Some Packet History remembered

The year was 1999 and the "global scare" was the dreaded "Y2K"
computer glitch.. Computer programmers, in order to save memory
and increase speed, did not include the "19" in the year date
(1975). No problem, they just added the "19" back when a printout
was needed. But now, with the year "2000" looming on the horizon,
how to fix their programs to know the difference between "1900"
and "2000"... The problem was serious among Financial businesses
and the Industrial Control applications as well as many others.
There were far more computer programs to fix than there were
programmers. This problem even existed in Packet Radio BBS's. A
popular BBS software at that time was called "MSYS" and its
author was wanting to retire and was not interested in "fixing"
his BBS software. There were hundreds of BBS's using "MSYS"
software that would permanently fail in just a few weeks. What to
do????

Well, this BBS Sysop decided to "change horses" and began the
steep learning curve of converting to another BBS program from
France called "FBB". It was with this new BBS software that a
"Conference Mode" was introduced. A mode that allowed Packet
Radio operators to "keyboard" with more than one other packet
station at a time. At a Packet Radio Class teaching the use of
the new "Conference Mode", the PCL Packet Net was born... and
lives to this day.

Join us in the PCL Packet Net any Monday night at 7pm Central...


73,  K.O.  n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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