Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona, maybe we need to use
bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using ham radios.
---
■ wcQWK 8.0 ≈ Inland Utopia * iutopia.duckdns.org:2323

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MATTHEW MUNSON to All on Fri Sep 24 2021 10:53 pm

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona, maybe we need to use bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using ham radios.

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

Nightfox

MATTHEW MUNSON wrote to All <=-

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona,
maybe we need to use bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using ham radios.

Yeah, we all miss those analog phone lines. :)


... Magnify the most difficult details
--- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
■ Synchronet ■ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MATTHEW MUNSON to All on Fri Sep 24 2021 10:53 pm

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona, maybe we need to use
bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using ham radios.

they can take down our phone lines and take away internet access so we would get fucked pretty easy.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Nightfox to MATTHEW MUNSON on Sat Sep 25 2021 01:05 pm

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MATTHEW MUNSON to All on Fri Sep 24 2021 10:53 pm

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona, maybe we need to use bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using ham radios.

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

Nightfox

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like 15+ years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many people are connected.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to MATTHEW MUNSON on Sun Sep 26 2021 09:34 pm

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona,
maybe we need to use
bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using
ham radios.

they can take down our phone lines and take away internet access so we would get fucked pretty easy.

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Nightfox on Sun Sep 26 2021 09:47 pm

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Nightfox to MATTHEW MUNSON on Sat Sep 25 2021 01:05 pm

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MATTHEW MUNSON to All on Fri Sep 24 2021 10:53 pm

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona, maybe we need to use bbsing as an alternative communications method addition to using ham radios.

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

Nightfox

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many people are connected.

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East Asia they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I found a list of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in Thailand.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Denn to MRO on Sun Sep 26 2021 09:49 pm

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to MATTHEW MUNSON on Sun Sep 26 2021 09:34 pm

Since some countries are turning into police states due to the Rona,
maybe we need to use
bbsing as an alternative communications method in addition to using
ham radios.

they can take down our phone lines and take away internet access so we would get fucked pretty easy.

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

i've heard of it. never saw it. never knew someone who pulled it off.
and i find ham radio a big turn off.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to MRO on Mon Sep 27 2021 02:59:01

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many people are connected.

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East Asia they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I found a list of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in Thailand.

Let me know if you remember or find anything. I'm really curious about that.
If nothing else, it would be wild to see ANSI art in their codepage, ha.

---
■ Synchronet ■ Mutiny BBS - mutinybbs.com - telnet:2332 - ssh:2232

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Mon Sep 27 2021 09:02 am

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

i've heard of it. never saw it. never knew someone who pulled it off.
and i find ham radio a big turn off.

I was getting into Ham radio at age 15, problem with Ham is that it's an extremely costly hobby so After passing my morse code test and passing it I decided not to pursue it any further.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

they can take down our phone lines and take away internet access so we would get fucked pretty easy.

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

But can people without a HAM license access them legally? I asked once and
was told no.


* SLMR 2.1a * Diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

---
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Ksource to Arelor on Mon Sep 27 2021 07:33 am

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to MRO on Mon Sep 27 2021 02:59:01

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many peop are connected.

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East Asia they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I found a list of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in Thailand.

Let me know if you remember or find anything. I'm really curious about that. If nothing else, it would be wild to see ANSI art in their codepage, ha.

It is funny. I have made a cursory search and found nothing of interest this time. If I find something new I will keep you updated.

I have the memory of finding lists of Usenet server and BBS in Asian sites around 2015 or so, so not that back in time. The problem is they were in some Asian language so they were a bitch to wade through :-)

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Ksource to Arelor on Mon Sep 27 2021 07:33 am

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to MRO on Mon Sep 27 2021 02:59:01

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many peop are connected.

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East Asia they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I found a list of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in Thailand.

Let me know if you remember or find anything. I'm really curious about that. If nothing else, it would be wild to see ANSI art in their codepage, ha.

Look at this. The PTT Bulletin Board System in Taiwan 1.5 million users (about 200 000 at peak hours) and even has its own Wikipedia page.

Telnet based.

"Since 2000, PTT has become the largest online forum in Taiwan due to its increasing number of users."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTT_Bulletin_Board_System

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Dumas Walker to DENN on Mon Sep 27 2021 04:04 pm

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

But can people without a HAM license access them legally? I asked once and was told no.

I don't think so, that would be a good question for Rob.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to Ksource on Mon Sep 27 2021 16:33:58

Look at this. The PTT Bulletin Board System in Taiwan 1.5 million users (about 200 000 at peak hours) and even has its own Wikipedia page.

Telnet based.

"Since 2000, PTT has become the largest online forum in Taiwan due to its increasing number of users."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTT_Bulletin_Board_System

This is really cool! It seems PTT and PTT2 are both telnet-based (connect at the default port to ptt.cc or ptt2.cc). I can't figure out what codepage they're in or how to create an account, as there's very little English.
PTT3 seems to be web-based?

I'm guessing even if I could figure out how to make an account, it wouldn't
get me very far without knowing any Chinese.

Really cool that it's so huge and influential and has lasted all this time.

---
■ Synchronet ■ Mutiny BBS - mutinybbs.com - telnet:2332 - ssh:2232

Arelor wrote to Ksource <=-

@MSGID: <615238C6.5510.dove-debate@palantirbbs.ddns.net>
@REPLY: <6151AC0A.4845.dove-debate@mutinybbs.com>
Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Ksource to Arelor on
Mon Sep 27 2021 07:33 am

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to MRO on Mon Sep 27 2021 02:59:01

I've heard BBSes are fairly popular in China for that reason.

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many peop are connected.

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East Asia they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I found a list of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in Thailand.

Let me know if you remember or find anything. I'm really curious about that. If nothing else, it would be wild to see ANSI art in their codepage, ha.

Look at this. The PTT Bulletin Board System in Taiwan 1.5 million users (about 200 000 at peak hours) and even has its own Wikipedia page.

Telnet based.

"Since 2000, PTT has become the largest online forum in Taiwan due to
its increasing number of users."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTT_Bulletin_Board_System

I've thought of the BBS is a good way of having a sort of "underground" network. I tried this myself, a private, invite only BBS, SSH access only. You can move the BBS pretty much anywhere quite easily which is good, in case one server gets disconnected or shutdown.

I think there is potential here, but the real blocker is the difficulty in accessing it for the average person.

... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
■ Synchronet ■ MS & RD BBs - bbs.mozysswamp.org

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to Ksource on Mon Sep 27 2021 04:33 pm

Look at this. The PTT Bulletin Board System in Taiwan 1.5 million users (about 200 000 at peak hours) and even has its own Wikipedia page.

Telnet based.

"Since 2000, PTT has become the largest online forum in Taiwan due to its increasing number of users."

yeah has anybody called it lately?
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Ksource to Arelor on Tue Sep 28 2021 01:59 am

Really cool that it's so huge and influential and has lasted all this time.

i am able to apply and type my name. it wants me to return a capcha code on a website.

there's android telnet apps that show the graphics better and i have seen some of them with the ptt2 addy in them
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Denn to Dumas Walker on Tue Sep 28 2021 12:24 am

But can people without a HAM license access them legally? I asked
once and was told no.

I don't think so, that would be a good question for Rob.

My dad is a HAM radio operator, and I've always heard it's customary to announce your HAM radio license so people know you're legally able to use HAM radio. If you're running a BBS or connectiong to a BBS over HAM radio, I'm not sure how that would be verified.

Nightfox

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Boraxman to Arelor on Tue Sep 28 2021 08:25 pm

I've thought of the BBS is a good way of having a sort of "underground" network. I
tried this myself, a private, invite only BBS, SSH access only. You can move the B
pretty much anywhere quite easily which is good, in case one server gets disconnect
or shutdown.

I think there is potential here, but the real blocker is the difficulty in accessin
it for the average person.

Well, if the average person accessed it en-masse, they would ruin it :-P

Somebody around here posted about a BBS gateway in i2p, which I find to be way cool.
The only drawback is it was http based, probably because, in the i2p world, http is a
well supported protocol.

I know of some BBS attempts at offering telnet access via darknets. Sadly, darknet
access is a 2nd class citizen to these services.


--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken

---
■ Synchronet ■ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Nightfox to Denn on Tue Sep 28 2021 09:11 am

But can people without a HAM license access them legally? I asked
once and was told no.

I don't think so, that would be a good question for Rob.

My dad is a HAM radio operator, and I've always heard it's customary to announce your HAM radio license so people know you're legally able to use HAM radio. If you're running a BBS or connectiong to a BBS over HAM radio, I'm not sure how that would be verified.

I know there are several people that run packet BBS not sure what freq's they use.
You could probably find out in the ham radio forum.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Denn to Nightfox on Tue Sep 28 2021 11:47 pm

I know there are several people that run packet BBS not sure what freq's they use.
You could probably find out in the ham radio forum.

what do you mean by several? how many?

i dont know any person in my entire life who visited a packet radio bbs
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Wed Sep 29 2021 09:37 am

I know there are several people that run packet BBS not sure what
freq's they use.
You could probably find out in the ham radio forum.

what do you mean by several? how many?

i dont know any person in my entire life who visited a packet radio bbs

Here are a few I found.

hb1bbs.net

bbs.packetcity.com

bbs.lu1dbq.org:6300

n3hym.ddns.net:8010

packet.w4bfb.org:2333

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Mon Sep 27 2021 09:02 am

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

i've heard of it. never saw it. never knew someone who pulled it off.
and i find ham radio a big turn off.

Too many rules? :)

DaiTengu

... Average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top.

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Denn to MRO on Wed Sep 29 2021 09:44 am

i dont know any person in my entire life who visited a packet radio bbs

Here are a few I found.

hb1bbs.net

bbs.packetcity.com

bbs.lu1dbq.org:6300

n3hym.ddns.net:8010

packet.w4bfb.org:2333

oh great. these are even more useless than a regular bbs.
and i'm not using packet radio to call it.

did you try these links?
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: DaiTengu to MRO on Wed Sep 29 2021 10:21 am

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Mon Sep 27 2021 09:02 am

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

i've heard of it. never saw it. never knew someone who pulled it off. and i find ham radio a big turn off.

Too many rules? :)

i just dont have an interest in talking to a bunch of neckbeards who live with their parents.

also they removed a lot of the rules. you dont even need to know morse code now. it's not really an achievement like it used to be.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Wed Sep 29 2021 09:24 pm

i dont know any person in my entire life who visited a packet
radio bbs

Here are a few I found.

hb1bbs.net

bbs.packetcity.com

bbs.lu1dbq.org:6300

n3hym.ddns.net:8010

packet.w4bfb.org:2333

oh great. these are even more useless than a regular bbs.
and i'm not using packet radio to call it.

I believe you can only connect to them with 2 meter Ham gear.

I will try one though just for the hell of it.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Wed Sep 29 2021 09:24 pm

hb1bbs.net

oh great. these are even more useless than a regular bbs.
and i'm not using packet radio to call it.

I just tried hb1bbs.net and you can telnet in.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Denn to MRO on Wed Sep 29 2021 11:55 pm

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Wed Sep 29 2021 09:24 pm

hb1bbs.net

oh great. these are even more useless than a regular bbs.
and i'm not using packet radio to call it.

I just tried hb1bbs.net and you can telnet in.

i think we are just connecting to their telnet front ends. i dont think it's really running on radio and gated to telnet.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to Denn on Thu Sep 30 2021 08:36 am

hb1bbs.net

oh great. these are even more useless than a regular bbs.
and i'm not using packet radio to call it.

I just tried hb1bbs.net and you can telnet in.

They run telnet and have a packet modem so Ham's can connect.

---
■ Synchronet ■ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to DaiTengu on Wed Sep 29 2021 09:29 pm

i've heard of it. never saw it. never knew someone who pulled it
off. and i find ham radio a big turn off.

Too many rules? :)

i just dont have an interest in talking to a bunch of neckbeards who live with their parents.

Er, I think you're confusing BBSes and The Internet in general with Ham Radio. Ham Radio is a bunch of old men with too much time and money on their hands. They sit and talk about their recent colonoscopy, all their friends that have died from cancer, and Jesus. oh man, do they love to talk about Jesus. Some even talk about politics too, but that's generally considered "bad form", even though most every one of them has the same political leanings (The same as you, MRO!)

also they removed a lot of the rules. you dont even need to know morse code now. it's not really an achievement like it used to be. ---

They removed the code requirements, but now the exams include a lot of questiosn about working digital modes, and if you get your Extra class license, you basically need a couple semesters of electriconic engineering and/or RF engineering to understand the questions you're being asked.

DaiTengu

... A motor will rotate in the wrong direction.

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

hb1bbs.net

oh great. these are even more useless than a regular bbs.
and i'm not using packet radio to call it.

I just tried hb1bbs.net and you can telnet in.

So did I. I had once seen a video on YT about packet BBSes so I was
surprised to see that hb1bbs runs "regular" bbs software. The one in the
video looked more like text-based early software, iirc.


* SLMR 2.1a * paranoia: believing this tagline is about you.

---
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: DaiTengu to MRO on Thu Sep 30 2021 02:22 pm

Er, I think you're confusing BBSes and The Internet in general with Ham Radio. Ham Radio is a bunch of old men with too much time and money on their hands. They sit and talk about their recent colonoscopy, all their friends that have died from cancer, and Jesus. oh man, do they love to talk about Jesus. Some even talk about politics too, but that's generally considered

that's exactly what i was expecting. but i do know a lot of poor people that are hams

"bad form", even though most every one of them has the same political leanings (The same as you, MRO!)

you dont know my political beliefs

questiosn about working digital modes, and if you get your Extra class license, you basically need a couple semesters of electriconic engineering and/or RF engineering to understand the questions you're being asked.

i doubt that.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to DaiTengu on Thu Sep 30 2021 09:59 pm

Er, I think you're confusing BBSes and The Internet in general with
Ham Radio. Ham Radio is a bunch of old men with too much time and
money on their hands. They sit and talk about their recent
colonoscopy, all their friends that have died from cancer, and Jesus.
oh man, do they love to talk about Jesus. Some even talk about
politics too, but that's generally considered

that's exactly what i was expecting. but i do know a lot of poor people that are hams

Probably using a lot of hand-me-down gear, or just the cheap chinese handheld radios to talk to people locally.

"bad form", even though most every one of them has the same political
leanings (The same as you, MRO!)

you dont know my political beliefs

Just the ones you've expressed on Dovenet.

questiosn about working digital modes, and if you get your Extra class
license, you basically need a couple semesters of electriconic
engineering and/or RF engineering to understand the questions you're
being asked.

i doubt that.

I'm not saying you can't answer the questions on the exam without it, but to know the theory behind them, that level of study/knowledge is necessary. (I say this as someone who's currently working his way through the material, I can pick the right answer, but I couldn't tell you why it was the right answer for some of them)

DaiTengu

... One does not thank logic. Sarek, Journey to Babel, stardate 3842.4.

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

Hey Dai;

Er, I think you're confusing BBSes and The Internet in general with Ham Radio. Ham Radio is a bunch of old men with too much time and money on their hands. They sit and talk about their recent colonoscopy, all their friends that have died from cancer, and Jesus. oh man, do they love to talk about Jesus. Some even talk about politics too, but that's generally considered

Here in Connecticut, the average age of a ham is 70!.. although with the recent pandemic more young folk got licensed as it was something to do
inside. I don't do HF even though I'm licensed for it I tend to stick to VHF/UHF and moreso on packet (the original digital mode). I did have a few software packages available for packet which two of them are part of both Fedora and Debian (and the offspring distros) repositories however there's issues with the ax.25 kernel protocol stack that most guys think it's my software causing the issues (UGH!) so I've pulled them from sourceforge for now. We did supply fixes but they for whatever reason rejected the patches
even though we've proven for years they work. Bad politics are everywhere.

questiosn about working digital modes, and if you get your Extra class license, you basically need a couple semesters of electriconic engineering and/or RF engineering to understand the questions you're being asked.

The newer digital modes I tend to disagree with. The vendors have created what I call a "tower of babel" effect since they don't talk with one another - and hams are supposed to be all about communicating. Doesn't make sense. I do have a fusion HT but for now it just sits in a box. Analog is still more commonly used. Seems only those in certain cliques use it.


... Veni, Vedi, VooDoo...I came, I saw, I put curse on somebody
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
■ Synchronet ■ SBBS - Carnage! ... wha chu be sayun?

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: DaiTengu to MRO on Fri Oct 01 2021 12:09 pm

license, you basically need a couple semesters of electriconic
engineering and/or RF engineering to understand the questions you're
being asked.

i doubt that.

I'm not saying you can't answer the questions on the exam without it, but to know the theory behind them, that level of study/knowledge is necessary. (I say this as someone who's currently working his way through the material, I can pick the right answer, but I couldn't tell you why it was the right answer for some of them)

i have known some dumb motherfuckers [some of them who still live with their parents] in my area who are ham operators.

i'm not sure if they cheated or if they're like me and can read up on something before a test and pass it with a high grade.

i looked up the practice test on hamexam.org and if the questions are like THIS, anybody can pretty much pass the test with reading notes beforehand.
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Arelor to Boraxman on Tue Sep 28 2021 11:32:08

Somebody around here posted about a BBS gateway in i2p, which I find to be way cool.
The only drawback is it was http based, probably because, in the i2p world, http is a
well supported protocol.

I know of some BBS attempts at offering telnet access via darknets. Sadly, darknet

Yeah it seems it would't be that tough technically to allow access over Tor or something. The question is if anyone would use it.
On the one hand, it gives it a cool underground off-the-grid feel. On the other hand, it's very not-retro.

---
■ Synchronet ■ Mutiny BBS - mutinybbs.com - telnet:2332 - ssh:2232

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Ksource to Arelor on Sat Oct 02 2021 01:39 am

I know of some BBS attempts at offering telnet access via darknets. Sadly, darknet

Yeah it seems it would't be that tough technically to allow access over Tor or something. The question is if anyone would use it.
On the one hand, it gives it a cool underground off-the-grid feel. On the other hand, it's very not-retro.

there's a cool bbs guy that made a whole darknet that we could connect to.
it was easy to connect to, you just had to change some settings on your os for it to accept it.

most people didnt want to do that stuff, so it didnt work out
---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: Brian Rogers to DaiTengu on Fri Oct 01 2021 12:00 pm

Here in Connecticut, the average age of a ham is 70!.. although with the recent pandemic more young folk got licensed as it was something to do inside. I don't do HF even though I'm licensed for it I tend to stick to VHF/UHF and moreso on packet (the original digital mode). I did have a few software packages available for packet which two of them are part of both Fedora and Debian (and the offspring distros) repositories however there's issues with the ax.25 kernel protocol stack that most guys think it's my software causing the issues (UGH!) so I've pulled them from sourceforge for now. We did supply fixes but they for whatever reason rejected the patches even though we've proven for years they work. Bad politics are everywhere.

Yeah, I got my license just over a year ago, as it was something to do while spending so much time at home.

The politics involved with all the distros are... frustrating. It's been a toxic culture for years. It's been getting better lately, but it's still not great.

The newer digital modes I tend to disagree with. The vendors have created what I call a "tower of babel" effect since they don't talk with one another - and hams are supposed to be all about communicating. Doesn't make sense. I do have a fusion HT but for now it just sits in a box. Analog is still more commonly used. Seems only those in certain cliques use it.

I have both a D-Star radio and a Fusion HT. There's nothing in my area that does D-Star. I did build a pi-star though, so I can do some cross-mode digital stuff, but it's such a giant pain in the ass that I rarely mess with it. In fact, one of the antenna connectors broke off my pi-star hat a month or so ago after I had the bright idea to move the thing, and I just haven't gotten around to soldering it back on.

I do spend a lot of time using HF digital modes, like FT8 and PSK31 to a lesser extent. I have a lot of fun with FT8/FT4.




DaiTengu

... Don't go to work, there's a lot to do.

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

Re: BBSing the alternative
By: MRO to DaiTengu on Fri Oct 01 2021 09:30 pm

i have known some dumb motherfuckers [some of them who still live with their parents] in my area who are ham operators.

i'm not sure if they cheated or if they're like me and can read up on something before a test and pass it with a high grade.

i looked up the practice test on hamexam.org and if the questions are like THIS, anybody can pretty much pass the test with reading notes beforehand.

There are 3 levels of exams. Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. The Amateur Extra one is what I'm talking about.

Anyone can pass the Technician exam with a couple days worth of studying, running through questions and memorizing answers. Synchronet has a Ham Radio Exam door in Git, complete with the current question pools.

DaiTengu

... God is dead. But don't worry - the Virgin Mary is pregnant again.

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

On 9/27/2021 12:59 AM, Arelor wrote:

i'm not sure if they are still popular. we just knew they were popular like >> years ago. maybe i will try to visit some and see how many people are
connected.

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East Asia
they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I found a list
of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in Thailand.

I know there are a lot of asian boards registered to use .bbs.io since I
put it on freedns.afraid.org for dyndns use.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
---
￭ Synchronet ￭ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com

On 9/27/2021 4:33 AM, Ksource wrote:

I don't know about China, but I have seen it mentioned than in South East
Asia they have their own BBS ecosystem which is quite strong. In fact I
found a list of Asian BBS somewhere. It seems they are very popular in
Thailand.

Let me know if you remember or find anything. I'm really curious about that. If nothing else, it would be wild to see ANSI art in their codepage, ha.

Just guessing most of it is going to be UTF-8 at this point.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
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￭ Synchronet ￭ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com

On 9/27/2021 1:04 PM, Dumas Walker wrote:

You can run a BBS with HAM Radio.

But can people without a HAM license access them legally? I asked
once and was told no.

Sure they can... just not over the air... nothing stopping someone from
also having the BBS available via telnet or dialup.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
---
￭ Synchronet ￭ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com

On 9/28/2021 9:11 AM, Nightfox wrote:

My dad is a HAM radio operator, and I've always heard it's customary
to announce your HAM radio license so people know you're legally able
to use HAM radio. If you're running a BBS or connectiong to a BBS
over HAM radio, I'm not sure how that would be verified.

My understanding is that electronic/automated communications need to
signal their license id every N minutes (5 iirc), similar for
station/channel overlays on broadcast tv.

For packet radio, guessing that if it isn't this way already, you could
sign your data signal with a license id.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
---
￭ Synchronet ￭ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com

Hello DaiTengu;

DaiTengu wrote to Brian Rogers <=-

Yeah, I got my license just over a year ago, as it was something to do while spending so much time at home.

Because of the pandemic, we had a good spike of new licensees. It was somewhat good to see. The trick now is to keep new hams active in the various modes. In today's ham world with the internet here now there's a lot of things one can
do to get on the air from their PC or mobile devices. My packet node for example accepts incoming telnet with verified user callsign and a designated password.

The politics involved with all the distros are... frustrating. It's
been a toxic culture for years. It's been getting better lately, but
it's still not great.

Not just with distros but with those who maintain the various packages. Me personally, I just stay out of the political games.

I have both a D-Star radio and a Fusion HT. There's nothing in my area that does D-Star. I did build a pi-star though, so I can do some cross-mode digital stuff, but it's such a giant pain in the ass that I rarely mess with it. In fact, one of the antenna connectors broke off
my pi-star hat a month or so ago after I had the bright idea to move
the thing, and I just haven't gotten around to soldering it back on.

I have a fusion HT as well since the repeaters local to me are fusion. I
never use it though. Most of the activity is still analog.

I do spend a lot of time using HF digital modes, like FT8 and PSK31 to
a lesser extent. I have a lot of fun with FT8/FT4.

If I could set up an HF antenna, I'd have my node also on Net105... 20 meters. That's a bit of fun. Many stations there.

73

... Books: "Growing up in the Balkans".....by Hugo Slavia
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
■ Synchronet ■ SBBS - Carnage! ... wha chu be sayun?

10-05-21 09:57 Brian Rogers wrote to DaiTengu about BBSing the alternative Howdy! Brian, DaiTengu and All,

Hello DaiTengu;

--SNIP--

If I could set up an HF antenna, I'd have my node also on Net105... 20 meters. That's a bit of fun. Many stations there.

73

Is the Net105 on 14.105 Mc/s?

TNX ES 73 DE Ed W9ODR dit dit

... In Stereo where available. .elbaliava erehw oerstS nI
--- MultiMail/MS-DOS v0.49
■ Synchronet ■ CAPCITY2 * capcity2.synchro.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/Rlogin/HTTP

Hello Ed;

Ed Vance wrote to Brian Rogers <=-

Is the Net105 on 14.105 Mc/s?

Absolutely correct.

--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
■ Synchronet ■ SBBS - Carnage! ... wha chu be sayun?