[Techtoolslist] Designing a 9010 replacement LED display?

Jose Luiz Martins joseluizmartins at gmail.com
Mon Dec 5 18:10:59 EST 2022


I'll send one 9010 that I have as a spare to him.
This way, He can make the appropriate measurements and design a board that
fits on a regular 9010.

JL

On Mon, Dec 5, 2022 at 6:24 PM John Robertson via Techtoolslist <
techtoolslist at flippers.com> wrote:

> On 2022/12/05 12:54 p.m., Jose Luiz Martins wrote:
> > He sent me this picture.
>
> That looks pretty good. Those modules are pretty reasonably priced too.
> Might be a good solution, plus one can buy a spare or two tubes for the
> future if they ever fail...
>
> Does your friend say if he knows if this will fit in a regular 9010/9005
> box? Of course he doesn't have one of the units, does he, so not sure if
> he can answer that...
>
> Thanks!
>
> John :-#)#
>
> >
> > Em seg., 5 de dez. de 2022 17:48, Jose Luiz Martins
> > <joseluizmartins at gmail.com> escreveu:
> >
> >     He told-me, he is now working in a new version for regular LCD
> >     modules.
> >
> >     I'll call him later to ask for the update.
> >
> >
> >     JL
> >
> >     Em seg., 5 de dez. de 2022 17:34, John Robertson via Techtoolslist
> >     <techtoolslist at flippers.com> escreveu:
> >
> >         On 2022/12/05 11:58 a.m., Jose Luiz Martins wrote:
> >         > I know him, he is a very nice guy.
> >         >
> >         > I have one of this kits, it it's very well made. If you guys
> >         have
> >         > interesting, I can talk to him to manage a discount for this
> >         group.
> >         >
> >         >
> >         > JL
> >
> >         Thanks for the info.
> >
> >         Isn't the problem that our friend in Brazil used the Itron fg326
> >         display? Those are kinda hard to come by. So failing turning up a
> >         display, one is looking at a replacement - probably LED.
> >
> >         John :-#)#
> >
> >         >
> >         > Em seg., 5 de dez. de 2022 16:53, Tony Jones
> >         <tony at tonyjones.com> escreveu:
> >         >
> >         >> I assume you guys saw this:
> >         >>
> >         >>
> >
> https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/the-fluke-9010a-club.97717/post-4432860
> >         >>
> >         >> On Mon, Dec 5, 2022 at 11:08 AM Brad Gass via Techtoolslist <
> >         >> techtoolslist at flippers.com> wrote:
> >         >>
> >         >>> I guess I hadn't looked at dot matrix displays because of
> >         the cost, but
> >         >>> they certainly seem feasible from a technical standpoint.
> >         From UT
> >         >> Source,
> >         >>> the 3416 size red displays are still a lot more than an
> >         LCD, but at
> >         >> ~$21.14
> >         >>> each, are certainly more reasonable than from Newark.
> >         >>>
> >         >>> Although I wouldn't fuss over a red versus green display
> >         if red were
> >         >> lower
> >         >>> cost, I did put in an inquiry on the DLG3416 (green) Osram
> >         version of
> >         >> that
> >         >>> display, which would more closely match the Fluke's look.
> >         Awaiting a
> >         >> quote.
> >         >>> So, the question is really - retrofit the existing board
> >         with a mezzanine
> >         >>> type board (if feasible), or a full-on redesign of the
> >         board?  Anyone
> >         >> know
> >         >>> if there is enough 5V rail current headroom to support up
> >         to another 1A
> >         >> of
> >         >>> draw (worst case)?  I suspect the safest bet would be to
> >         create a new 5V
> >         >>> supply for the character modules from the +55V rail used
> >         to provide power
> >         >>> to the VFD.
> >         >>>
> >         >>> Thanks,
> >         >>>
> >         >>> --Brad
> >         >>>
> >         >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >         >>> From: "Technical Tools Mail List" <
> techtoolslist at flippers.com>
> >         >>> To: "Technical Tools Mail List" <techtoolslist at flippers.com>
> >         >>> Cc: "John Robertson" <jrr at flippers.com>
> >         >>> Sent: Sunday, December 4, 2022 12:51:39 AM
> >         >>> Subject: Re: [Techtoolslist] Designing a 9010 replacement
> >         LED display?
> >         >>>
> >         >>> On 2022/12/01 8:37 p.m., Brad Gass wrote:
> >         >>>> There doesn't appear to be small-pitch alphanumeric LED
> >         displays
> >         >>>> available (at least that I could find) that would work
> >         here without
> >         >>>> being much too large for the space. There are a couple
> >         Noritake Itron
> >         >>>> graphic VFD's that might work, but those are going to be
> >         expensive,
> >         >>>> and don't appear readily available either.
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> I think what might be a workable approach would be to use
> >         a 40x1
> >         >>>> character LCD module with a reasonably bright backlight.
> >         There seem to
> >         >>>> be a couple models pretty readily available on the
> >         surplus market that
> >         >>>> may work out. It's not perfect, and the surplus displays
> >         may or may
> >         >>>> not support "inverted" displays (light text on black
> >         background), but
> >         >>>> anything is a lot better than nothing if you have a bum
> >         display! But
> >         >>>> no matter what the approach, additional design effort
> >         would be needed
> >         >>>> to capture the segment drive data for each character,
> >         decode it into
> >         >>>> character data for the LCD, then output it to the LCD
> module.
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> In looking at pictures of the display PCB, this may be
> >         retrofit-able
> >         >>>> on the existing board with a bit of clever craftsmanship.
> >         >From the
> >         >>>> schematic, abandon U3 through U10 in place, pick off
> >         character clock
> >         >>>> (U6 pin 9) and data (U6 pin 7) from the head of the
> >         character drive
> >         >>>> shift register chain, and get segment clock (U13 pin or
> >         U14 pin 3) and
> >         >>>> data (U13 pin 2 *and* U14 pin 2) from the segment drive
> shift
> >         >>>> registers. Decode the captured data into ASCII (or
> >         custom) characters,
> >         >>>> then send them out to the LCD, updating only the LCD
> >         character
> >         >>>> positions that change between VFD "refresh cycles" to
> >         keep the LCD
> >         >>>> character flicker to a minimum.
> >         >>>> Does anyone know the full "character map" of the 9010? As
> >         near as I
> >         >>>> can recall, it's all standard ASCII characters but I
> >         honestly don't
> >         >>>> remember if there was any oddball symbols that might need
> >         to be mapped
> >         >>>> to custom characters on the LCD. I've been busy with
> >         other life issues
> >         >>>> and away from the bench for much too long now, but
> >         wouldn't mind
> >         >>>> working at this a bit if there were others interested in
> >         helping out.
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> --Brad
> >         >>> I did find what appears to be a suitable LED display
> >         module, that will
> >         >>> fit in the space, but we need 8 of them and they cost
> >         around $36US each:
> >         >>>
> >         >>>
> >         >>>
> >         >>
> >
> https://www.newark.com/broadcom/hdlo-3416/led-alphanumeric-display-dot-matrix/dp/36AJ9396
> >         >>> 8 of them is just over 6.5 inches, and the original space
> >         is around 6.75
> >         >>> inches. Height is 0.274" or close enough to the original 0.3"
> >         >>> fluorescent digit.
> >         >>>
> >         >>> They are ASCII coded, and even have 8 user defined
> >         characters available.
> >         >>>
> >         >>> Not so cheap, but with a bit of logic glue possibly a
> >         worthwhile fix
> >         >>> considering the 9010 is worthless without a display...
> >         >>>
> >         >>> John :-#)#
> >         >>>
> >         >>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >         >>>> From: "Technical Tools Mail List"
> >         <techtoolslist at flippers.com>
> >         >>>> To: "Technical Tools Mail List" <techtoolslist at flippers.com
> >
> >         >>>> Cc: "John Robertson" <jrr at flippers.com>
> >         >>>> Sent: Thursday, December 1, 2022 7:47:51 PM
> >         >>>> Subject: [Techtoolslist] Designing a 9010 replacement LED
> >         display?
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> I was looking at my 9005 and grumbling because the tube
> >         is missing,
> >         >> then
> >         >>>> I pulled out the 9010a service manual and you know, it
> >         looks like it
> >         >>>> would be a pretty easy fix to replace the tube with 32 digit
> >         >>>> alpha-numeric LEDs of the correct size on a small PCB and
> >         all that
> >         >> would
> >         >>>> be needed is to replace the UDN6118 fluorescent drivers
> >         with suitable
> >         >>>> LED drivers and find a place to grab 5V and ground and
> >         then mount the
> >         >>>> new display to the board...
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> Maybe it would work?
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> Anyone interested in poking at the KiCAD layout? I have
> >         no free time,
> >         >>>> but I know there are folks out there looking for a
> >         solution to bad or
> >         >>>> weak tubes...
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> Here is the page:
> >         >>>>
> >         >>
> >
> ftp://ftp.flippers.com/TTL/Test_Equipment/Fluke/9010%20Series/9010_Fixture%20PDFs/9010A_Display_Schematic.pdf
> >         >>>> <
> >         >>
> >
> ftp://ftp.flippers.com/TTL/Test_Equipment/Fluke/9010%20Series/9010_Fixture%20PDFs/9010A_Display_Schematic.pdf
> >         >>>>
> >         >>>> John :-#)#
> >         >>>>
> >
> >         --
> >                           John's Jukes Ltd.
> >         7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
> >         Call (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
> >         flippers.com <http://flippers.com>
> >           "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out"
> >
> >         _______________________________________________
> >         Techtoolslist mailing list
> >         Techtoolslist at flippers.com
> >         https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist
> >         FTP site is: ftp://ftp.flippers.com/TTL/Test_Equipment
> >         Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/
> >
>
> --
>                   John's Jukes Ltd.
> 7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
> Call (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
>                   flippers.com
>   "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out"
>
> _______________________________________________
> Techtoolslist mailing list
> Techtoolslist at flippers.com
> https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist
> FTP site is: ftp://ftp.flippers.com/TTL/Test_Equipment
> Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/
>


More information about the Techtoolslist mailing list