Topic: Spi->parallel Lcd (Read 433 times)

greengiant · « **Reply #30 on:** June 30, 2004, 10:54:00 PM »

The items on the board which are of biggest height are:
2.5mm (pic)
3mm (crystal)

2mm (pcb)

So it will be approximatly 3mm+2mm = 5mm thickness
if thickness proves to be a problem, I may look at using a thinner pcb, but only if it doesnt reduce the quality of the board.

I truly dont think 5mm (or 0.197") will pose a problem in most installations.

As well the idea is to have the 5 wires for the SPI to run longest and then from the adapter to the LCD 10 wires have them be very short, thus reducing on total wire lenght needed. But the adapter doesnt have to go right behind the LCD, or that close to the LCD it can be hidden in the xbox compartments and the wire run to the lcd/xenium. You can even request custom lenght of the 5/10 wires for your installation.

moobar · « **Reply #31 on:** June 30, 2004, 11:17:00 PM »

Wow! 0.2" thats great. I think its high time for me to switch over to SMT. But my eyes arent what they used to be, Im still using old school thru-hole devices. LONG LIVE 0.1" SPACING!

Thanks for taking the time to measure. I dont think there any need to make it skinnier. I'll probably add some heat shrink to your final gadget so it doesnt accidentally short out somewhere so that'll add another 0.05", still plenty of room.

BTW, Do you have a name for your new gadget yet?

Also, do you have a thread following your new programmable XIR that I could follow? The new programmable XIR sounds like a great idea.

fff · « **Reply #32 on:** June 30, 2004, 11:47:00 PM »

Good work man.
If your "tool" could be a solution for a cheap LCD install and, why not, solderless, it would be great!
Parrallel LCD are cheaper and easier to find in France!

greengiant · « **Reply #33 on:** July 01, 2004, 01:49:00 PM »

I will be adding a strong take to the back of the pcb, same as on my XIR's.
The tape is sort of like duck tape, with the fine weaves of string in it and very sticky.
This will prevent any possible shorting on the backside.

Iam also trying a few types of paints and laquers, for a more proffesional look.

With this project SMT is the way to go. Not because of cost, since SMD crystals appear to be more expensive. But because of the location and possible installations that people will use it in. Most likely in the back of the LCD or in the back of the xenium.

As for the solderless, it will be to some extent.
Since the LCD connections are pretty standard, either 2x8 or 1x16 with the pins being the same. The adapter will come with a header to match the LCD. Female connector. If your lcd doesnt have the pins (ie is empty holes) then you can order a male pin header for a few cents more and solder it in place quite easily.

Also will look at possibly adapters for those lcds that dont already have a pin header, and you dont want to solder. Most likely a clip style.

I donot have a XIR dev thread, as that is more personal work, and recently I havent had time to work on it.

mlwood37 · « **Reply #34 on:** July 02, 2004, 07:25:00 AM »

just got your remote controll kit can i extend the wires to the front of the car so that i can use the remote from the front ...

P.S fast service btw and well happy with your workman ship. Thumbs up and thk you.

Lightning|Striker · « **Reply #35 on:** July 02, 2004, 09:55:00 AM »

Would It be possible to get this in a Blue/White Color Combo? If so, It would just be 'Plug-n-play' correct? If these are true, I'm gonna order one!

greengiant · « **Reply #36 on:** July 02, 2004, 10:39:00 AM »

Blue/White ?

What would like to be blue/white ? the wires, pcb, tape. Not sure.
It may be possible, but let me know what u refering too.

moobar · « **Reply #37 on:** July 02, 2004, 03:37:00 PM »

First thing that came to mind was Blue colored LCD..?

rbn · « **Reply #38 on:** July 02, 2004, 08:10:00 PM »

Green Giant, maybe you should check out the PIC16F628's; they have a built in 4Mhz oscillator. Also, i'm not sure about the PIC you're currently using, but the 16F628 has serial(USART) communications built in to it.
just a suggestion.

greengiant · « **Reply #39 on:** July 03, 2004, 03:03:00 AM »

rbn, i already know about the 628. They are great.
But for the requirements of this project I had to move up to a more powerful pic.
Also runs at 10mhz.

moobar · « **Reply #40 on:** July 04, 2004, 04:01:00 PM »

DOH! Another suggestion that slipped my mind, since you are getting the connectors for the Xenium you might want to think about providing some sort of breakout for an external LED so others could possibly try to add an Tri-Color for themselves rather than having to buy the official Xorease kit.

I have been just soldering directly to the Xenium with a connector for the external LED mods that I do and seems preety simple enough to do if you have the right equipment.

Heres the thread that explains that method. LINK

greengiant · « **Reply #41 on:** July 04, 2004, 10:29:00 PM »

Ill look into that.
It should only end up costing $1 or 2 for the entire addon. Since its really just a pcb and a led.

Master-Chief · « **Reply #42 on:** July 05, 2004, 05:12:00 AM »

greengiant · « **Reply #43 on:** July 05, 2004, 05:56:00 AM »

The adapter including wires and such...iam doing my best to be $15
Iam also working on a flat shipping, $4 anywhere.

the LCD itself, i dont know yet.
Locally i can get em around $20-30 CDN, but thats expensive.
Iam looking at a distributer who has em for about $6 for a 20x4 (for 100 at a time)
But im not focusing on the LCD right now, unless someone wants to shelve out an investement to buy a batch of 100 lcds.

Mounting, thats really upto you. I leave it hanging out side.
You can choose how much wire you want with it thought .

greengiant · « **Reply #44 on:** July 05, 2004, 01:29:00 PM »

Yeah thats why I dont really expect to sell LCD's just yet, as I dont have it set-up to get them cheap yet.

The only limit to getting them from the distributer is I have to make an investment of over $600 + shipping and other, for 100 lcd's. And iam not sure if enought ppl will want. So far I have seen some 15 or so personal requests, and some dealer but not enought to allow me to fork out that much money. Remmeber i do this for hobby not business, so I dont have and cant invest much money into something that I dont know if it will pay for itself.

So for now, I say get one from ebay.
You can search for 'lcd 20x4' 'lcd 4x20' 'lcd 2x16' 'lcd 16x2' and a few other variations and you will find lcd's for under $10.
I saw one earlier I recommended for a friend that was $8+$3 shipping, for 4 2x16 lcds. Thats about $2 each.

I'm canadian, but for easy world wide integration, all prices are in USD.
But I can accept payment in other currencies.

Author Topic: Spi->parallel Lcd (Read 433 times)