-> floppy drive, a monochrome green monitor, and a mouse. That was to be
-> the birthplace of my current BBS, which is ham radio and weather
-> oriented...two of my other hobbies. It's amazing how things have changed

My "First" BBS system was a 386SX with dos 5 (I think) and a 30 MB hard
drive. I remember upgrading to a 1gb hard drive and thinking "how am I
gonna fill this drive up?"

I, too am a ham (N1ZXZ) and am a member of ARES. I am also getting set
up with WinLink (I want to use this TNC I have for more than just APRS!)
and am able to connect to a WinLink node approximately 20 miles away
using a copper cactus j-pole just stuck in the ground. 

Fortuneately, I can get a "measured service" line for about $7 per month
(before tax) - and since incoming calls don't count, I can cheaply offer
dialup service. It should be pointed out that while many people have
cable TV phone service and Vonage etc, there are plenty of areas where
cell phones just don't work, so I would not be surprised if there are a
large number of people with "home" phones still.

I also volunteer at the local telephone museum, and was thinking about
setting up a dialup terminal there to dial into my system using VoIP. I
can get 9600 baud pretty reliably. A "real" phone line is much faster,
obviously, and telnet of course is even faster than that. 

Incidentally, I tried to apply to your BBS, and it would not accept
anything I entered for my name. I tried various versions of "Rick
Miller", as well as Wembley (my old BBS handle) and my callsign. I sent
you a comment from the inital login screen but I'm not sure if it went
through. I did log on as a Guest and I have to say, you have a cool
system! Can you tell me the secret of how to apply for access?

-Rick




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