[vcf-midatlantic] VCFed BBS finally happening

[Evan Koblentz]

Everyone,

We've had various talk / starts / stops about an authentic-ish dial-up 
BBS through the years. Now it is finally coming true.

The most recent plan was to use Asterisk, but that is overkill, a lot of 
maintenance, and would require an expensive telephony card. I asked Joe 
O. to research something better. He came back with this:

http://www.excelltel.com/en/enproductslist.asp?id=612

It's an 8-port analog PBX with a GSM module. We bought it on Amazon for 
$98.49.

Joe will connect this via modem to a PC running MajorBBS (possibly 
virtualized). We'll connect modems and vintage computers to the analog 
ports. Visitors and VCF East exhibitors/visitors will be able to dial in 
at 300-2400bps, hear the handshake, and connect to our BBS just like in 
the glory days. People can also telnet in directly to the PC thanks to 
our LTE modem, or they can call in remotely once we buy a GSM SIM card 
(to be considered after the main system is up and running).

The PBX won't arrive until sometime next month because it shipping from 
China.

Joe suggested that someone can draw the standard VCFed logo using ASCII 
art, and BBS users can watch it fly by a line at a time when they 
connect. I endorse that idea!

Joe will answer any technical questions. Keep in mind we selected this 
approach because it's affordable, low maintenance, and the simplest way 
to reach the goal. Some people wanted us to use all period hardware, or 
modern servers that were WAY more than we needed, or a high-end PBX, 
etc. .... this one is "just right" for us.