Bildschirmtext (Btx) was a German online service that existed from 1983 to 2001.

To use the service with a C64, this decoder cartridge was required, which connected to the expansion port.

The cartridge is actually a Siemens product, it’s just Commodore-branded.

The sticker says:

• SIEMENS
• Universal Btx Decoder
• S30817-S721-B101-7/02 EX/W8
• A30817-X732-B100-4-11
• Commodore Artikel Nr. 606491

The box with the Deutsche Bundespost logo is the registration (A506 131V). At the time, only explicitly Post-approved devices and software were allowed to be used for participating in Bildschirmtext.

(This is the “Btx Decoder Modul II”, even though the cartridge doesn’t say so. There was a completely different first model.)

There are three DIN ports at the back, from left to right:

• Modem: This connects to the proprietary Deutsche Bundespost “DBT-03” modem (1200 baud down, 75 baud up).
• RGB: This is for connecting an analog RGB monitor.
• FBAS: This port is identical to the C64 video port and allows using a C64 monitor.

The Post-approval for participating in Bildschirmtext required the decoder to be able to show a pixel-exact image of the service (480×240 pixels with 32 out of 4096 colors)1. Since the VIC-II in the C64 could not meet this, the decoder cartridge had its own video controller and therefore its own video ports.

The board reveals that the cartridge doesn’t only have its own video chip, it also has its own CPU, RAM and ROM – it’s a complete computer that only connects to the C64 in order to reuse the keyboard and the disk drive.

These are the major chips:

• Motorola MC6803: a 6800-family microcontroller
• Motorola MC68HC34: Dual-Port Memory Unit
• 64 KB RAM (two 41464 64Kx4 DRAM)
• 32 KB EPROM
• D65040GF206: NEC µPD65000 series CMOS gate array

The communication with the modem, the decoding of the CEPT data stream and the interaction with the Btx service are handled by 6800 CPU and the software in the EPROM.

I am assuming the software writes the RGB values of every single scanline into the dual-port memory in real-time, which the gate array then reads to generate the video signal – like on the Atari VCS and the Sinclair ZX81. This keeps the complexity of the video hardware minimal.

The chipset and the firmware are probably very similar to the technology used in dedicated Bildschirmtext terminals.

Gallery:

source: pagetable.com

Autopsy:

This is a old phone from Siemens built for the SIP Telecommunications Company, now Telecom Italia.

I have used it with my acoustic coupler modem and for the first attempts to use the Blue Box ;-D