HCS BBS ======= "HCS BBS was actually started in mid 1983. HCS started on a CP/M system running Citadel for a short time. I then switched to a commodore 64 machine running C-Net BBS software. It allowed the Sysop the ability to write door "modules" in BASIC that would swap and overlay themselves into the "center" of the main BBS BASIC code. If I remember correctly, I think you were allowed roughly 100 lines of BASIC code to write your door modules. HCS was pretty high-end at that time. I had 3 serial drives (I think they were like 174K or so) and a Commodore tape drive. And...I was running a 300 Baud Modem RS-232 modem. That was "smoking" for a BBS at that time. [Big Grin]. I next upgraded to a C-128 which allowed both Commodore BASIC and CP/M OS modes. At that time, HCS was one of the first, if not "the first" in the Cleveland area to run at 1200 Baud and had a 1 Meg hard drive. I eventually wrote my own BBS software that linked with C-Net and took advantage of a 512K RAM Expansion for the C-128. "Not long after, I switched to my first Intel PC... one of the infamous "IBM Compatibles" of the time. It was quite a step up. Not only was it a 286, but it was one of the first XT "Turbo" models... a screaming 8 MHz with a 20 Meg Drive! [Grin] From that point on the BBS continuously grew... from 386s, to 486s, to Pentiums that were networked, running multinode BBS software, and 56k lines. HCS even went through having its area code changed from 216 to 330 when the phone company decided it needed more numbers in the Cleveland area. That explains why your collected BBS lists have it listed as both area codes over the years. "I had originally tried RBBS, PCBoard, and several other popular board software packages, but in 1987 I switched to GAP and I was hooked. GAP was written in C & Asm, it was fast and had a lot to offer. Kenny Gardner did a great job of developing and supporting it. HCS became a development test and support site for GAP until I shutdown in 1997. If you should ever come across an old GAP BBS manual, you'll find sample graphics and configurations with familiar references in them. [grin] At its high point, I was running the 99 node version of GAP BBS software, however, 10 lines were the most HCS ever had active. It had all the normal features like Door Games & Utilities, Relayed FIDO mail, Gapnet mail, Numerous Forums, and the works. "In 1996 or so, the Internet became easily accessible to everyone and the boards started a rapid decline. The slow, dedicated ANSI/ASCII boards just couldn't compete with the graphical worldwide accessibility. I held out and kept HCS running until 1997, however, BBS traffic had declined so drastically to the Internet that it was just no longer feasible. So in 1997, after 14 years of being online with many wonderful users... HCS shutdown." - Al Hawker, Sysop, HCS BBS Phone : 216-273-8224 Place : Brunswick, OH Years : 1983 - 1997 Sysop : Al Hawker Software: C-Net, Citadel, GAP Listed by telephone number, as they all were. A few of these boards did reach the web: see recoveries-002.txt. Source : bbslist.textfiles.com, compiled by Jason Scott ------------------------------------------------------------------ gopher://hp84.com/ | https://ge97.com/ .