# Do you have any BBS memories to share? **URL:** \ **Category:** Tech Talk\ **Tags:** question\ **Created:** [October 2, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646 "2019-10-02T17:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![waxman80014](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/87869e/32.png) [@waxman80014](https://www.twit.community/u/waxman80014)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/21 "2019-10-04T14:25:42Z")
I played that, got a big ship and everything… ---
**Author:** ![Mistershipwreck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mistershipwreck/32/19117_2.png) [@Mistershipwreck](https://www.twit.community/u/Mistershipwreck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/22 "2019-10-10T13:26:56Z")
I got my first PC in 1988 - a Tandy HX1000. However, around 1992, I got a IBM 386. It had a modem. I later got a Gateway 2000 486 PC. I used both to connect to local BBS boards (I grew up in Louisiana). We had 2 locally. It was fun to connect. THere were some games you could play too - you got a certain amount of moves, and then you would come back the next day to connect and see what others had done in the game. They were pretty much text RPG games. Each BBS just had 1 line - so you sometimes had to try a few times befiore you could get thru. ---
**Author:** ![big\_D](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/big_d/32/1023_2.png) [@big\_D](https://www.twit.community/u/big_D)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 9:36am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/23 "2019-10-11T09:36:10Z")
I used a couple of small BBSes, but I really got into forums with the NavCIS offline reader for Compuserve. That was a great time. I ended up on a couple of computer magazine forums and a motorbike forum. I met a lot of great people through the forums - the biker forum used to meet up regularly, both in Europe and the USA. I went on many international bike rallies with the EuroCIS bike forum. That was also where I learnt the George Carlin rules on, for Americans, unacceptable words. In the UK we used the American slang word for urination to mean raining heavily or for something to spray uncontrollably. I was describing how my automatic oiler broke and was spraying oil over the back wheel, using the “P” word. One of the Americans on the forum took offence to my use of the “P” word and told me to stick to the Carlin rules. Something that, as a non-American, I’d never even heard of. Edit: Just out of interest, the slang, where I lived growing up, for urination was “spending a penny” or “going for a waz”. ---
**Author:** ![mwbworld](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mwbworld/32/1052_2.png) [@mwbworld](https://www.twit.community/u/mwbworld)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/24 "2019-10-11T14:22:27Z")
My memories are user based and not running. I remember using some phone service where you could get unlimited national calling during certain hours so I used it to connect to BBS at odd hours in different parts of the country. I used to hang out a lot in a SF & F one based in California back in the 80s - Alternative Possibilites, I think? I also remember roommates picking up the phone while I was on and getting the get off the phone complaints! ---
**Author:** ![Mistershipwreck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mistershipwreck/32/19117_2.png) [@Mistershipwreck](https://www.twit.community/u/Mistershipwreck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/25 "2019-10-11T14:46:34Z")
> [@mwbworld](#): > > I also remember roommates picking up the phone while I was on and getting the get off the phone complaints! Ahh, yes. I remember those days perfectly. When my mom would pick up the phone to make a call and mess me up. Or later - when we were still using dialup for internet access - Sometimes I’d be downloading something, and even I forgot - 30 min later… When I’d pick up the phone to make a call and mess it up… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ennev](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/ennev/32/1042_2.png) [@Ennev](https://www.twit.community/u/Ennev)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/26 "2019-10-11T18:04:51Z")
@LouMM Tradewars is still alive and well 🙂 myself I run a TradeWars game server at telnet://mtlgeek.synchro.net:2002 but there is still several server offering it you can check availability on [MicroBlaster.net](http://www.microblaster.net/Servers.aspx) . So yes, bbs is still a thing, but not really on landlines anymore, but trough telnet a few are still alive. Me i used to ran one in the 80’s. Got nostalgic around 1999 and found the opensource project [https://www.synchro.net/](https://www.synchro.net/) it’s still actively maintained. Fidonet is still a thing too. something i think that BBSes will still be running somewhere even when the internet will be gone. ---
**Author:** ![Mistershipwreck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mistershipwreck/32/19117_2.png) [@Mistershipwreck](https://www.twit.community/u/Mistershipwreck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/27 "2019-10-11T18:08:44Z")
I looked it up online, because I could not remember the name of the game I played on a BBS all the time - it was Legend of the Red Dragon. That was my favorite, back in the day… ---
**Author:** ![Ennev](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/ennev/32/1042_2.png) [@Ennev](https://www.twit.community/u/Ennev)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/28 "2019-10-11T18:19:09Z")
@Mistershipwreck That’s still a think too, there is a networked one ran by [BBSLINK.net](http://BBSLINK.net) [bbslink system list](http://bbslink.net/list.php) You’ll find a participating system there, registering is free. RetroGame time 🙂 p.s. here the list of the games it carries : [BBSlink.net - InterBBS Door Server](http://bbslink.net/doors.php) maybe your recognize some. ---
**Author:** ![Merwolf](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/merwolf/32/237_2.png) [@Merwolf](https://www.twit.community/u/Merwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/29 "2019-10-13T00:19:12Z")
Ooh ASCII art… I went back to that when we had to custom design MOTD screens in core switches. We used a different ascii art in each one so we always knew where we were secure crt’ing to. ---
**Author:** ![Mistershipwreck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mistershipwreck/32/19117_2.png) [@Mistershipwreck](https://www.twit.community/u/Mistershipwreck)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/30 "2019-10-13T00:22:56Z")
> [@Ennev](#): > > @Mistershipwreck That’s still a think too, there is a networked one ran by [BBSLINK.net](http://BBSLINK.net) > > [bbslink system list](http://bbslink.net/list.php) You’ll find a participating system there, registering is free. RetroGame time 🙂 > > p.s. here the list of the games it carries : [BBSlink.net - InterBBS Door Server](http://bbslink.net/doors.php) maybe your recognize some. Thanks for the info… ---
**Author:** ![calgaryguru](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/calgaryguru/32/699_2.png) [@calgaryguru](https://www.twit.community/u/calgaryguru)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/31 "2019-10-13T16:30:28Z")
A friend that worked in service at Apple Canada headquarters wrote the Warp Six BBS software which ran on Apple II computers. I bet that there are still some running out there today. It’s also where the Warp Six BBS lived (Toronto). That BBS was eventually decommissioned, and I kept it going for awhile… as a USENET style server on my own computer! Now it lives on as a WordPress site: [http://warpsixbbs.wordpress.com/](http://warpsixbbs.wordpress.com/) I also used Leo Laporte’s modem dialer program to help connecting to busy BBSes… QDIAL v. 1.2 (later patched to version 1.4). The Toronto area Mac / Apple II user group (I was a president for a number of years) also ran a BBS running on the Warp SIX BBS software on an Apple II. The website is gone but lives on as a WordPress site here: [https://logicbbs.wordpress.com](https://logicbbs.wordpress.com) Several pages exist about the Warp SIX BBS software: [https://www.apl2bits.net/2013/05/27/warp-six-raspberry-pi/](https://www.apl2bits.net/2013/05/27/warp-six-raspberry-pi/) All things Warp Six: [http://www.iowajohnsons.com/warp6.html](http://www.iowajohnsons.com/warp6.html) I knew Frank and Jim. It was all featured in a way on TWiT (Giz Wiz): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfJtD5OeR\_k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfJtD5OeR_k) ---
**Author:** ![calgaryguru](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/calgaryguru/32/699_2.png) [@calgaryguru](https://www.twit.community/u/calgaryguru)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/32 "2019-10-13T16:46:46Z")
Oh, and I can claim to be one that had built their own hardware handshake cable (RS-232C to RS-422) in order to get the best possible connection from my Macs to my modem (US Robotics v.32)… ---
**Author:** ![Kiwiblue](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/kiwiblue/32/1165_2.png) [@Kiwiblue](https://www.twit.community/u/Kiwiblue)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 9:42am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/33 "2019-10-16T09:42:17Z")
> [@Leo](#): > > We had two(!) lines, no waiting, both running US Robotics Courier 56K modems! Initially I had one 10MB hard drive in the PC but when Seagate MFM drives came out I had a whopping 20 megabytes of storage! @leo Robotics Courier 56K modem V.everything - that brings back memories as for awhile this is one of many products I sold here in NZ. I’ve even got one currently sitting on the shelf which I had used for about 1 month before shelving \<\< sniff \>\> and along side of it I have a 5MB full height 5.25" Shugart Associates 604 MFM Hard Drive (no top cover on it) ah, the good old days… (The Hard Drive drive uses 3 platters but only has heads reading 2 of them. Guessing the third platter was for the 7.5MB upgraded version and it was more economical just to do the 3 platter assembly for both… guessing on that) ---
**Author:** ![mampersat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mampersat/32/1527_2.png) [@mampersat](https://www.twit.community/u/mampersat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 11:44am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/34 "2019-10-16T11:44:00Z")
Met a cute girl on a BBS in NYC in my teens. It was a long distance phone call though and it ended when the $100+ phone bill came. ---
**Author:** ![Leo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/leo/32/16203_2.png) [@Leo](https://www.twit.community/u/Leo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/35 "2019-11-30T17:48:36Z")
Just found this amazing documentary on BBSs https://www.youtube.com/embed/JnSz-Hb9LQY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PL2B9EF89CE228ED0A The YouTube channel it’s on is all about BBSs, too!! ---
**Author:** ![PHolder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/pholder/32/2439_2.png) [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646/36 "2019-11-30T19:18:41Z")
@Leo I think this is archived at [archive.org](http://archive.org) [https://archive.org/details/BBS.The.Documentary/](https://archive.org/details/BBS.The.Documentary/) [Previous page](https://www.twit.community/t/do-you-have-any-bbs-memories-to-share/646.md?page=1)