#Running a BBS w/ A2000
11 messages in this thread
So many slots! I only have five in mine 🙂 and two of them are being used. How
many serial ports can be on one card at a time? I heard only two, so I would
be limited to six lines… of course, that is plenty for now 🙂 I might never
get passed one or two lines.
What do you think is the best BBS programs out there? Do you know anything
about the FidoNet? What type of serial cards are available? What do users want
to see on a BBS?
Thanks for your information.
Paul, I notice no one has replied saying they know about the Fidonet. Well, I
have my Amiga set up to recieve messages from Fidonet. There are several BBS's
here in the networking forum, and some of them support Fidonet. What you need
is a front end. The most widely used front end for the Amiga is Trapdoor. I
haven't seen it here on Compuserve; I believe I got it from the Fidonet myself.
If you want it, I could upload it but I don't know if it is the latest release
(If it isn't, it's darn close). I still have the complete archive with
registration notes, docs, and utilities. Let me know if this helps.
Rick Green
Via AutoPilot
Rick,
Please, if you can, upload the version of Trapdoor that you have. I would be
interested in taking a look at it.
You say that you receive messages from Fidonet with your Amiga. What type of
costs are involved? I remember Fidonet was free a way back when it first came
out, but I don't know if that has changed or not.
I have heard that a person can send and receive mail on the internet through
Fidonet. Are there charges involved in such messages? I think this would be a
big plus for a BBS to offer the ability to send messages to others outside of
my computer 🙂
Thanks for your info.
Paul
FIDO is always a plus for BBS's. I had Clink netted to mine for awhile.
Point is, there are alot of Nets out there so I would reccomend two things for
you.
1. Locate a nearest HUB so you won't set up a node for a net only to find you
have to get it lomg distance all the time
2. Get a local Sysop to help you set it up, for the first time user it can be
an exercise in frustration.
MArk Birdsill
Hi Paul
> upload the version of Trapdoor that you have.
I believe 1.84 is the latest and that is freely available on most Amiga
Fidonet BBS's in the demo version. The full version is about $40. You can
use the Demo version to set up as a point using April or some other Amiga
point package, but for full BBS use you would need the full Trapdoor.
I run a FidoNet BBS on my A2000 under Excelsior! Pro software. I have one
MultiFace2+ I/O card which can support two 115K ports and two parallel
ports. That would allow for three lines if I felt the need, but I only
have one BBS line on a Zoom 28800 modem right now. The software is around
$125 to buy and supports a lot of nice features like RIP, QWK mail, and
UUCP maillists as echos (if you can get a UUCP connection). It also
includes Trapdoor frontend mailer in that price. I don't mean this to be a
reccomendation over other systems; all BBS programs have proven
challanging to set up, in my experience. I ain't too smart. DLG Pro is
another good one I haven't seen mentioned here yet, but I don't know it.
I get my Fido feed from a Planet-Connect node locally. That costs me
$15/qtr, not bad for a thousand+ forums hot off the sattelite every day.
The plan is to feed the replys back through the fidonet backbone, a slower
telephone line based network. That works well since reply traffic is far
far smaller than the inbound traffic. You need a fidonet connection also
to do this, usually as easy as applying to the local NEC. Network
coordinator, you can find him by asking any local sysop.
> I have heard that a person can send and receive mail on the internet
> through Fidonet
absolutely, the trick is to send a fidonet message to a "gateway" through
the slow store-and-forward backbone. The message has the internet address
cleverly placed at the top of the text message in a certain format which
the gateway will recognize, and it will be forwarded via internet.
In practice I found this to defeat the main reason for internet: speed.
Today it is possible to get yourself actually on the internet for $10-$30
a month with full FTP, WEB, GOPHER etc privledges, a real bargain.
Hope that helps to whet your appetite, would like to see more Amiga BBS's
on all the networks. If I can help in any way feel free to ask.
Tom Jones
alternate: jonest@hfsi.com
I never met a man I didn't like…Will Rogers
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the info. $15 every 3 months isn't too bad! How long does it take a
message to get from a BBS to an Internet address? I suppose it could take at
the most 48hrs? Or is it even longer than that? I guess it depends how many
local BBS get the msg before it finally gets on the Internet.
I have thought about providing Internet access. I started looking for
suppliers here, and found only two. One of them is full, and isn't accepting
any new applicants, and the other has outrageous prices. I have heard that for
$300/month, I can have a connection to the Internet. You know, the
@something.here would be my own computer. But, I doubt I could handle it with
an Amiga. At least I don't think I could, does anybody know? I would have to
handle something like 100 accounts and 10 phone lines. All of them connected to
the Internet somehow. I'm not even sure how that would work. Anyways, I
suppose I would need something more like a VAX.
BTW, what is UUCP? I've seen it around before, but don't really know what it
is.
Thanks again for your help.
Paul
Actually the delay fidonet might introduce before your message hit the
internet depends on how far you are form a gateway. If you are in the
northeast corrider (rustbelt) area it could minutes away. Seems to me one
of the gateways was in the philly area.
Offering internet MAIL on a fido type BBS has been done but it is
expensive. There is/was one person selling services to BBS's that wanted
to do this and the maillists were pre-converted to fidonet style echoes
for you by the service so it was as easy as subscribing for a fido echo.
They were also in the new york/philly area somewhere, too far for me to
call daily.
I personally don't think it takes 10 lines to handle 100 users Paul. I
have more than that on one line and so do most Fido boards. You would find
2 or 3 lines very adequate unless you plan to run a pretty commercial type
enterprise and I assure you an accellerated Amiga 2000 or a 4000 can
handle it quite well. The recent increase in baud rates from 2400 to 14400
for users and 28800 for sysops has reduced the need for so many lines
also. People get on and off faster. Software is there to hook directly to
the internet too but none of this is very simple.
UUCP is the software you normally use to recieve and reply to USENET lists
and to handle private Email, also to FTP files sometimes. It is the way
you would want to tie a BBS to the internet. It is also hard to get the
providers to give a small BBS that kind of connection on a dial up line
because they like to have big companys use it on a 24 hour dedicated line.
So you end up using PPP or SLIP dialup connections for personal use and
will find it expensive and/or difficult to put other users on Inet.
alternate: jonest@hfsi.com
I never met a man I didn't like…Will Rogers
I'll get it together and upload it then. It is the Demo version, of course.
I don't pay anything for being hooked up. I have a friend who has a friend who
has a BBS set up with Fido, so I hook into him. He's limited to a small number
of echo's, though (No Amiga echo's, but I'm trying to get him to add them).
I use Spot as the Tosser/reader. It has very good features for WB 3.0+ users
(I use an A1200). I use Compuserve to send and receive Internet mail since I
do so little of it anyways. I'm looking for an inexpensive way to get full
Internet access in my area; so far no luck.
I've been thinking about starting a BBS myself, but my wife won't let me get a
second phone line. <g> I have an A500 in the closet collecting dust and a
good number of HD's laying around, and a couple CD-ROM's. I could have a
kickin BBS, but I think I'm the only Amiga user within 200 miles. (And it would
be an Amiga only BBS ;^> ).
Rick Green
Via AutoPilot
Thanks Rick for the upload.
Convince your wife that the BBS would be supported by the users 🙂 Of course,
if you're the only one within 200 miles, you'll be the only user, but you'll be
supporting it! 🙂 I don't know how much a phone line is in your area, but here
a phone with nothing on it (no touch tone either) is about $12/month. So…
say you have 40 callers, just charge them $5/year for access. That's not much,
it pays for the phone line, and give you $56 as pay for running the BBS. Not
bad 🙂
I'd like to find Internet access also. I have thought about providing it
through my computer, but I don't think the Amiga can handle it? I'd probably
need a VAX or something like that.
Paul
I'm sure the Amiga can handle it, you just have to get the right equipment (and
have some patience). I would highly suggest Dale Larson's book "Connect Your
Amiga!". I have done some business with a guy on the Fidonet that uses his
A3000T as a BBS with Fidonet support. He might even have Internet support; I
don't know.
It's not so easy to convince my wife of anything potential. If I do it, it
will come from my own pocket (which she has control of). I'm such a tightwad
that if I didn't let her handle the money, we would go without a lot of things
(but we would have a lot in the bank <g>).
Rick Green
Via AutoPilot
Rick
> but I think I'm the only Amiga user within 200 miles.
Maybe, but you may be very surprised how many people find you. There are a
lot more Amiga folks out there than we know. Usually.
alternate: jonest@hfsi.com
I never met a man I didn't like…Will Rogers