need help installing vfd display

[Frakk]

if this is the first time ure dealing with electronics and interfacing with parallel/serial ports you shouldnt have started with an lcd imo. lot of new modders do the same mistake by jumping right into the complicated stuff and get overwhelmed in the beginning. i think the tutorial that i gave u explains it very clearly and i know i could do it.

There are some basics you have to know. the lcd needs to be powered and there are pins for its essential setup (main power and ground, backlight, contrast etc..) then you have the data pins that tell the lcd what to display. everything is listed in the specsheet, each pin function and even the characters and commands for programming. i havent done anything like this in life and i cannot tell you anything for certain.

i dont think you can hook it up to the serial port since it has 9 pins and the lcd has 16 plus power, but after all, you only need 8 data pins i believe.

[gablekevin]

well thank you for your time anyways but i still am not sure what to do if you can find someone that could help i could provide pictures and be more thorough on what i want to do and what needs to be done

[Guttenaffe]

If you ever looked at that spec sheet there are two places for Serial In...

Also you will have to set the baud rate to a normal serial port speed, I'm not going to say more. It's easy to tell you this stuff and you do it but then you have no idea what you did if you struggle and fool with it for quite a bit and then you figure it out you will then learn from the experience. Sorry but it's tuff love for a reason.

[gablekevin]

thank you for the help i happened to have found a guide for my exact vfd display using parallel though so now i think i'll get it thanks though

[spaceduel]

Here's how to connect it with only 3 wires (don't bother with the parallel port, it's just too much work!)

You feed it 5v through pins 1 and 3 of the 3-pin connector. The middle pin is the serial input BUT WAIT: DON'T HOOK IT UP JUST YET OR YOU WILL FRY IT. You will need to assemble or buy an RS-232 to TTL converter which basically brings the PC port's 12volt serial signal down to 5v. You typically use a MAX232 IC chip to do this. So you connect the output of your PC serial port to the *RS232* input of the Max232 chip and the *TTL output* of the MAX232 chip to the middle pin of the 3-pin connector.

LCD smartie will drive it directly, just set your baud rate at 19,200 and that's it. Mail me if you have any Q's. Better yet, I have a spare Serial-TTL convertor that I can exchange for one of your VFD's (mine is a 4x20, so I need one like yours), plus support to get yours going.

LMK

-=: Space Duel :=-

[Guttenaffe]

I'd say a MC1489 would work as well, it should be cheeper too I think...