1-800- BBS'S ACROSS THE U.S. BY BRYAN BALAM BUDDY Excellent board on the Seeing Eye and guide dogs. Good for both Seeing Eye dog owners, as well as interested individuals. Very good message base, excellent files as well. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-449-2252 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 9 CURRENT RANK: 1 BEST SERVICE: FILES, MESSAGES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 6.7 BBS SOFTWARE: Wildcat! LINES: 1 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: DAVE LOUX QWK: YES SERVE-LINE Excellent board on education, now has Internet!!!!!!!! Mainly for teachers, anyone in the southeast can call. For the full services, including E-mail, forums, files, Internet E-mail, and Internet gopher, the charge is $25 a year. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-487-7605 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 3 CURRENT RANK: 2 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: YES, PAYING AND NON-PAYING FILE RATING: 8.4 BBS SOFTWARE: TBBS the Bread Box LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP's: James Globe, Tamara Wilson, Chris Gwynn, Mark Wayne-Hart QWK: Yes ACF Good board, run by the Association of Children and Families. No E-mail for users on weekends who are not involved with ACF. Could eventually shut off all mail access, or other features as well. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-627-8886 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 1 CURRENT RANK: 3 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES,FILES SECURITY LEVELS: YES 2 FILE RATING: 6.7 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 7 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Kevin Fine QWK: Yes, to ACF employees only. NBCI The National Biological Control Institute's BBS has some very good features, including chat, E-mail, forums, and files. All users are validated in a few days(after using the DEMO account and selecting * from the main menu, afterwards giving their choice of USER ID , city, phone number,etc). OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-344-6224 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 2 CURRENT RANK: 4 BEST SERVICE: TELECONFERENCE SECURITY LEVELS: Yes, 2 FILE RATING: 6.1 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 2 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: Yes DIAL-JAN Good board, on job accomodations topics. Disabilities discussion is allowed also. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-342-5526 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 7 CURRENT RANK: 5 BEST SERVICE: CONFERENCES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.6 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: 1 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: TOM FREEMAN QWK: YES AT&T GLOBAL SUPPORT Support board for AT&T computers. Also E-mail, Registry of Users, files, and forums. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-692-8872 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 5 CURRENT RANK: 6 BEST SERVICE: E-MAIL SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING; 5.3 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 2 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Michael Allgood QWK: Yes ETA REGION VIII Great board! Good discussions in forums, good files(though the User Upload directory is sorely missed), as well as other features make this board deservedly number 7! OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-828-5912 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 14 CURRENT RANK: 7 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.7 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP's: Robert Wood, Brandon Bachman QWK: Yes BARK Good board, excellent conferences, E-mail, polls, files, and other services of note. It appears to be shutting off access to non-high school students which is a major disapointment. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-333-0052 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 4 CURRENT RANK: 8 BEST SERVICE: CONFERENCES SECURITY LEVELS: Unknown FILE RATING: 3.7 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: 4(I think) PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: Yes ITE The Institute of Engineers BBS is a very good board, has pretty good files, a message base(though it needs some more activity), as well as other services. Worth calling! OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-982-4683 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 10 CURRENT RANK: 9 BEST SERVICE: MAIL SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.9 BBS SOFTWARE: Wildcat! LINES: 2 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Juan Morales QWK: Yes WTIE The Waste Water Information Exchange is a good source of information on waste water. Good files, active message area. No private messages allowed except to Sysop. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-544-1936 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 11 CURRENT RANK: 10 BEST SERVICE: CONFERENCES SECURITY LEVELS: Yes, 2 FILE RATING: 5.9 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: Unknown PARAMETER: N-8-1 SYSOP: Brad Maust QWK: Yes DWIE The Drinking Water Information Exchange is similar to WTIE except in is about drinking water. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-932-7459 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 12 CURRENT RANK: 11 BEST SERVICE: CONFERENCES SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 2 FILE RATING: 5.9 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Brad Maust QWK: Yes NIH Great board! Will be listed higher next month! Excellent information here. The files are probably the best information-wise of any 800 board around! No message area unfortunetly, only comments to Sysop. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-644-2271 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 19 CURRENT RANK: 12 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 8.5 BBS SOFTWARE: Wildcat! LINES: 2 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Dennis Rodriguez QWK: No FTA Excellent board! Has files, message areas, and other services! Has a User Upload directory in the file area as well. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-231-2061 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 22 CURRENT RANK: 13 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES, FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 6.3 BBS SOFTWARE: TBBS the Bread Box LINES: 2 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: ERIC AFTANDILIAN QWK: No GULFLINE Pretty good board on the enviroment. Has some excellent files, however level 5 users only have read/message access. Chat to level 7 users, message and file capabilities to level 6. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-235-4662 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 22 CURRENT RANK: 14 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 3 FILE RATING: 8.9 BBS SOFTWARE: RBBS LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Kay McGovern QWK: No FSDO Very good board! The addition of 2 more 800 nodes really help. Active message areas, good files, Internet E-mail, and Fidonet E-mail to users in Florida. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-645-3736 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 23 CURRENT RANK: 15 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 6.2 BBS SOFTWARE: QuickBBS LINES: 3 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Bill Holnstein QWK: Yes. ZDI Author's Upload Center Good board, for shareware author's to upload their programs which may eventually be showcased on AOL, Prodigy, or CompuServe. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-426-3425 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 16 CURRENT RANK: 16 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: NO FILES BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Chuck Freiser QWK: Yes CTDNET #NEW# Good pay service. Fairly affordable rates. Has chat, Internet E-mail, Internet forums, E-mail, Dial-Out, as well as other services. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-318-5249 RANK NOVEMBER 94: NONE CURRENT RANK: 17 BEST SERVICE: DIAL-OUT, INTERNET SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 2, paying and non-paying FILE RATING: 5.9 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: Yes NASA/SBIR Okay board on NASA SBIR project. Inactive message base, mediocre files. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-547-1881 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 18 CURRENT RANK: 18 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES SECURIT LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 4.8 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBoard LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: Unknown CSO #NEW# Okay board, needs work. A forum is badly needed, on-topic files available. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-700-7837 RANK NOVEMBER 94: NONE CURRENT RANK: 19 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.3 BBS SOFTWARE: Wildcat! LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: No RIBBS Good board on the postal service. Will become pay January 1995. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-262-9541 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 6 CURRENT RANK: 20 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.5 BBS SOFTWARE: WILDCAT! LINES: 25 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Matt Linxwiller QWK: Yes SBA The Small Business Administration is a okay board. Has some information if you look hard enough, but most of its services are unavailable from the 800 number. Messages only to/from Sysop, and Chief Counsel. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-697-4636 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 24 CURRENT RANK: 21 BEST SERVICE: FILES, INFO SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.8 BBS SOFTWARE: TBBS The Bread Box LINES: 56 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: No ORIE Good board on education, SERVE-Line is much better. Much abuse due to paging function, and is often busy. Teachers get full access. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-222-4922 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 26 CURRENT RANK: 22 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: YES 2 FILE RATING: 7.7 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 4 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: Yes GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Good board! Lots of earth quake info available, though files and messages would make it much better. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-358-2663 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 25 CURRENT RANK: 23 BEST SERVICE: EARTHQUAKE DATA SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: NO FILES BBS SOFTWARE: UNKNOWN LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: NO MESSAGES FED FLASH Good board run by the Federal Reserve. Had a good message area, but unfortunetly it was shut down to lower 800 number costs. Still has good economics information. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-333-1953 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 13 CURRENT RANK: 24 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 6.3 BBS SOFTWARE: RBBS LINES: 1 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Michelle Thomas QWK: No NEBBS Interesting super computer simulation. Chat, Telnet(FROM NEBBS), and E-mail have been taken off however, with only relating public mail allowed, as well as files. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-447-6377 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 29 CURRENT RANK: 25 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 4.7 BBS SOFTWARE: UNKNOWN LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Brian Lindow QWK: No Special Comment: Telnet site available(same service as 800) EPSON Good board on support on Epson printers! Definetly not deserving of rank 45 in last month's list, should have been much higher! Of course that idiot did the list last month.......and put it last. :) To access the board you must enter the following in the number column: 1-800-234-1445,1,8777 or whatever works on your comm program. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-234-1445(extension 8777) RANK NOVEMBER 94: 45 CURRENT RANK: 26 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: UNKNOWN FILE RATING: 6.7 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 8 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: No messages. FORMULARY INFORMATION EXCHANGE #NEW# Okay board. Looks like it could use some "decoding" done, i.e. there may be some way to access the board though not shown clearly. I am still working on it :) OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-262-8664 RANK NOVEMBER 94: NONE CURRENT RANK: 27 BEST SERVICE: NONE IN PARTICULAR SECURITY LEVELS: UNKNOWN FILE RATING: UNKNOWN BBS SOFTWARE: UNKNOWN LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: UNKNOWN NUCULEAR COMM Okay board on nuculear decommissioning. Could be better. Inactive message area(not mainly meant for public mail). On topic files. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-880-6091 RANK NOVEMBER 94:28 CURRENT RANK: 28 BEST SERVICE: MESSAGES,FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.3 BBS SOFTWARE: WILDCAT! LINES: 1 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: CHRIS DALY QWK: No CARAC #NEW# A board on Canadian aviation. Much abused, so it has become somewhat difficult to get a higher access level(I sure couldn't ). OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-461-6109 RANK NOVEMBER 94: NONE CURRENT RANK: 29 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: YES 2 FILE RATING: 3.2 BBS SOFTWARE: PCBOARD LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Robert Sinceles QWK: Yes NLPBB Good board. Meant mainly for Navy personell and retired Navy servicemen, but open to all. Fairly good files, E-mail, and other services are available. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-582-2355 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 30 CURRENT RANK: 30 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 4.9 BBS SOFTWARE: TBBS LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: NO CBS/NEWSNET #NEW# Closed board for East CBS/NEWS employees. New users are not allowed(anymore I have an account with a whole 15 minutes a day and no services except account information!!!!!!). OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-882-4227 RANK NOVEMBER 94: NONE CURRENT RANK: 31 BEST SERVICE: NOTHING WORTH MENTIONING SECURITY LEVELS: YES 2(apparently) FILE RATING: UNKNOWN BBS SOFTWARE: TBBS LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: NO FAA SAFETY EXCHANGE Okay board, needs updating badly. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-426-3814 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 27 CURRENT RANK: 31 BEST SERVICE: OWNER/BUILDER QUESTIONS SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: NO FILES BBS SOFTWARE: UNKNOWN LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: NO MESSAGES FDA Good server. Lots of information available! OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-222-0185 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 35 CURRENT RANK: 32 BEST SERVICE: INFO SECURITY LEVELS: UNKNOWN FILE RATING: UNKNOWN BBS SOFTWARE: UNKNOWN LINES: UNKNOWN PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: UNKNOWN GTE Fairly good board. Has some read-only Internet forums, messages to Sysop, and files. For GTE product supports. Note: do not use /P function here! If you are caught you will be blocked from 800 AT&T calls. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-483-4927 RANK NOVEMBER 94:38 CURRENT RANK: 33 BEST SERVICE: INTERNET FORUMS SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 4.5 BBS SOFTWARE: MAJORBBS by Galacticomm LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: NO CAM Okay board on AIDS. Pretty good file area. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-542-5921 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 37 CURRENT RANK: 34 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 3 FILE RATING: 6.8 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 1 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Nancy Carter QWK: Yes NEW VISIONS Pretty good pay board. Has full Internet, E-mail, chat, online games, and more! OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-430-6398 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 36 CURRENT RANK: 35 BEST SERVICE: INTERNET FACILITIES SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 2 FILE RATING: 3.5 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: Unknown(alot!) PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: UNKNOWN QWK: Yes GRATEFUL MED #NEW# Good support board for Grateful Med products. E-mail only to Sysop, forum mail available. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-525-5756 RANK NOVEMBER 94: NONE CURRENT RANK: 36 BEST SERVICE: FILES,FORUMS SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 5.2 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: 6 PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: No GATEWAY 2000 Fairly good board, has paging and files. Support board for Gateway products. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-846-7562 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 39 CURRENT RANK: 37 BEST SERVICE: PAGING, FILES SECURITY LEVELS: NO FILE RATING: 3.3 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: Unknown(alot!) PARAMETERS: N-8-1 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: No MIBBS Okay board of minorities. Could be good, could be useless. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-437-8932 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 41 CURRENT RANK: 38 BEST SERVICE: NONE SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 2 FILE RATING: 2.6 BBS SOFTWARE: Unknown LINES: Unknown PARAMETERS: N-801 SYSOP: Unknown QWK: Unknown UNISYS Okay board. Could be a lot better. OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-828-8796 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 42 CURRENT RANK: 39 BEST SERVICE: NONE SECURITY LEVELS: UNKNOWN FILE RATING: 3.7 BBS SOFTWARE: MajorBBS by Galacticomm LINES: Unknown QWK: No NEBRASKA ONLINE Okay board with economic info and labor information on the state of Nebraska. Accessable from all of the U.S.. Noticing that I ranked it last, are you happy Brant? :) OTHER INFO: NUMBER: 1-800-392-7932 RANK NOVEMBER 94: 32 CURRENT RANK: 40 BEST SERVICE: FILES SECURITY LEVELS: Yes 2 FILE RATING: 3.2 BBS SOFTWARE: Unknown(some yucky indigenous stuff) LINES: 1 QWK: Unknown Hi all! That is it for my 3d edition of 1-800- BBS's ACROSS THE U.S. It has been a rather poor month for the list, in which several boards went down: Consumer Affairs, Logicode, Ryan's Instruments, and others. Some I choose to take off because they weren't good enough. Hopefully, the list next month will be better. This list is public domain, it may be freely distributed, of course if you mess around with it in a text editor and for instance, say that you wrote the list, that is a VERY different story.:) Please do distribute it. See ya! Bryan Balam