Does this mean something is wrong with my lcd? Or could it be the manual called for .3v to go to this pin?
Some LCD's have poor contrast when you groud pin 3, it should be able to take -5 to 5V so try varying it a little Rob.
Welcome to the forums. If the LCD is made for high tempature you need to use a negative voltage supply. You can get this pretty easy off the ATX connector (You can get -5volts, and -12volts) If this is external you can actualy get -12volts from a serial port. Search google for "getting negative power from a serial port" There are also regulators, and IC's that can provide a negative voltage. Remember that this voltage is ONLY for signal biasing, not for powering a device.
I have the power coming from inside the case, 5v and ground, how would I go about getting negative voltage? sorry this is a short message, but thanks for the helps/welcome I will check back in a bit, going to a friends for some lan fun
Here is a pinout: http://xtronics.com/reference/atx_pinout.htm The best thing would to be connect a potentiometer to +5volts, the LCD, and -5volts. (The middle terminal on the LCD)
