Hey folks!
My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.
I run a BBS called "68k Mac Club" on my 90s Mac LCIII.
I'm from central Texas USA originally, but I've been
in Tokyo for the past 6 years.
Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync. The board I hung out
on the most during that time was Cliffs of Insanity.
They had 14 lines, each with a 14.4kbps modem, so
there was a lot of multi-user chat happening there.

Anyway, thanks for adding my BBS to the network!
I look forward to talking to folks on here.

My hobbies include anime, sci-fi, history,
amateur radio, electronics, and woodworking.

- Vaelen

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

On 23 Jan 2024, vaelen said the following...

My hobbies include anime, sci-fi, history,
amateur radio, electronics, and woodworking.

- Vaelen

Welcome! Sounds like all fun things to do!

|23|04Dr|16|12Claw
|16|14Sysop |12Noverdu |14BBS |20|15Radio|10@|14HTTP://Noverdu.com:88
|16|10 Standard ports for SSH/Telnet |04 WEB|14@|12HTTP://noverdu.com:808 |20|15Global Chat, Global Messaging and Games! |16|10Ditch the Unsocial Media

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Noverdu BBS (21:1/210)

On 1/23/2024 5:58 PM, vaelen wrote to All:

Hey folks!
My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.
I run a BBS called "68k Mac Club" on my 90s Mac LCIII.
I'm from central Texas USA originally, but I've been
in Tokyo for the past 6 years.
Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync. The board I hung out
on the most during that time was Cliffs of Insanity.
They had 14 lines, each with a 14.4kbps modem, so
there was a lot of multi-user chat happening there.

Anyway, thanks for adding my BBS to the network!
I look forward to talking to folks on here.

My hobbies include anime, sci-fi, history,
amateur radio, electronics, and woodworking.

- Vaelen

If you have an interest in hobby-related things and are looking to add anetwork to your
board, you might consider checking out the HobbyNet conferenes. You can find information by going to:
https://hobbynet.hobbyline.com

Glad to have you onboard.

Mike Dippel

--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
* Origin: The Hobby Line! BBS - hobbylinebbs.com (21:4/176)

Hello Vaelen!

On 23 Jan 2024, vaelen said the following...

Hey folks!
My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.
I run a BBS called "68k Mac Club" on my 90s Mac LCIII.

Welcome to fsxNet -- I'm sure you'll find it enjoyable!

Running your BBS on "real" hardware from back in the days is cool! I'll be building a retro PC system any year now (got lots of parts, among them many BNIB ones, although they'll probably require some recapping) which will be a lot of fun, I think. =)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

On 23 Jan 2024, vaelen said the following...

My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.
I run a BBS called "68k Mac Club" on my 90s Mac LCIII.
I'm from central Texas USA originally, but I've been

Anyway, thanks for adding my BBS to the network!
I look forward to talking to folks on here.

We look forward to hearing from you in this much smaller Fido/Fsx world.

Mick

Mick Manning
https://centralontarioremote.com
telnet centralontarioremote.com:2300

... Everyone smiles in the same language.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Central Ontario Remote Systems (21:1/159)

Hi vaelen,

My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.
I run a BBS called "68k Mac Club" on my 90s Mac LCIII.

There are a growing number of BBS's running on "Retro" hardware.

My hobbies include anime, sci-fi, history,
amateur radio, electronics, and woodworking.

A lot of us have intrest in those area's.

- Vaelen

A Babylon5 fan?


\/orlon
aka
Stephen

Rocking Amiga 3000 powerd, Linux M68K.



--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/m68k)
* Origin: Vorlon Empire: Sector 550 (21:1/195.1)

On 23 Jan 2024 at 05:58p, vaelen pondered and said...

Hey folks!
My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.

Hi Andrew.

Nice to meet you and thanks for the intro post. I hope you enjoy your BBSing experiences and the discussions in fsxNet.

The guys here are helpful and supportive. We're all located around the globe, time travel between time zones certainly happens, some of us are in sumemr others in winter... I live in the future according to folks based in the the USA / Europe etc. but I'm still no good for future lotto numbers - sorry!

Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync. The board I hung out
on the most during that time was Cliffs of Insanity.

I ran a Renegade BBS back in the 90s can got back into BBSing again around 2013 I think it was, set up fsxNet with the help of Todd, Dan and Deon in late 2015 and have enjoyed the camaraderie ever since of chatting with folks from all walks of life but often with quite a bit in common when it comes to overlapping hobbies and interests.

Anyway, thanks for adding my BBS to the network!
I look forward to talking to folks on here.

My hobbies include anime, sci-fi, history,
amateur radio, electronics, and woodworking.

I'm also a HAM operator (not that active) ZL4PH and enjoy sci-fi too..

Best, Paul aka Avon (Blake's 7 fan)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

My name is Andrew, but I go by vaelen in most places.
I run a BBS called "68k Mac Club" on my 90s Mac LCIII.

Welcome! DEF going to check out your BBS. Cheers!


|08.|05j|13A|08.


--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: R3tr0/X BBS :: retrox.us:1992 (21:4/158)

you might consider checking out the HobbyNet conferenes.

Thanks! I'll check those out. :)

- Vaelen

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

A Babylon5 fan?

Yeah, definitely! When I first went to get my domain name, Valen was already taken, so I ended up with Vaelen. (this was back in the 90s, and valen.com
was a Babylon 5 fan site, I think.)

- Vaelen

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

I'm also a HAM operator (not that active) ZL4PH and enjoy sci-fi too..

My callsign is JJ1OKA (US call sign NU8W). I talk to folks in NZ on FT-8 sometimes, mostly on 20 meters. My setup is fairly compact given the small
lot sizes in Tokyo.

I got back into the BBS scene in 2020 after lockdown. This is also when I started getting into "retro" computing, which is sadly all about the
machines I actually used as a kid, and is kind of depressing to think
about some times. >D It's been a great experience though, the community
is generally very friendly and supportive.

- Vaelen

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

On 1/24/2024 6:01 PM, vaelen wrote to Mike Dippel:

you might consider checking out the HobbyNet conferenes.

Thanks! I'll check those out. :)

- Vaelen

Hoping to hear from you.

Mike Dippel

--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
* Origin: The Hobby Line! BBS - hobbylinebbs.com (21:4/176)

My hobbies include anime, sci-fi, history,
amateur radio, electronics, and woodworking.

I am a fan of the original Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, One Step Beyond,
and Tales of Tomorrow sci-fi shows. I also enjoy reading H P Lovecraft
and H G Wells.



--- Talisman v0.51-dev (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: possumso.fsxnet.nz * telnet:2123/ssh:2122/ftelnet:80 (21:4/134)

On 23 Jan 2024 at 05:58p, vaelen pondered and said...

Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync. The board I hung out
on the most during that time was Cliffs of Insanity.

Oh very cool! What was the name of your BBS?
I ran a board in SAT for about a year, and was
on 387 net. My node was called, "The Experimental
BBS" and I ran Spitfire on a 486. This was '92ish.
I thought about maybe trying to run a BBS on Unix
on that machine, but then I moved back up north and
stopped running a BBS entirely (by then I had more
or less permanent access to the Internet).

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 24 Jan 2024 at 06:09p, vaelen pondered and said...

My callsign is JJ1OKA (US call sign NU8W). I talk to folks in NZ on FT-8 sometimes, mostly on 20 meters. My setup is fairly compact given the
small lot sizes in Tokyo.

Cool, if I get set up with HF gear again we would try to arrange a sked.

I got back into the BBS scene in 2020 after lockdown. This is also when
I started getting into "retro" computing, which is sadly all about the machines I actually used as a kid, and is kind of depressing to think about some times. >D It's been a great experience though, the community

It's all good, there's more folks about in the same head space than you might think. I was at a local museum the other day they have a display of computers which also include gear I used as a kid... so yep, feeling older now :)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Anyway, thanks for adding my BBS to the network!
I look forward to talking to folks on here.

Welcome to fsxNet, vaelon!! I'm from Texas, too - but now live in the Pacific Northwest... wish I'd of made a cool jump out of America like you!

Welcome to the fun!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

tenser, that was about the same time that I was running my board. I hate
to say it, but I can't remember what I called it. I was not good at naming things, so it was probably something like Starfleet. *lol* I was running QuickBBS also on a 486 under DOS. It was the same for me re: the internet.
I worked for an ISP starting in 1996 (while still in HS) and got an ISDN
line to my house, which was blazing fast!

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

On 25 Jan 2024 at 10:05a, vaelen pondered and said...

tenser, that was about the same time that I was running my board. I hate to say it, but I can't remember what I called it. I was not good at
naming things, so it was probably something like Starfleet. *lol* I was running QuickBBS also on a 486 under DOS. It was the same for me re: the internet. I worked for an ISP starting in 1996 (while still in HS) and
got an ISDN line to my house, which was blazing fast!

Ha! Ok, fair enough. You don't play guitar, do you?

There was a guy roughly my age who was big on playing
guitar and who liked programming in Pascal who I talked
to a few times. He also ran a board in 210 at roughly
that time, but his name escapes me at the moment. It'd
be wild if you were the same person!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Hello vaelen!

** On Tuesday 23.01.24 - 17:58, vaelen wrote to All:

Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync.

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up:

https://nodehist.fidonet.org.ua/

Under what name did you operate?

--- OpenXP 5.0.58
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

On 25 Jan 2024 at 06:09p, Ogg pondered and said...

Hello vaelen!

** On Tuesday 23.01.24 - 17:58, vaelen wrote to All:

Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync.

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up:

https://nodehist.fidonet.org.ua/

I found that frustratingly difficult to search,
actually. It's fine if one knows a node number or
a name, but there was no way to look at, say, a
regional network.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Hello tenser!

** On Sunday 28.01.24 - 09:48, tenser wrote to Ogg:

** On Tuesday 23.01.24 - 17:58, vaelen wrote to All:

Back in the 90s I ran a very small Star Trek themed
BBS in San Antonio, TX USA and at the time I had
Fidonet setup with the BBS dialing my parent in the
node list every day to sync.

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up:

https://nodehist.fidonet.org.ua/

I found that frustratingly difficult to search,
actually. It's fine if one knows a node number or
a name, but there was no way to look at, say, a
regional network.

I primarily use it using a sysop name. So, in this case, all
vaelen has to do is enter his own name (presumably he knows the
"real" name he used for fidonet) and the system will remind him
what his bbs name was.


--- OpenXP 5.0.58
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

tenser wrote to Ogg <=-

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up:

https://nodehist.fidonet.org.ua/

I found that frustratingly difficult to search,
actually. It's fine if one knows a node number or
a name, but there was no way to look at, say, a
regional network.

Archived collections of nodelists are easy to find.

This particular collection goes back to 1984:

https://www.kuehlbox.wtf/files/fidohist/nodelist



... So easy, a child could do it. Child sold separately.
=== MultiMail/Linux v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up

Well, I'm not listed there, so I wonder what I was doing at the time.
I know my board called a hub to pass mail and that I sent and received
mail from other boards though.

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

You don't play guitar, do you?

No, sadly not. :) I also didn't program Pascal at the time, I was still
really into BASIC at that point.

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up

Well, I'm not listed there, so I wonder what I was doing at the time.
I know my board called a hub to pass mail and that I sent and received
mail from other boards though.

You may have been on another network. I think you said you were running non-intel hardware, which may have limited your choices. I know the GT
Power Network was big in Texas (over 100 nodes at one point), but that
would have required you to be running a GT Power BBS on intel hardware.

There was also RIME/RelayNet which required proprietary software for most
of its early existence and (I think) that software may have been for
intel hardware only.

There were a few other networks around that were not FIDO and also didn't
use FTN software.


--- Talisman v0.51-dev (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: possumso.fsxnet.nz * telnet:2123/ssh:2122/ftelnet:80 (21:4/134)

Hi Vaelen,

On Wednesday January 24 2024, Vaelen said to vorlon:

A Babylon5 fan?

Yeah, definitely! When I first went to get my domain name, Valen was already taken, so I ended up with Vaelen. (this was back in the 90s, and valen.com was a Babylon 5 fan site, I think.)

You need to be quick to get worthwhile domain names!

Back in the day, the local tv station that used to broadcast B5 had it on
after a "Live" show that always ran overtime. That was a huge pain in the
rear end, as at that time I was a rotating shift worker. So some nights I
had to get my father to hit the record button on the VHS. Other times I
would get home just before it started (should have been 10:30pm) and was
able to watch it.


\/orlon
aka
Stephen

Rocking FSXnet with an Amiga 4000 and Zeus BBS.

--- Zeus BBS 1.5
* Origin: -:-- Dragon's Lair --:- dragon.vk3heg.net Prt: 6800 (21:1/196.0)

On 27 Jan 2024 at 08:28p, Gamgee pondered and said...

tenser wrote to Ogg <=-

The history of nodelisted sysops is easy to look up:

https://nodehist.fidonet.org.ua/

I found that frustratingly difficult to search,
actually. It's fine if one knows a node number or
a name, but there was no way to look at, say, a
regional network.

Archived collections of nodelists are easy to find.

This particular collection goes back to 1984:

https://www.kuehlbox.wtf/files/fidohist/nodelist

Ah, very cool; thanks!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 28 Jan 2024 at 01:31p, vaelen pondered and said...

No, sadly not. :) I also didn't program Pascal at the time, I was still really into BASIC at that point.

It would have been too much of a coincidence!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Those were the days! I watched most of B5 on a tiny 15" TV in my room. I
would sometimes forget it was on and then just miss an episode. (I can't
even fathom that idea these days.)

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

Nice to see another SubText BBS pop up!

Welcome to the global network.

-andy

---
* Origin: Massive BBS | bbs.diller.org (21:3/178)

Hey massive! Good to see you here. :)

Also, I think it's pretty funny that we're both Andrews.

---
* Origin: 68k Mac Club | bbs.m68k.club (21:1/141)

Re: Re: Re: Introduction
By: vaelen to tenser on Thu Jan 25 2024 10:05 am

I worked for an ISP starting in 1996 (while still in HS) and got an ISDN line to my house, which was blazing fast!

I had ISDN for a whlie too (wrote software and firmware for an ISDN terminal adapter). 128Kbps baby! But charged per 64Kbps "B channel" per minute. Ouch. :-(
--
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #42:
What day the Lord created Spinal Tap and couldn't he have rested on that day? Norco, CA WX: 52.9øF, 90.0% humidity, 0 mph ESE wind, 0.78 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)

Digital Man wrote to vaelen <=-

I worked for an ISP starting in 1996 (while still in HS) and got an ISDN line to my house, which was blazing fast!

I had ISDN for a whlie too (wrote software and firmware for an ISDN terminal adapter). 128Kbps baby! But charged per 64Kbps "B channel" per minute. Ouch.

I had work paying for an ISDN line to my house. I would connect to a
Shiva LANRover at work for access to my company LAN, and use it to
connect to the internet. I don't recall if inbound calls were charged
or if my callers had dwindled at that point that I didn't worry about
it.

That was the first time I downloaded fido packets via the internet, and
it was eye-opening being able to connect multiple times a day.

A couple of years earlier at another company, we had an Ascend Pipeline
router in the office with a PRI circuit and BRIs out with employees.
Had a problem with one of the sites connecting, called Pac Bell to sort
it out and spoke to Scott Adams. He still worked for Bell while writing
Dilbert.



... "The swift blade penetrates the salad."
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Howdy! Valean,
I'm W9ODR in Indiana, long ago was in US Navy and visited Tokyo once whiwe le Ship was in Yokosuka.
Didn't go to the Ginza(?), me and a Super Chief went downtown to shop and eat.

Other interests are photography and Bible study.

A friend had version 6.11 CD of The Online Bible that I borrowed and there was a Mac install on it as well as DOS and Windows (pardon my language
. . . . . . )

I knew a person that owned an original MacIntosh PC, the AIO Model with the 3.5" floppy slot below the monitor.
The Mac belonged to his wife but he wanted to read the Bible on her Computer.

In the early 1990's I visited a Apple Store to see if I would be interested in buying one.
Back then my PC was a C=64 and I was trying to decide whether to get an Apple ][ or Clone computer.

I knew several Hams who owned a MacIntosh and while in the Apple Store (BTW the Store had a Private owner, it wasn't owned by Apple Corp.)
I asked to try a MAC. After some minutes I asked Salesman "How do I get to BASIC on this? He told me BASIC is an Option and it costs $200.00 more than the price for the MAC.

I thanked him and left the Store.

Now back to my installation of the OLB on their MAC:
From the OLB CD I had put the MAC Version on a bunch of 3.5" floppies.
I remembered after what was on a disk finished, to remove it to insert another disk I was told to drag it onto the TRASH Icon because there wasn't a Button alongside the Drive slot.
Because I have used a PC Clone at work, the idea of Trashing a disk seemed radical to me

Anyhow after all of the floppies had been installed, the family could use that Program.
At least the MAC didn't crash while my hands were on it.

While typing this I thought of a procedure to Enlarge or Shrink the size of the characters on a monitor, which someone(s) on a BBS told me can be done by holding down a CTRL Key and moving the Scroll wheel on the Mouse back or forward.

Will that routine do that as well on an MAC, iMAC?

Thank You!

de ED W9ODR - . -
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (21:1/175)