Yup, I used to do similar with newsbin and later alt.binz. Those days are mostly over with DMCA takedowns since around 2012.The way I use to download off USENET was grab the filenames off a site that listed group releases. Load up Grabit and search the filename. It would list all the files available including the .par files. I would highlight the files and download them. Grabit would automatic unpack them,test them and convert to an .ISO file for later use.