KERNAL · RUN YOUR OWN BBS
Run your own BBS
PETSCII started on a Commodore 64 in 1982. KERNAL is what it grew into: one engine running many boards, each with the feel of the classic board programs, rebuilt for today. Pick your machine, pick your board program, and run a real BBS that Commodores, Amigas, PCs and web browsers can call.
Call one now: PETSCII.NW
The line-up
Each board program is our own, made in the spirit of the boards people called in the 80s and 90s.
Every machine
PETSCII BBS
PETSCII, ANSI, ASCII
The Command Bunker, 1983: DEFCON, clearance, the red phone. PETSCII's own, since 1982.
Its own: Command Bunker
C64
BREADBIN BBS
From $5.00 a month
PETSCII 40
Colour everywhere, friendly, easy for a new sysop
Its own: Colour in posts, READY. boot logon
TRUNKLINE 64
From $6.00 a month
PETSCII 40
Boards networked together, a serious, professional feel
Its own: TRUNKLINE NET
MOSAIC 64
From $7.00 a month
PETSCII 40
The sysop rebuilds every menu, add-ons for everything
Its own: Menu editor, Add-on modules, PETSCII art editor
C128
TRUNKLINE 128
From $6.00 a month
PETSCII 80
TRUNKLINE in 80 columns, using the 128's room
Its own: TRUNKLINE NET, 80-column layouts
BREADBIN 128
From $5.00 a month
PETSCII 80
BREADBIN laid out for 80 columns
Its own: Colour in posts, 80-column layouts
MOSAIC 128
From $7.00 a month
PETSCII 80
MOSAIC laid out for 80 columns
Its own: Menu editor, Add-on modules, 80-column layouts
VIC-20
FRIENDLY BBS
From $4.00 a month
PETSCII 22
Tiny, quick, built for 22 columns ("the friendly computer")
Plus/4, C16
TED BBS
From $4.00 a month
PETSCII 40, 121 colours
Named after its chip; uses the Plus/4's wider palette
Its own: 121 colours
PET, CBM
CHICLET BBS
From $4.00 a month
PETSCII 40/80, green screen
Monochrome, graphics characters only, the PET's own keyboard name
Its own: Green screen
Amiga
GURU BBS
From $6.00 a month
ANSI 80, Amiga font
The scene board: ANSI art, file areas, ratios
Its own: ANSI art and gallery, Upload/download ratios, File previews
PAULA BBS
From $7.00 a month
ANSI 80
The serious multi-line board (Paula ran the Amiga's serial port)
Its own: TRUNKLINE NET, ANSI art and gallery
TRUNKLINE AMIGA
From $6.00 a month
ANSI 80
TRUNKLINE for C64 sysops who moved up
Its own: TRUNKLINE NET
PC
COLT BBS
From $7.00 a month
ANSI 80, CP437
The heavyweight: conferences, big file bases, classic prompts
Its own: Conferences, QWK offline mail
HOMESTEAD BBS
From $5.00 a month
ANSI 80
Friendly and simple, the small-business board
Its own: Questionnaires
TINKER BBS
From $6.00 a month
ANSI 80
The hobbyist's board: open to mods, its own network
Its own: TRUNKLINE NET, Mods without code
Every board gets
- 32 lines: Up to 32 callers at once
- Telnet door: Real hardware, WiFi modems, SyncTERM
- PETSCIITerm in the browser: Call from any browser
- Nine terminal types: C64, C128 40/80, VIC-20, Plus/4, PET, Amiga, PC, ASCII: each its own layout
- VIC-20 22-column screens: Menus that fit 22 x 23 (KERNAL 1.4)
- NeuraWeb members: Sign-in, NEW with email code, PINs, access levels
- Boards kept apart: Each board its own members, mail and data (KERNAL 1.2)
- Mail in NeuraMail Pro: Private mail in the board's own NeuraMail folder
- Message bases: Bases, new scan, SubOps
- File libraries and G-files: Transfers through the web door
- Community: Who's On, last callers, one-liners, roster, voting booth, users groups
- Sysop tools: Page the sysop, feedback, staff, notices, daily digest
- Codebreaker door: The first door game
- Commodore archive: The encyclopedia on every board
- Swap Shop (shared): One Swap Shop across all boards
- BBS list: 133 boards dialled daily
- Theme packs: Words, ranks, banners and colours per board
- [I] System info: Software, engine, the virtual rig, the sysop's own gear, the board's numbers (KERNAL 1.5)
Coming to every board: Sysop setup page, Punter, Xmodem, Zmodem, Teleconference.
Plans
You build your board the way sysops did in the 80s: a rig. Pick the computer, then add modems and drives.
- The package, from $4 to $7 a month, comes with its computer, one 300 baud modem (your first line), a floppy drive and your own dial port.
- Each modem is a line. A 1200 baud modem is 50 cents more; every faster modem 25 cents more again, up to 33.6. Keep your 1200 and add a 9600 beside it.
- Storage the way it was: a 1541 floppy holds 170K. Add drives, or move up to a hard drive like the Lt. Kernal.
- Strict or dream: build only what was really possible on your machine, or your dream rig. A C64 ran a line or two; for 16 lines, save up for an Amiga or a PC.
Most boards come to $5 to $15 a month. Billing goes through your NeuraWeb account. Building your rig here is coming soon.