[Techtoolslist] Designing a 9010 replacement LED display?

John Robertson jrr at flippers.com
Thu Feb 8 19:42:47 EST 2024


On 2022/12/05 3:10 p.m., Jose Luiz Martins wrote:
> 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

Hi Jose,

Did your friend ever get the 9010 displays ready for sale?

Thanks!

John :-#)#

>
> 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 :-#)#
>     >         >>>>
>     >
>

-- 
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