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OSKBox.lzh
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MAILBOX
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1993-04-25
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This is an experimental mailbox which is continually being refined. The
computer is home-assembled, based on the UniQuad 20X by Hazelwood, an XT-sized
motherboard with a 68020 CPU running at 16MHz. The system is currently
configured with 2.5MB of RAM, ten serial ports, five parallel ports, 360K and
720K floppy disk drives, and a 135MB hard disk. Reliability is improved by
use of a 60MB cartridge tape drive for hard disk backup, as well as a backup
power system and about 200 amp-hours of battery capacity, allowing the BBS to
ride out power outages of over 14 hours. The radios and TNCs run on solar
power provided by two Arco M51 panels from noon to 6PM because PG&E charges me
more for power during those hours in exchange for charging less the rest of
the time.
The operating system is OS9/68000 by Microware, which is a Unix-like multi-
tasking, multi-user operating system. (OS9/68000 is often abbreviated to
OS9/68K or OSK, hence: "OSKbox".) The mailbox software is written entirely
in C by WD6CMU and takes advantage of OSK and the WA8DED host mode and allows
multiple-port, multiple-connect operation, hierarchical file structure, and
access to the OS via packet.
There are currently two packet ports: one on 144.97 and the other on 223.72.
The 2M port is for user access and uses an RCA VeeTac, which puts out 50 watts
into a 8db collinear vertical, and a Heath HD-4040 (TNC-1 clone) using WA8DED
host mode firmware. The 220 port is primarily for forwarding with other
mailboxes on the NBAY LAN. A Tiny-2 TNC running WA8DED firmware drives a Yaesu
FT-311RM which puts 23W through a helical resonator filter into a 9-element
yagi pointed at #NBAY1:W6PW-10 at the Space Science Lab in the Berkeley hills.
Other serial ports are used for local terminal and dial-in access, a BSR X10
Powerhouse home controller, graphics interfaces, and a Heathkit "Most Accurate
Clock" synchronized to WWV which keeps the computer's clock accurate within
milliseconds and allows it to set the clocks at other BBSs in the area.
This mailbox is coordinated with the Northern California Packet Association.
For more information on this association, write to:
NCPA
PO Box 61716
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-1761
Comments or questions can be left here addressed to WD6CMU.
Eric Williams, WD6CMU