STATUS: UP
Last Update: 2025-11-16 @ 00:00 UTC
The production BBS is running.
Internet Address:
bbs.deepskies.com:6400
Description:
The production version of the BBS is up and running (DeepSkies). There is a development version of the BBS that is sometimes running at:
vicbbs.com:6502
however, that test BBS is currently offline.
This is a Bulletin Board System that runs on a Commodore VIC-20 computer. The VIC requires at least 35KB of RAM expansion, a 1541 disk drive or equivalent external storage (such as an SD2IEC drive), and a WiFi modem or null modem equivalent. The BBS program can use a real time clock (RTC) to keep track of the date and time (the DeepSkies BBS uses a VIC-2407 cartridge for that purpose). The program is written primarily in C using the cc65 compiler, plus a small machine language program to assist in switching modules.
The production BBS (DeepSkies) runs on a real VIC-20 and uses a VIC-1011A RS232C adapter to talk to a Debian Linux server that runs a utility called tcpser. This utility acts as the bridge between the Internet and the VIC-20 and also appears as the "modem" to the BBS software. Additionally there is an SD2IEC drive for storing all the BBS files and a VIC-2407 cartridge to provide 35K RAM expansion and a DS12885T+ RTC chip with battery backup for tracking date and time. The BBS currently supports Xmodem (checksum) and will shortly debut some online games.
Source Code
Check out my Github repository at https://github.com/VA3DSO/VIC-BBS for all the code as well as downloading the latest releases. This repo supercedes anything on this website.
Current Work Item:
Online games [IN PROGRESS]
Recently Completed:
The entire system was re-programming in C using the cc65 compiler. All of the existing functionality was ported over (bulletins, public messages, system info, user lists, etc) and two new features were added: 1) The Wall, and 2) Xmodem file transfers (upload and download).