A True Telnet BBS on a Casio Calculator
A hobbyist describes their journey into retro-computing after discovering the ability to run BASIC software and Telnet on vintage Casio pocket calculators. The project evolved from simple programming experiments to integrating amateur radio contact logging.
Why it matters
This highlights the enduring appeal of retro-hardware hacking and the role of modern AI tools in assisting non-programmers with legacy technology projects.
About a eight weeks ago I had virtually no interest in calculators. Blank, dull, tedious-looking objects that remind me of long, arduous rainy afternoons in 1980’s/1990’s school maths classes.
Fast forward to August 14th, 2026 and I now own not one but two Casio Pocket Computer calculators (imported at great expense direct from Japan), have developed 4 pieces of software for them (one published to Github already, the rest will be open source for you to play with I promise!), made (AI generated) calculator fan art, and am now completely and utterly besotted with them.
It started quite simply with a post I read by Mark M5TEA on the SOTA Reflector . Mark had made mention that he had ported over a popular calculator emulator. Some sort of pocket Casio contraption that was able to write BASIC software as well as the C and Casio CASL languages.
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