process. An alternative storage method is to save to a printer, printing the received data stream not only to the computer screen, but also on a dot matrix printer. However, most of the more popular (and cheaper) printers do not work sufficiently fast. You may find you lose characters at the beginning of each line. Moreover, if you print everything in real-time, you'll include all your mistakes, false starts etc., and in the process use masses of paper. So, if you can save to disc regularly, you can review each hack afterwards at your leisure and, using a screen editor or word processor, save or print out only those items of real interest. Serial ports The computer must have a serial port, either called that or marked RS232C (or its slight variant RS423), or V24, which is the official designator of RS232C used outside the USA, though not often seen on