STATUS: DOWN!
Last Update: 2026-10-08 @ 08:16 EDT
The production BBS is offline due to a hardware issue.
Internet Address:
bbs.deepskies.com:6400
Description:
The VIC-20 that powers the BBS is malfunctioning and the board is down until further notice.
Test BBS:
vicbbs.com:6502
The test BBS is currently offline. It is used for testing new features and staging deployments.
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).
About VIC-BBS
Back in the early 1980's, I used to run a BBS (bulletin board system) on my Commodore computer. I initially started out with a VIC-20, and eventually moved up to a Commodore 64, and then ultimately IBM-compatible computers. I ran a BBS on all those platforms from 1983 up until 1993. I was also the sysop (system operator) for the Microsoft Canada BBS in the early 1990s, which had a bank of 32 high speed modems!
A bulletin board system is a program that runs on a computer server, and it allows users to dial into the system to read bulletins, send and receive messages, and upload and download files. They were quite common back in the 80s and early 90s and were essentially the precursor to the Internet.
I still run a BBS to this day on a Commodore VIC-20. It's called (of course) The DeepSkies BBS. You can access it over the Internet at:
bbs.deepskies.com:6400
You can use a real Commodore computer (VIC-20, C64, C128, etc) and a WiFi modem, or you can use an emulator like the VICE emulator, or you can use a piece of software such as MuffinTerm, SyncTerm or CGTerm.
The software that runs the BBS is my own custom BBS program called VIC-BBS v1.0. It runs on an actual Commodore VIC-20, and uses a VIC-1011A RS-232C adapter to talk to a small Linux server that acts as the "modem". The BBS works fine with real Commodore modems as well.
In addition, the VIC has a 35K RAM expander in it to allow both the large BASIC program to run as well as the machine language input/output routines. A VIC-2407 cartridge houses the RAM expansion as well as a real time clock (RTC12885/87) provided by Jaystonian’s Retro Wares. This allows the VIC and the BBS to keep track of the time and date accurately (a task the VIC cannot do on its own). Storage for the BBS is provided by an SD2IDE drive using a 64GB SD card.
Links to Hardware:
- SD2IEC Drive: LINK (8bitphoenix)
- VIC-1011A Adapter: LINK (HALsFriends)
- VIC-2407 35K + RTC: LINK (Jaystonian's Retro Shop)
- VIC-20 Power Supply: LINK (Ray Carlsen)
Links to Software:
- VIC-BBS v1.0: https://github.com/VA3DSO/VIC-BBS (VA3DSO)
- tcpser: https://github.com/go4retro/tcpser (go4retro)
If you have any questions about my board or about BBSing in general, feel free to send me an email to [email protected].