{
  "schema": "pointcast.atari-bbs-museum/v2",
  "title": "Death Star BBS — Atari BBS Museum",
  "path": "/atari-bbs",
  "researchedAt": "2026-09-29",
  "description": "Mike Hoydich, Overlord, and the Atari 130XE: an original photograph, a remembered community, and a playable tribute to Death Star BBS.",
  "primarySource": "https://hoydich.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/death-star-bbs-1987/",
  "facts": [
    {
      "value": "1987",
      "label": "Launch · Mike’s account"
    },
    {
      "value": "130XE",
      "label": "Atari computer"
    },
    {
      "value": "300",
      "label": "Baud at launch"
    },
    {
      "value": "FoReM",
      "label": "BBS software"
    }
  ],
  "timeline": [
    {
      "year": "1987",
      "title": "A board comes online.",
      "text": "Mike and Frank launch Death Star: Overlord and Freddie, a 130XE, and less than 1 MB of storage.",
      "source": "https://hoydich.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/death-star-bbs-1987/"
    },
    {
      "year": "2013",
      "title": "A post becomes a reunion.",
      "text": "Mike publishes his recollection and a list of caller handles. Old friends begin finding the thread.",
      "source": "https://hoydich.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/death-star-bbs-1987/"
    },
    {
      "year": "2014",
      "title": "Freddie remembers the games.",
      "text": "Frank recalls modified FoReM software, 38-column dash, archery, and a simulated conversation.",
      "source": "https://hoydich.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/death-star-bbs-1987/#comments"
    },
    {
      "year": "2026",
      "title": "Another door opens.",
      "text": "PointCast gathers the story and photographs, builds a new ATASCII tribute, and opens Death Star Computer Club.",
      "source": "/atari-bbs"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "01",
      "title": "Death Star BBS – 1987",
      "publisher": "Michael Hoydich · WordPress · September 10, 2013",
      "url": "https://hoydich.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/death-star-bbs-1987/",
      "note": "Primary personal account; caller recollections appear in the comments."
    },
    {
      "id": "02",
      "title": "Michael Hoydich’s founder bio",
      "publisher": "Y Combinator · Think Gaming",
      "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/think-gaming",
      "note": "Also names Deathstar and the 130XE, but gives 1988 and 2400 baud. The detailed WordPress account supplies this exhibit’s launch date and speed; the discrepancy remains unresolved."
    },
    {
      "id": "03",
      "title": "130XE: How Atari’s New 8-Bit Does It",
      "publisher": "Jack Powell · ANTIC · July 1985",
      "url": "https://www.atarimagazines.com/v4n3/130XE.php",
      "note": "Contemporary coverage of the 130XE’s 128K RAM and bank switching."
    },
    {
      "id": "04",
      "title": "Atari BBS Connect",
      "publisher": "Southern Amis · preservation community",
      "url": "https://www.southernamis.com/ataribbsconnect",
      "note": "Explore preserved Atari BBS culture, including Alcatraz. External boards are operated independently."
    }
  ],
  "images": [
    {
      "src": "/images/atari-bbs/bbs-rig.jpg",
      "title": "Mike’s BBS rig",
      "credit": "From Michael Hoydich’s personal WordPress archive",
      "source": "https://hoydich.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/death-star-bbs-1987/",
      "license": "Personal archive; no open license asserted",
      "note": "Original archive image; exact photograph date unconfirmed."
    },
    {
      "src": "/images/atari-bbs/atari-130xe.jpg",
      "title": "Atari 130XE",
      "credit": "Multicherry / Wikimedia Commons",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atari_130XE_Reshot.jpg",
      "license": "CC BY-SA 3.0",
      "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/",
      "note": "2011 retouched hardware photograph, displayed without further editing. This is a reference specimen, not Mike’s individual computer."
    },
    {
      "src": "/images/atari-bbs/atascii.gif",
      "title": "ATASCII character matrix",
      "credit": "Kim Slawson; corrections by Dpla-fr / Wikimedia Commons",
      "source": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atascii-character-set-00toFF-2x.gif",
      "license": "CC0",
      "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/",
      "note": "Modern emulator rendering of normal and inverse characters, displayed without editing."
    }
  ],
  "community": {
    "name": "Death Star Computer Club",
    "path": "/atari-bbs/club/",
    "api": "/api/atari-club",
    "signIn": "/auth?returnTo=%2Fatari-bbs%2Fclub%2F",
    "membership": "Voluntary, with a signed-in PointCast account",
    "channels": [
      "general",
      "memories",
      "workshop"
    ],
    "artworkCount": 10,
    "artworks": "/atari-bbs/club.json",
    "badges": [
      "first-carrier",
      "first-transmission",
      "pixel-builder",
      "night-shift"
    ],
    "merchandise": "Concept images only"
  },
  "terminal": {
    "path": "/atari-bbs/death-star/",
    "display": "40 by 24 ATASCII cells",
    "game": "Five-arrow archery",
    "handleStorage": "Browser-local only"
  },
  "recreation": {
    "status": "New browser tribute",
    "originalSoftwareRecovered": false,
    "networkConnection": false,
    "game": "38-column dash",
    "bestTimeStorage": "Browser-local only"
  },
  "clubArt": [
    {
      "id": "first-carrier",
      "title": "First Carrier",
      "kind": "badge",
      "description": "A dish, a signal, a place to land.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/first-carrier.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/first-carrier.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Transmission",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/reviews/year-one",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/images/year-one/transmission.webp",
      "criterion": "Join the club."
    },
    {
      "id": "first-transmission",
      "title": "First Transmission",
      "kind": "badge",
      "description": "A tiny modem with something to say.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/first-transmission.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/first-transmission.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Dial Tone Garden",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/07-dial-tone-garden.jpg",
      "criterion": "Send your first board message."
    },
    {
      "id": "pixel-builder",
      "title": "Pixel Builder",
      "kind": "badge",
      "description": "Build a little world, one pixel at a time.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/pixel-builder.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/pixel-builder.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Blue Hour Altar",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/16-blue-hour-altar.jpg",
      "criterion": "Share your first workshop message."
    },
    {
      "id": "night-shift",
      "title": "Night Shift",
      "kind": "badge",
      "description": "For the callers who come back.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/night-shift.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/night-shift.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Neon Ring",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/reviews/year-one",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/images/year-one/neon-ring.webp",
      "criterion": "Check in on three different days."
    },
    {
      "id": "signal-club",
      "title": "Signal Club",
      "kind": "logo",
      "description": "The club’s signal-tower identity.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/signal-club.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/signal-club.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Electric Meadow",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/02-electric-meadow.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "overlord-grid",
      "title": "Overlord Grid",
      "kind": "logo",
      "description": "A modular alternate club mark.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/overlord-grid.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/overlord-grid.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Chime Stack",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/03-chime-stack.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "operator-tee",
      "title": "Operator Tee",
      "kind": "gear",
      "description": "A four-color print concept for the operator’s uniform.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/operator-tee.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/operator-tee.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Hydrangea on Orange Lines",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/21-hydrangea-orange-lines.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "disk-library-tote",
      "title": "Disk Library Tote",
      "kind": "gear",
      "description": "An archive seal for carrying your next discovery.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/disk-library-tote.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/disk-library-tote.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Botanical Ring",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/25-botanical-ring.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "circuit-garden",
      "title": "Circuit Garden",
      "kind": "collectible",
      "description": "A little life growing out of the machine.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/circuit-garden.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/circuit-garden.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Bell Labs Cutaway",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/27-bell-labs-cutaway.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "terminal-totem",
      "title": "Terminal Totem",
      "kind": "collectible",
      "description": "A friendly sentinel made of color and code.",
      "image": "/images/atari-bbs/club/terminal-totem.webp",
      "download": "/images/atari-bbs/club/terminal-totem.png",
      "sourceTitle": "Turquoise Bell, Wild Stem",
      "sourceUrl": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/",
      "referenceImage": "https://pointcast.xyz/showcast/bells-bloom/assets/17-turquoise-bell.jpg"
    }
  ]
}