i just got hands on a box of 10 - many have loose caps, one has a chipped display the rest look fine - but time will tell, I still have to get them home to the UK - I look forward to seeing how you get on!
On Friday, 18 October 2019 19:35:43 UTC+1, GastonP wrote: > > Well, I just received my display boards. > I will be lucky if I can make 2 out of the 4 boards I got. I must be > fair and say that I ordered just 2 and the vendor sent me 4, but the > packing was... inappropriate. All of the boards were piled up one on top of > the other without any kind of separator, one layer of thin bubble wrap on > the bottom of the box, 2 or 3 on the top and that was it. Only one board > has both displays with vacuum in them (one of which was chipped in one of > its ends), which is not the same as saying that they are both working. Of > the remaining three, two had one of the displays without vacuum and the > last of them had one of the displays totally mashed. There were glass > pieces all over the place. > It makes me remind of the horror stories about the sale of NL7971s by > Poly-Pack (IIRC). > > I have a strong suspicion that a couple of the displays were already > damaged before being packed. Besides, all boards show signs of attempted > repairs (mostly around the electrolytic caps) and spewed electrolyte, but > again to be fair the boards are being sold as untested and coming from an > bulk warehouse stock buy. We all know how wide is the definition of > untested. > > Anyway, I plan to clean up the mess, apply 5Vcc to the TTL and HV power > supply lines, tie a microcontroller kit and check the status of the logic > and driver chips before deciding which boards become donors. > > Regarding to which platform I would use... I have several NodeMCU ESP32 > sitting in a box which I think with a little struggling or worst case > adding some glue logic can be used. WiFi configuration and NTP > syncronization would be cool. If this plan does not work, then my fallback > is Arduino nano as I also have several sitting in a box next to the > NodeMCUs :). > > > > On Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 2:05:15 AM UTC-3, Richard Scales wrote: >> >> That sounds promising - what would be your platform of choice? I can see >> that something like Arduino Mega or a Teensy would have the required i/o. >> I have no experience of doing anything with a multiplexed display, it >> all seems like magic to me! >> >> On Tuesday, 24 September 2019 21:47:24 UTC+1, GastonP wrote: >>> >>> Actually, the 8255 and an LS273, both through HV buffers, drive the >>> segments.Ports A and B of the 8255 drive the "upper" VFD anodes (+47V) >>> while Port C and the LS273 drive the "lower" VFD anodes (+47V). >>> The TL5812 drives the digit grids (one per digit) through a separate >>> serial shift register interface. >>> >>> It's a classic configuration for a multiplexed display, that can be >>> easily controlled by any modern microcontroller with 16 free pins without >>> recurring to specialized hardware. Just plain old parallel interface for >>> the segments plus a little bit-banging for the digits. If one wants to use >>> a processor with less free pins, it can be done too, but the complexity >>> grows. >>> >>> I just ordered a couple of this boards and am crossing my fingers... >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, September 18, 2019 at 1:00:41 PM UTC-3, Keith Moore wrote: >>>> >>>> Richard, I have not yet done it, but I do plan to at some time. I got a >>>> few of these for various reasons (demo/display, etc.). I assume you have >>>> the detailed data / pinball instruction sheet like I do. If not, let me >>>> know. >>>> >>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/bltgd4w4o9gonuy/Alvin_G_Display.zip?dl=0 >>>> >>>> >>>> My chops aren't good enough to just whip out the electronics to drive >>>> these, but I was planning on making a computer that does this eventually. >>>> It is an IEEE 8255 interface. I should be able to do it with an arduino. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at 11:11:26 PM UTC-4, Richard Scales >>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I was wondering whether anyone has had any success talking to the >>>>> Alvin G PCA-003 boards that are available: >>>>> https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/electronics/displays/pca-003.html >>>>> <https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/electronics/displays/pca-003.html?fbclid=IwAR2epmNiBA7UkcB1H0XqUivyeQEMSmN1HWyIhaM-oZXsEYUmPsewaJ0FLSw> >>>>> I would be interested to hear from anyone that has managed to talk to >>>>> one or who might be able to provide any insight into how their interface >>>>> works. >>>>> I have a few coming my way and would like to see if I can make them >>>>> talk somehow. >>>>> Any pointers to information about interfacing requirements and >>>>> protocols etc would be most welcome. >>>>> >>>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/dd8a7d2f-d943-4661-a22a-3f3fba4bc6fd%40googlegroups.com.
