[neonixie-l] Foriegn Address Formats & Meanings

[threeneurons]

Is there a comprehensive web site explaining the formats and abbreviations 
used in addresses across the world ?

I have a parcel, pending shipment, to Romania, but the street portion of 
the address seems incomplete. It may be a PO box, but I have found nothing 
confirming that by way of a Google search. I've left a question with the 
buyer, but I don't know if his English is good enough to understand my 
question. My Romanian is non-existent. A good website explaining it, with 
common abbreviations and short-hand codes would be helpful.


-- 
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 neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/e3106f1b-323e-449a-803a-0d0cb5e4d3ca%40googlegroups.com.

[neonixie-l] Re: Alvin G PCA-003 VFD Display Modules

[Richard Scales]

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 
> 
> 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 

[neonixie-l] Re: Alvin G PCA-003 VFD Display Modules

[GastonP]

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 
 
 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 neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/5d6b542f-71be-4f9c-8002-586702534791%40googlegroups.com.

Re: [neonixie-l] SCM Marchant 414 schematic diagrams anyone?

[Dekatron42]

I've already seen that a lot doesn't make sense, some transistors, the SCR 
and UJT have all been connected in the wrong way compared to their 
datasheets and how they are soldered on the circuit board plus one trace 
has been cut which is necessary to power it all up. So, now I have a lot to 
do to really get it right and up and running.

/Martin

-- 
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 neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/de217f86-6e07-4c74-ab09-b1dcd9ae8b77%40googlegroups.com.