Electronics little lcd help please

Discussion in 'Modding' started by h_2_o, 11 Apr 2007.

  1. h_2_o

    h_2_o What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    24 Jun 2004
    Posts:
    171
    Likes Received:
    0
    I ran across some sn102 lcd's in a local electronics junk yard today. anyway it has 2 44780's on it but is not the normal hookup from what i've been finding out. if anyone has any info on these or can help please let me know. attatched is some images of it plus a bonus item i got today.


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    and the fun bonus item, think it has enough led's on it

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Turbokeu

    Turbokeu Minimodder

    Joined:
    30 Jul 2002
    Posts:
    347
    Likes Received:
    2
    I'm pretty sure 'sn102' is not a model number.

    Anyway, it looks to me as a 4x40 LCD (hence the two HD44780's).
    The 16 pin connector is pretty standard too.
    These LCD's have two enable lines E1 & E2 (one per HD44780) as a HD44780 can only address 80 characters.
    In fact the 4x40 LCD acts as two separate 2x40 LCD's.

    I'm not sure about the function of the 16 pin connections but it would be quite easy to trace them by means of the HD44780 datasheet.

    CD :)
     
  3. DougEdey

    DougEdey I pwn all your storage

    Joined:
    5 Jul 2005
    Posts:
    13,933
    Likes Received:
    33
    The two 16pin connectors look like they are one and the same, just designed for two different socket types. I.e. if you have a 2x8 pin connection or a 1x16.

    Briefly looking at it, they look like they all match to each other.
     
  4. h_2_o

    h_2_o What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    24 Jun 2004
    Posts:
    171
    Likes Received:
    0
    well it isn't hooking up correctly like most 44780's. I've searched all over and found info on it, well i found others having issues with it as well, however most are not speaking english about it so i am having difficulties understanding what is going on. one thing people are saying is that the backlight might be a -5. that and i'm having problems getting a test pattern to even come up that is why i was curious about the pin config as well. anyway hopefully i can get one of these suckers going soon.

    thanks
     
  5. monkeyville

    monkeyville Evilish Monkey ++;

    Joined:
    3 Aug 2003
    Posts:
    1,895
    Likes Received:
    6
    I know i have the data sheets for this somewhere on the hard drive, so give me 5 min to find and upload them.
     
  6. monkeyville

    monkeyville Evilish Monkey ++;

    Joined:
    3 Aug 2003
    Posts:
    1,895
    Likes Received:
    6
    The data sheets are below. I hope you find them useful. They apply to most LCD's. If your planning on using them with a PIC then i have some code you can have too.

    Datasheet 1

    Datasheet 2
     
  7. ConKbot of Doom

    ConKbot of Doom Minimodder

    Joined:
    2 Jul 2003
    Posts:
    2,160
    Likes Received:
    6
    sometimes the contrast pin needs negitive voltage to work. Not all the time though.

    Use the 2nd link monkeyville, and find the pinout listing on page 5/6 find the one that matches your chips (the first one I believe) and use a multimeter to find the GND, Vcc, DB0-DB7 pins, RS, RW, and E pins I think most likely you'll find like Turbokeu said, all the lines are shared between the 2 LCDs except E, which each LCD controller has its own.

    The unused pin near the power pins should be the contrast pin, put a pot on that like normal, and there should be 2 pins for the backlight too.
     
  8. h_2_o

    h_2_o What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    24 Jun 2004
    Posts:
    171
    Likes Received:
    0
    thanks for the pdf's i'll see what i can get going. thanks guys
     
  9. Turbokeu

    Turbokeu Minimodder

    Joined:
    30 Jul 2002
    Posts:
    347
    Likes Received:
    2
    This 4x40 datasheet from Powertip could be useful.

    I think the backlight has separate feeding connections as h_2_o's LCD only has 16 pins.

    CD :)
     
  10. Hazer

    Hazer In time,you too will be relixalated

    Joined:
    14 Apr 2003
    Posts:
    957
    Likes Received:
    2
    Turbokeu is close.

    I just looked at all the links to pinouts here, and they are all wrong except the HD44780 chip sheet. Using that and tracing the traces in your picture, I have your pinout as follows:

    1 = Ground
    2 = Vdd
    3 = Vcontrast
    4 = RS (or C/D depending on your wiring. It means the same thing)
    5 = R/W (read/write)
    6 = Not Connected

    7 = DB0
    8 = DB1
    9 = DB2
    10 = DB3
    11 = DB4
    12 = DB5
    13 = DB6
    14 = DB7

    15 = Enable1
    16 = Enable2

    I am guessing that 15 is Enable1. I cant see where that trace goes. If you have a DMM, you can check to see if the trace goes to pin38 on the HD44780 chip. I am willing to bet that the backlight is directly connected to the Vdd and GND lines of the 16 pin header.

    This pinout is different than any other 4x40 LCD I have seen. This is why so many people are probably having problems.

    I am 100% sure that the pinout I just gave you will work.
     
  11. h_2_o

    h_2_o What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    24 Jun 2004
    Posts:
    171
    Likes Received:
    0
    thanks again for the help guys, i can not test until mid week probably. taxes are killing me this year. anyway i'll update as soon as i can and if i get one working i'll post up fun pictures. anyway is anyone else interested in these, the place i got them at had quite a few left last time i was there, i can grab em if anyone is interested.
     
  12. Warrior_Rocker

    Warrior_Rocker Holder of the sacred iron

    Joined:
    26 Jun 2005
    Posts:
    938
    Likes Received:
    1
    If they are not going to cost me an arm and a leg I might be interested in a couple of them. That is, if you are able to hook them up and get something displayed. Though Hazer's pinouts look like they should get you on the right track. :hip:
     

Share This Page