ATARI BBS GATEWAY (links to all Atari BBS's on one BBS!)

[doctorclu]

A long time & stable Dallas BBS, The Prison Board, has offered to provide a "Favorites page" for the Atari BBS users. Other users (like Tcropper) and I provided an up to date BBS list of the active Atari sites out there, and Rueben (PB Sysop) created a place you can go to, bring up an Atari telnet menu, and go directly to that Atari BBS. (Recently a Commodore BBS list has been added too.)

 

Ever been curious to see the online world of Atari computers? Come check out the Prison Board BBS:

 

972-329-0781 (this number good for people want to try out Atari modems, and dialup means.)

216.62.20.217 (This IP number is great for Lantronix users, and has not changed for a considerable time.) [iP Still accurate April 13, 2008] (also telnet://rdfig.net)

 

Trying to dial in with a stock Atari 300/1200 baud modem? You poor soul! But this has been less painful with a new feature. When you log in and the BBS asks for your log in name type "*[First name] [last name] [password]" and you'll skip over the log in screens and get taken directly to the main menu.

 

Never has the online Atari world been so easy to access from your Atari computer. Simply call up the above system, get to the main menu, X for the internet menu, and then A for the Atari menu. From there, it is simply a matter of hitting 1 through 9 for the Atari BBS's. Atari BBS's in many cases run on real Atari computers like the one you're calling with. Both chats are there, and one BBS is listed that you will not see anywhere else.

 

And the Prison board makes a great E-mail service too. You can E-mail the outside world with a real E-mail account, and if you wanted to surf the web on your Atari computer (especially 8-bits) there are telnetable locations with Lynx browsers you can hit from the Prison Board's telnet out feature.

 

Let me know here if you have any questions, and many thanks to The Prison Board BBS for this awesome service.

 

-----------------------------------

Naturally a BBS sysop loves more users, but seldom have I seen a sysop that have bent over backward for his users that he would be a pretzel at this point. Changes that Rueben has added as of April 13, 2008 for the retro computer community, and all I had to do was ask nicely and give feedback that you've given on how to make it better:

 

1) Added the Atari BBS list

2) Opened up 300 baud support. (this is turned off on modern BBS's)

3) Paid for the licences to add more lines. I think he started with 3-5 lines. Traffic increased when we started this, and so more lines were needed.

4) Added the Commodore BBS list

5) Added links to the Atari chats on both atarinews and the IRC chat.

6) Added the ability to skip all log-in screens. (this added with 300 baud users in mind).

Edited April 13, 2008 by doctorclu

[doctorclu]

I made some screen prints to show what this is all about. Pictured below we have the...

 

login screen,

 

 

the main menu,

 

The Internet menu

 

and the "Atari Internet" window. Beautiful eh? That Atari menu will take you to the rest of the (hidden) Atari world.

Edited May 15, 2008 by doctorclu

[Beetle]

Very nice done! I will check it out on my a8 soon.

[doctorclu]

Very nice done! I will check it out on my a8 soon.

 

Awesome Beetle. If we can get so much as ONE Atari user getting on this BBS to check this out, that would be worth it to the SysOp of the Prison Board.

[mimo]

how do I get my 8bit on line? Is it possible to do through APE and my PC?

[+Allan]

how do I get my 8bit on line? Is it possible to do through APE and my PC?

 

Will this work with an 300 Baud modem? If I have time tonight I'll try hooking up my 800Xl with my 1030 and sign on the board. I have All-distance calling so it won't cost me anything.

 

Allan

Edited March 19, 2007 by Allan

[Beetle]

how do I get my 8bit on line? Is it possible to do through APE and my PC?

Yeah, it is!

 

first, boot Ice-T XE (strongly recommended, needs a 128k machine) or an other

Terminal Emulation Program (Ice-T 800 or Flickerterm, if your eyes can stand it).

 

Then open APE on the PC and connect the SIO2PC interface, if not yet done.

 

Ape has a partly 850 emulation, that lets you telnet now.

just type in "open 216.62.20.217".

 

as far as i remember, it really was that easy (i use Linux for that purpose now,

which gives me not only telnet, but IRC, WWW, ICQ etc, too).

 

Give it a try and if it not works, we can troubleshoot here.

 

cya,

Beetle

[mimo]

Thanks Beetle, I will perhaps try tomorrow when I have some time.

[+Allan]

Well I just connected but it says a minimum of 1200 baud is required.

 

Does anybody know any other BBS?

 

Allan

[doctorclu]

Well I just connected but it says a minimum of 1200 baud is required.

 

Does anybody know any other BBS?

 

Allan

 

 

Hey don't give up on the Prison Board. I'll see if he can allow 300 baud... or better yet, just get a 850 interface and 9600 modem.

 

Thanks all for trying this!

[doctorclu]

First off, Mimo, let us know what you think when you try to get on. Beetle and I have been able to get on that BBS one way or the other so we can help you get on.

 

Beetle, thanks for offering your help!

 

 

Well I just connected but it says a minimum of 1200 baud is required.

 

Does anybody know any other BBS?

 

Allan

 

Well Allan... I like the way you think! I might have to look into a long distance calling plan like you have. I want to call BBS's all around the country, and maybe even in Canada.

 

As promised, I have sent a message to Ruben where the Atari Gateway is, and we'll see if he can get the BBS to allow 300 baud calls.

 

In the meantime, there is another BBS that I worked with years ago to allow 300 baud calls already. I cranked my Atari 800's modem down -64 times- it's normal speed from 19200 to 300. I called... wow that brought back memories from like 1985. LOL!

 

(BTW... quick suggestion, if you want to do this long term, $30 for the 19.2K Speedier module from More Than Games and a $5 19.2K+ modem and you are set! And you probably have a floppy drive. But have to admit, it would be cool using a 1030 modem again.) (You can also easily connect up to a 850 interface and hit 9600 baud, but I realize 850 interfaces are getting hard to find.)

 

Anyway, you can call this BBS...

 

972-496-0650 -The Family-Net BBS

 

This BBS also has free E-mail, has all the Atari news groups, IRC, and best of all, TELNET OUT!

 

Get to the main menu, enter "telnet". It will bring up a prompt, put in "216.62.20.217" and it should take you to the BBS where the gateway is at.

 

The fun part of all this is most of the BBS's have information in ANSI and the best that the older term programs usually did wasn't even VT100 but just ASCII. Anyway, you'll be able to make out some legible stuff mixed with a bunch of extra characters. Hopefully you should be able to navigate through it long enough to the gateway menus.

 

Nice part is, & I have done this many times with Bobterm... get to one of these BBS's using ASCII, a bit crude but you can make it out. Then once you get that BBS to connect to one of the Atari 8-bit BBS's, switch to ATASCII. Once that is done, you can see the BBS in full Atari character graphics!

 

So Allan, hope we can get something working for you.

Edited March 20, 2007 by doctorclu

[mimo]

any links to an image of Ice-T XE ?

thanks

[mimo]

found it

[Dan Iacovelli]

just telneted to it, looks cool

but I am uneasy leaving my home address on a bbs(Id Theft and all you know) if it was a secured bbs then ok.

[doctorclu]

Mimo, cool that you could find Ice-T XE. Let us know how it goes.

 

just telneted to it, looks cool

but I am uneasy leaving my home address on a bbs(Id Theft and all you know) if it was a secured bbs then ok.

 

Which BBS? Where the Atari Gateway is or one of the other Atari BBS's? Let me know, and I'll talk to the sysop. Trust me, most of the times that address field was for the days when sysops had to verify users, or had users that paid for the service.

 

BBS's would no longer sanely ask for subscriptions, and users are usually pretty well known in the Atari community before making it to the BBS's. That, and I can vouche you're ok. Just let me know which one and I'll see what I can do.

[+DarkLord]

Well I just connected but it says a minimum of 1200 baud is required.

 

Does anybody know any other BBS?

 

Allan

 

Hmm, as a test, would you mind trying to telnet into my BBS and see

if it supports that speed?

 

Thanks much.

 

(see sig for address)

[Dan Iacovelli]

Mimo, cool that you could find Ice-T XE. Let us know how it goes.

 

just telneted to it, looks cool

but I am uneasy leaving my home address on a bbs(Id Theft and all you know) if it was a secured bbs then ok.

 

Which BBS? Where the Atari Gateway is or one of the other Atari BBS's? Let me know, and I'll talk to the sysop. Trust me, most of the times that address field was for the days when sysops had to verify users, or had users that paid for the service.

 

BBS's would no longer sanely ask for subscriptions, and users are usually pretty well known in the Atari community before making it to the BBS's. That, and I can vouche you're ok. Just let me know which one and I'll see what I can do.

the prision board: 216.62.20.217

it asks you to doa survey for new users which includes home address.

[+DarkLord]

Mimo, cool that you could find Ice-T XE. Let us know how it goes.

 

just telneted to it, looks cool

but I am uneasy leaving my home address on a bbs(Id Theft and all you know) if it was a secured bbs then ok.

 

Which BBS? Where the Atari Gateway is or one of the other Atari BBS's? Let me know, and I'll talk to the sysop. Trust me, most of the times that address field was for the days when sysops had to verify users, or had users that paid for the service.

 

BBS's would no longer sanely ask for subscriptions, and users are usually pretty well known in the Atari community before making it to the BBS's. That, and I can vouche you're ok. Just let me know which one and I'll see what I can do.

the prision board: 216.62.20.217

it asks you to doa survey for new users which includes home address.

 

So does mine, but you don't *have* to put your real address there. Ditto

for your phone number. If you enter "n/a" or xxx xxxx whatever, the BBS

will still accept it just fine.

 

You have to keep in mind what is happening sometimes, from a historical

perspective - my BBS software asks for your phone number, because

way back in the good 'ole days of dial-up connections, the software could

be setup to "dial back and verify", that a new user was legit. Of course thats

no longer valid, but I'm afraid since the software is no longer supported,

removing those questions is difficult at best.

 

Now, I use the users address whenever I give away a monthly prize. I've

had to give prizes away to other people because I could not come up with

a valid address for a user.

 

Just for reference, to the best of my knowledge, no user has ever had

their personal data stolen from my BBS.

[Dan Iacovelli]

understand,but you never know about certine people.

I put n/a for address and 555# for phone number

I'm on the bbs now.

Edited March 20, 2007 by Dan Iacovelli

[Dan Iacovelli]

understand,but you never know about certine people.

I put n/a for address and 555# for phone number

I'm on the bbs now.

works pretty good for going to atarichat irc room

but doesn't work great for telneting to atarinews.org though gets stuck on login password to actual chat)

[doctorclu]

understand,but you never know about certine people.

I put n/a for address and 555# for phone number

I'm on the bbs now.

works pretty good for going to atarichat irc room

but doesn't work great for telneting to atarinews.org though gets stuck on login password to actual chat)

 

He got that set up? Last I checked that was not there, so a newly added feature that needs to be ironed out. Let me see something... the chat worked ok for me. Strange!

 

As for the 300 baud issue, Ruben is looking into it. He forgot where in the BBS software that limitation would be set. Understandable.

[Dan Iacovelli]

understand,but you never know about certine people.

I put n/a for address and 555# for phone number

I'm on the bbs now.

works pretty good for going to atarichat irc room

but doesn't work great for telneting to atarinews.org though gets stuck on login password to actual chat)

 

He got that set up? Last I checked that was not there, so a newly added feature that needs to be ironed out. Let me see something... the chat worked ok for me. Strange!

 

As for the 300 baud issue, Ruben is looking into it. He forgot where in the BBS software that limitation would be set. Understandable.

no he doesn't have set up to go to atarinews.org I had to telnet manualy to it

and it connected and got past start,and it got stuck to loging userid and password.

[S1500]

Ah, memories of BBSing. I never understood why most new user applications for BBS rivaled the size of a home loan application. Why do you need my address? You gonna visit me? Why do you need my phone number? You gonna call me?

 

Bogus info is the only way to go.

[mimo]

Ok, so I got on and registered, but now I am stuck in the 'main channel' and cant get anywhere

[doctorclu]

Dan, will try to get the Atari telnet chat working. Have to admit, not sure I have ever gone through that gateway to get there.

 

S1500

"Ah, memories of BBSing. I never understood why most new user applications for BBS rivaled the size of a home loan application. Why do you need my address? You gonna visit me? Why do you need my phone number? You gonna call me?"

 

Bogus info is the only way to go."

 

Yep true. See what Darklord had to say above on the why they asked for addresses. It is just the way the program was written back in the day.

 

Of course, in the case of Dark Forces where they actually have door prizes for monthly attendance, the address comes in handy to ship gifts. So the only real application I have seen. And even then Darklord usually asks you where you would like the doorprize shipped to (To date I have won issues of Atari Computing back in '99-'00, issues of ST Magazine, and the Mega Ste motherboard, so good prizes to be had)

 

Ok, so I got on and registered, but now I am stuck in the 'main channel' and cant get anywhere

 

First off, love the cat avatar you have. So you were stuck on this screen? ...

 

 

Let me know if it was this one, one of the later menus, or even a menu on one of the Atari BBS's.

Edited March 21, 2007 by doctorclu