Welcome to MacTel!! This starter pack should be all you need for
satisfactory access to this and many other boards using the same software.
Numbers presently are: -
Nottingham - MacTel Iconex - 0115-9-455444 four lines
London - MacTel Metro - 081-543-8017 four lines
All lines are high speed. Both systems are connected to Fidonet (PC BBS systems), OneNet (FirstClass systems) and InterNet (UseNet systems), and exchange news, files and mail.
When you are on MacTel, helpfiles will be available to you. Explore these, dump any to a printer or save them to your hard disk for later study.
On MacTel you will be able to see what is available to Subscribers in the download files, but you won't be able to download most of it until you are a subscriber...... so we hope you will join.
Many of the things on the system are in Compactor format (.CPT). this is the most efficient means of grouping and compressing data. Compactor is a very good program and will save your phone bills over the long term, and is well worth the few dollars required to pay the shareware. Paying this will ensure that you dont have to view the annoying opening dialog.
If you get any .SIT files, those require Stuffit or Unstuffit.
If you have an .SEA file - self extracting, copy it to a hard disk FIRST before opening it - where you will have enough space.
If you want to use a text based board, we can provide ZTerm as the starter pack terminal of power; ZTerm is faster than any commercial Terminal (I have found it so at 19200 speeds!) and works in colour to a BBS that outputs colour or VT100. It also supports ZModem, the fastest block data transfer protocol. Ask for it. If using it on MacTel, please set your settings on ZTerm to 8 bits, no parity, one stop, VT100 or ANSI. It comes with docs. Its very fast, and trouble free.
REMEMBER TO PAY your SHAREWARE. It really is worth it to get a response from
the authors and automatic updates when new versions come out. Or send them a thankyou message over Internet, which is on MacTel.
We used to have a separate disk for VIRUS killing software, but we now put Disinfectant on the Starter pack. You must get this every time it gets updated, to keep your system clean and to avoid infecting others. This will save you having to buy a commercial anti Virus package.
Any problems, leave a message to SYSOP in your mailbox on MacTel.
With the FirstClass software, you should create a document for each BBS that you call, and make sure you hit "Setup" and properly embed it with your ID and password, and SAVE it for each one. Thereafter you do not need to remember either. We get annoyed at people who log on day after day, inventing new IDs and passwords, because they have forgotten to note the one they used the day before. They fill in a new ID every time they call - mistake! Such IDs have to be deleted like summer weeds because our system has a fixed upper limit of IDs permitted! Please be consistent. Also, please avoid creating duplicate IDs just in order to get more time on line - like Joe2, Joe3 etc. This just annoys, and we have to keep trimming. It's easier to get a subscription, or to ask politely for more time on line. Also, make sure that the inner "setup" dialog box concerning your modem settings is set up correctly - this is important.
