On Monday, June 30, 1986, we launched Comm-Link BBS for the Gosford Commodore User Group (based in Gosford, NSW). Over the past six months, I had worked on designing, programming, and conducting extensive testing to reach the point where users could successfully dial into the BBS, log in, and leave messages for the sysop, Jeff Campbell (affectionately known as “Nuggets” to his friends).
The message was simple:
Message #1
From: Scott
Send To: Jeff
Subject: BBS
Date: 30/6/86
Hello there.
Goodbye....
With that straightforward message, we witnessed a fully operational BBS in action for the first time. It ran on a stock Commodore 64, equipped with a single 1541 disk drive, an MPS 803 printer, and the all-important Commodore-compatible First Nice Modem. After hundreds of hours of work since January of that year, the BBS was finally ready for members to dial into.
In 2020, during my spare time, I scanned hundreds of documents, computer printouts, and notes spanning the past 40 years—all related to my software coding, from design concepts to actual source code. Among these scans were the original printouts of Comm-Link BBS version 1.0, a Bulletin Board Software program I developed for GOSCOM, the Gosford Commodore User Group. I created this program as a temporary solution while the club saved up funds to purchase additional Commodore hardware and commercially available BBS software.
The story begins in January 1986—38 years ago—but reading through the source code and notes feels like just yesterday. During the January 1986 committee meeting (I served as the Software Librarian responsible for managing Public Domain software), the conversation shifted to the idea that we were now large enough to have our own BBS. We wanted something local for members to call without incurring the expense of long-distance STD calls (which were prohibitively costly in the ’80s).
Jeff Campbell, the club treasurer, spoke up, mentioning that he had a second C64—a spare one we could use. He also expressed willingness to purchase a disk drive and modem with the club’s assistance if we all agreed to have our own BBS. Consequently, we reached a consensus: a BBS was in order. However, lacking Bulletin Board software and the funds to buy one of the few commercial BBS options on the market, the conversation shifted toward creating our own solution.
My recollection is a bit hazy, but at some point, everyone turned to me and asked, ‘Why doesn’t Scott give it a try?’ After all, I had experience writing games and utilities and had successfully fixed software in our library.
Without knowing any better, I agreed to give it a try, and that marked the beginning of our adventure in creating a BBS. Between January 1986 and June 1986, we dedicated hundreds of hours to planning, designing, and coding the BBS. With assistance from another club member who modified an Australian modem called the First Nice Modem, I was able to make it work with the Commodore 64, allowing the modem to automatically answer incoming calls.
Once I’d worked out how to have the C64 detect and auto answer the incoming call I set about working on the main program. The coding came about at a fast rate often I was left waiting for decisions to be made on what things the BBS was going to offer until we finally settled on the following –
After figuring out how to make the C64 detect and automatically answer incoming calls, I focused on developing the main program. The coding process proceeded rapidly, although I often found myself waiting for decisions regarding the features the BBS would offer. Eventually, we settled on the following set of features.
COMMANDS
B – Bulletin
E – Enter Message
G – GOSCOM
R – Reviews
P – Please read
T – Talk with Sysop
V – View Messages
I – System Infor
O – Output Magazine
M – Message to Sysop
L – Log off
Without delving into further details at this point, there’s another story I’ll write up someday. It explains how I managed to install a telephone line in my bedroom without my parents’ knowledge—until the day they picked up the phone and heard some wild sounds.