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Simply put, a Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is like a mailbox, where
you can drop off messages to others that they can pick up at a later
time. You can also pick up messages or bulletins addressed to you. Often,
BBS's are attached to major nodes and serve as a central post office for all
users. They serve as a convenient way of communicating, although not in real
time.
Amateur Radio BBS's derive from the old BBS networks that existed before
the internet became readily available. They served as a gathering place for
people with similar interests.
Many BBS's have the capability of forwarding mail to other BBS's
automatically. They maintain a listing of other BBS's that they can
communicate with across the system backbone.
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There are several different BBS software packages, but most use the same
command structure, which makes our lives much easier.
Rather than try to define them all, we will describe the BBS's as being
one of two types.
 | Full Service BBS |
Full service BBS's are public BBS's intended to be used by many users.
They often allow several stations to be connected simultaneously. They
usually can do Mail Forwarding. And, they have an expanded command list.
| PBBS, or Personal BBS |
PBBS's are smaller BBS's commonly built into our TNC's. This is the
case with the KPC-3, which most people in the GTA West use. Other brands
have similar capabilities. PBBS's usually only have a basic set of commands.
Note:
In the GTA West, we use "callsign-1" as the PBBS identifier.
This is the KPC-3 default. (e. g. My PBBS is VE3TRJ-1.)
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We have several public BBS's in the GTA West.
| Callsign |
Frequency |
Type |
Location |
Note |
| BBSBAL |
145.630 |
FBB BBS |
Ballantrae |
Forwarding |
| VE3PRC-1 |
145.010 |
KA-BBS |
Brampton |
|
| VE3CON |
145.030 |
TCP/IP |
Etobicoke |
Connectivity via Internet |
| VA3LNK-4 |
145.610 |
FBB BBS |
Halton Hills |
Similar to BBSBAL |
| VE3QSK-1 |
145.750 |
KA-BBS |
Burlington |
|
| VE3HAL-1 |
145.750 |
KA-BBS |
Milton |
|
| VE3OAK-1 |
145.750 |
KA-BBS |
Oakville |
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To log on to a BBS, just connect to the BBS like you would connect to any
other station. Looking at the table above, you would connect to the
callsign or alias listed.
To see a sample session, click on the callsign in the above table.
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There are 3 types of messages:
- Private Messages - Messages addressed to a specific callsign.
Only that particular station can list, read or kill these messages
o the BBS.
- Bulletin Messages - Messages addressed to everyone. They are
often grouped by topic. Everyone can list or read them. The originator
can kill them.
- NTS or National Traffic System messages. These are Amateur
Radio radiograms intended for a specific person (ham or not). The
recipient may be local or may be elsewhere. If you accept these
messages, you have the responsibility to either deliver the message or
keep it moving along the NTS system. If you accept the message, you
should kill it from the BBS.
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Sending a message is very easy. You do need to know the callsign of the
station you want to send to, you need a message subject (just like email), and
you need to tell the BBS when the message is complete.
The basic command to the BBS is 'S', the abbreviation for 'Send'.
You then identify the type of message (see above), giving
- SP for private messages
- SB for bulletins
- ST for NTS messages
Next you will identify to whom the message is going.
- SP CALLSIGN - for private messages. (e.g. SP VA3OG means send a
private message to VA3OG.)
- SB ALL - for bulletins (Substitute appropriate wording for your
bulletin. Examples might be 'ARES', 'PARC', 'HAM-EX', etc. This helps
the reader select which bulletins they might want to read. Some BBS's
have hundreds of bulletins!)
- ST LOCATION - for National Traffic messages. Location is made
up of 'postalcode@NTSprovincecode'. e.g.. L6W1T7@NTSON. Or 10010@NTSNY.
The BBS will then ask you for the Subject of your message. Simply type it
in, as you would for an email. Following that, you can proceed to type your
message. When finished, press Enter to get a new line, type '/ex' to
indicate the end of the message. That's it!
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The 'L' command lists messages. Using 'L' by itself will list
all messages to you, from you, bulletins and NTS messages. You can be specific
by adding 'M' (My messages), 'B' (Bulletins), or 'T' (NTS
Traffic).
LM - lists only messages
to me
LB - lists only bulletins
LT - lists only NTS
traffic
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The 'R' command reads messages.
RM - reads all messages to
me
R 123 - reads message
number 123. When you list messages, every message will be identified by a
number.
The 'K' command kills, or removes messages from the BBS. It is good
practice kill messages once you have read them to help preserve memory on the
BBS. Sysops appreciate it!
KM - Kill all messages to
me
K 123 - Kill message
number 123.
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