The Cidco MailStation is a series of dedicated e-mail terminals sold
in the 2000s as simple, standalone devices for people to use to send and receive
e-mail over dialup modem.
While their POP3 e-mail functionality is of little use today, the hardware is a
neat Z80 development platform that integrates a 320x128 LCD, full QWERTY keyboard,
and an internal modem.
After purchasing one (ok, four) on eBay some months ago, I've learned enough
about the platform to write my own software that allows it to be a terminal for
accessing BBSes via its modem or as a terminal for a Unix machine connected over
parallel cable.
I've created an adapter for the
Cidco MailStation
Z80 computer which adds the ability to use WiFi for data transfer, code
uploading, and to act as a WiFi modem for my
msTERM
terminal emulator.
Last year I
wrote about the Cidco MailStation
and how I was using it as a Z80 development platform.
One of the biggest hurdles to running code on them is that it must be
uploaded over the MailStation's parallel port with a LapLink cable and some
custom software (although it's certainly easier than having to pull and
flash a chip).
I recently created a USB data loader device that allows for easier development
from a modern computer and implements the MailStation's custom data encoding
routines in its firmware.
