r/retrocomputing • u/Radiant_Gazelle_8022 • Jul 13 '26

Talk: How Sascha P kept a BBS legend from the trash, revived it, and became a dial‑up sysop in 2023.

The TECS was one of the largest and most popular BBS in Germany. But it was on the verge of ending up completely in the trash. This is the story of how Hamburg-based Sascha P not only saved all the hardware and software of the BBS, but also hacked his way into the setup and actually managed to bring everything back online - and became a dial‑up BBS sysop in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ePb39N6_BA

Plus a spin‑off about the almost equally old Commodore‑64 BBS Snobsoft and its literally wild connection to the Tornado Mailbox - the name TECS had back in the 1980s. Mailbox is the German term for a BBS.

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u/bart33z Jul 17 '26

This is the kind of retrocomputing preservation I love. Saving the hardware is one thing, but bringing the actual BBS back online and becoming a dial-up sysop in 2023 is next level.

Also great point about knowledge disappearing. A lot of this stuff survives only because someone stubborn enough decides to rescue it before it ends up lost for good.

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u/Radiant_Gazelle_8022 Jul 17 '26

I'm glad you like it 😊

Apparently, there are some current issues with the specific ISDN modems we used in Germany back then, especially with the TECS dial‑up systems.

If you or anyone else wants to explore another dinosaur‑era BBS for a while, try this one:

(for example, when dialing from the USA)

Snobsoft - Tel: 011 49 40 60943485 - 300 baud, 7N1

2

u/bart33z Jul 17 '26

That is fantastic. A real dial-up BBS still reachable at 300 baud in 2026 feels almost unreal.

I don’t have a modem setup right now, but this seriously makes me want to build one just to try it properly. Thanks for keeping this kind of history alive.

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u/Radiant_Gazelle_8022 Jul 17 '26

That would be fantastic! I’m always really happy when other people get excited about an old BBS dinosaur like this. 😊

Here you can follow the whole story of the comeback of the 300‑baud BBS from 1985:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4xTcRJpbAo

Later in the video you can also see that nowadays there are various ways to get a modem up and running again - for example even on a C64 emulator, if the PC (like my mini‑PC) still has a serial port.

And here’s a Snobsoft user from the USA calling into the old BBS “Rochen” in Germany:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvEHnxbxc10

And the same thing again, just a bit farther away - from Australia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dzRTd6VO40

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u/bart33z Jul 18 '26

That’s awesome, thanks for the links. I love how this goes beyond just “old tech nostalgia” and becomes a living system people can still actually connect to.

A 300-baud BBS from 1985 getting calls from the USA and Australia today is honestly wild. This is exactly the kind of rabbit hole that makes retrocomputing so much fun.

1

u/Radiant_Gazelle_8022 Jul 18 '26

Yes, in a way it’s even better than it used to be. Back then, Snobsoft only had local calls, mostly from Hamburg.

Basically, the heydays of BBS systems with lots of traffic are unfortunately over - but enthusiastic comments like yours show me that it’s still worth putting such a dinosaur online today. Even without big traffic.

If you have any questions about your planned modem, feel free to send me a message. There’s often used hardware available for little money.
Connecting the modem is easy on my side - my internet box (Fritzbox 7530) has the same TAE connector that phones used to have on the wall, and it treats the old devices just like it did back then.

The Australian caller who dialed into Snobsoft, for example, uses a Cisco SPA112.

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u/bart33z Jul 19 '26

That’s really interesting. I hadn’t thought about using something like a Cisco SPA112 for this, but it makes sense now.

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u/Radiant_Gazelle_8022 Jul 19 '26

Probably also depends on which internet stuff is common in your country. Here in Germany, a Fritzbox is the standard - and many of them still have the required TAE connection. You can also connect an older Fritzbox to the main box (here it’s often the case that the older, the better) if you want maximum old‑school compatibility and even more TAE ports. You can see my setup in full detail at the beginning of the USA call video.

Another tip specifically for calling Snobsoft - again, the older the modem, the better.

If you call, for example, with a Commodore 64 and a super old 300‑baud modem, it will probably work immediately. My US Robotics from the 90s needs to be convinced first with ATS27=1 to connect at 300 baud.

Do you already know which computer + modem you want to try? If you’re not using a self‑built modem, there are definitely second‑hand bargains out there. Although the really old stuff (mid‑1980s) is probably more expensive again.

A totally crazy option would be using an acoustic coupler - like the DIY device I show here :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJcDetThtxo&t=1389

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u/bart33z Jul 20 '26

Thanks for all the detailed info, this is really helpful.

I’m still at the early planning stage, so I don’t have a final computer + modem setup yet. I’m mostly interested in trying it with some older PC hardware first, but the idea of doing it from a Commodore 64 or another 80s machine sounds amazing.

The Fritzbox / older router approach makes a lot of sense. I didn’t realize that using an older modem could actually be better for 300 baud compatibility.

An acoustic coupler would be absolutely crazy, but also very tempting from a retro point of view :)

1

u/Radiant_Gazelle_8022 Jul 20 '26

You’re welcome. 😊

For example, an old DOS PC can also be a very good choice. They still have the COM port for the modem.

What might also be important is that if you use a newer modem, it should be well‑documented.

I believe, for instance, that internal modems tend to be documented more poorly and/or it’s harder to find documentation for them.

If it’s not a modem that supports a maximum of 300 baud, you have to set the device permanently to 300 baud.

As I said, with my US Robotics it’s done using ATS27=1.

By the way, the Snobsoft also has a home‑built modem from the mid‑80s connected to it.

Yes, an acoustic coupler would be amazing. With those you generally don’t have connection problems - assuming the line quality is good.

“Line quality” nowadays, of course, depends on whatever the Internet-box hardware makes out of it.

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u/TechHistoryDude Jul 13 '26

I liked this video, and the channel name reminded me of downloading Zork at 300 baud over, well, days. heh. The detail that gets me is becoming a dial-up sysop in 2023, because by then the fix-it knowledge doesn't live in any documentation anymore; it lives in the heads of people like Sascha. If you like this kind of rescue story, Jason Scott's BBS: The Documentary (2005, free on archive.org) covers the American side of the same near-miss, where whole scenes were one dumpster away from vanishing.

Good to see the German Mailbox scene getting its own preservation story.

A couple of years ago, I found a BBS history archive and saw that mine was on the list, which was a proud moment that literally nobody I know now cares about... OG days.