Minitel Terminal Becomes a Usable Clock

Before the World Wide Web, you could still get access to electronic networks, whether through dial-up BBSes, private LANs, or a variety of other services operated by governments and private entities. One such service, considered to be the most successful before the ubiquitous network that you’re reading this on took shape, was available in France as Minitel. These devices became widely used for accessing a telephone directory, to make purchases, reservations, and other Internet-like functions, living on until 2008, according to this project’s write-up.

While most might see these terminals — consisting of only a CRT screen, keyboard, modem, and shift registers — to be useless, hacker Luke Morgan had other ideas. He turned his into a unique clock with an ATmega328P microcontroller for brains, along with an RTC module to help it keep accurate time. The Minitel RX and TX pins are connected to the microcontroller, which supplies the terminal with text and graphics on display in the video below.

Cleverly, the ATmega328P is hooked up in such a way that the stock telecom connector can be used to reprogram the system, keeping you from having to remove it every time a change is needed. One of these leads can even be hooked up to an analog input pin, allowing for use as a voltmeter or other analog measurement device. Given the once-ubiquitousness of these systems, perhaps it could serve as inspiration for more similar hacks — just make sure to let the capacitors inside drain properly before opening one up!