Modding Noritake GU126x32F-K612A4 graphic VFD

Thanx for the info Funks, glad to know I wont haveta wait that long. One thing has me curious tho. I was quoted $138.25 and the price over there is £46.62 has the US$ dropped that much or does that include some extra costs that arent incurred over there?

 

Under a Grand ..... oooops £100

Hi fathazza,
That’s a difficult one to answer, because most of our UK one's are <£100 (not inc VAT).

The next size up from 126x32 is 126X64, ie twice as big on the height. Cost is £59.70 + VAT.
Look for GU126X64F-K612A3 or A4 on our web pages at http://www.noritake-itron.com/SubPages/vfmodgu.htm

If you want fast parallel look for GU128x32-800A or GU128X64-800A £67.70 and £91.04 respectively, PLUS VAT.

Looks like I'm going to have to do a retail price list for you people showing some of the popular / suitable displays we have.


I see that you've found how to download the data. Please take all you need.

Phil
Itron (UK) Ltd

 

How about a nice retail kit for those of us with next to no idea how these things work

Nothing too fancy, just a box with the VFD, a cable, and a sheet telling people how to fit it.

You could call it the "Bit-Tech" special and post details on here of how much it would be and where to send the cheques

I'm sure you'd have a bunch of orders - I know I want one :dude:

As soon as I figure out all these long codes.........

 

sco0by, you tapping my PC? Or do great minds think alike?

I talked about this idea this morning with my office, and I'm looking at a kit of parts, say, the cable, the module and a filter window. This would make things easy for both of us.

Don't know about a box though, they're always the wrong size, shape, colour, material, etc!

Don't expect it right away, things will take a little time.

Phil
Itron (UK) Ltd

 

that larger lcd looks pretty sweet, am i right insaying its pretty much the same as the one in cheesman's review except being twice the height?


does that take the same lead?

thanks for ur help funks

 

Power Connector

Maplin sell standard PC 4 Pin power connectors:

JW64U - Male
JW65V - Female

I assume this is what you are after Fathazza.

Kane

 

Hehe It could be a jiffy bag Funks, as long as it has all the bits and doesnt need any soldering! lol

 

thanks for the power connector advice kane

 

No problem... wasn't too hard to find.

Kane

 

Macros and Animations

If you set up a macro to do an animation (say on startup) will the display still be limited in FPS?

In other words, can we get around the serial limitation on speed by using the macros to set up a few cool animations?

Kane

 

Hi fathazza,

What’s this "larger lcd looks pretty sweet" ..... We’re talking VFD here!

LCD = Liquid Crystal Display
VFD = Vacuum Florescent Display

Yes, I assume you mean the GU126X64F-K612A3 (or A4 when it arrives) is 126 dots by 64 dots, so twice the viewing area twice the resolution. It takes the same connections and works the same as its smaller brother the one CheeseMan reviewed.


Hi Enak,
As far as animation is concerned, I think you guys and CheeseMan are "pushing the envelope". It wasn't our intention to have animation’s, but CheeseMan is looking at a "quick and dirty" way of having some simple animations based on drawing a frame, wasting time by invisible commands, then drawing the next frame, and so on until the macro is exhausted.
There is a maximum number of bytes for the macros, so don't expect too much, but a spinning fan for example, may be possible.
Lets see what CheeseMan comes up with, or give it a go yourselves.


sco0by,
Thought you meant box / enclosure to put the display in permanently, not box as in cardboard to post to you! My misunderstanding
Phil
Itron (UK) Ltd

 

Hi Phil / Funks

Just a quick question about the GU126x64F-K612A4 model.

Am I right in thinking that it is still 5v DC, RS232/SPI interface, 8 i/0 ports, etc.

I also briefly checked out the pdf (here ) and couldn't see what cable it requires.....?
Could I use the IFCK0659FD-800A cable mentioned above (Assuming its
a 6 pin socket on the back of the VFD.)

More Importantly (and this questions open to everyone, ideally Mat-the-Rat)

Could LCDC support a large graphic VFD which is essentially a 21x8 character
screen? i.e. can you set LCDC to use 8 lines instead of the more common 4 line screen.
After all....there's no point getting a BIG SCREEN VFD if LCDC only
supports screens upto 20x4 characters.

 

I'm just on the phone to Phil at the moment...

His response is:

Yes it is the same as the GU126X32F-K612A4 excepting the screen size.

 

Looking at LCDC it should support 8 line displays... Certainly the software allows you to configure an 8 line display (through a custom configuration file).

I have LCDC running with the virtual display showing 8 lines.

But as I don't have the large display (or in fact any display) I cannot vouch that this will work (but it should).

Kane

 

Thanks Enak

I think you've just made up my mind about buying one

As long as LCDC is compatable and isn't a complete pig to handshake
with the display I should have a nice piece of kit running my puter stats.

Knowing my luck though, the last unit is being shipped out to someone
else while I'm typing this reply.

Oh...... hang on I've just thought,

Can you get VFD filters in any size or in large sheets?

 

You can get them in any size. You don't really need a 'real' filter like the ones MO sell, as there for readability in strong sunlight - you can just use any heavy guage translucent plastic. I used lighting gel sheet on my VFD, which you can get in two meter rolls from Maplin.

 

GreatOldOne,

QZ67X and similar?

A sheet is a bit big for one VFD... unless you are planning a much bigger VFD!

I'm sure I saw somewhere on the forum someone posted some details of companies that sell filters. But I can't find it

Kane

 

Yep - that's the stuff. And yes, I have acres of it left!

 

Ooooh maplin transfer panel idea

Remember the Maplin Transfer Panel?

http://www.bit-tech.net/review/95/

I just had a great idea of what to do with mine!

I only really got it for the temperature monitor probes... the plan was to mount it into my PC with a circuit to switch between the temperatures in rotation and light some LEDs behind some decals showing what the temperature was currently monitoring...

Now I have a better idea.

- Take temperature LCD
- Mount next to VFD
- Connect 3 GPI/O's to LCD switch circuit
- Set up LCDC to change VFD GPI/O (and hence LCD) and display appropriate text.
- Connect GPI/O to a button
- Set LCDC to display one of the temperatures when button is pressed and cycle them.
- Set up some other LEDs and buttons

Kane

 

Sounds Groovy Enak.

Just hope you can fit it all in a 5 1/4 inch Drive Bay,
Sounds as though its going to be a tight squeeze.