>        I want to have a lighted display in a clock in which the
>digits are in the general range of 2 to 4 inches high.  If someone
>makes individual digits like that then I will need to build a
>controller for them, of course.
>
>        If there is a display module that fits this general
>description, then I need to be able to connect it using DIP headers or
>something similar that I can accommodate with wire wrap technology.
>
>        The idea is to make the clock work first and add the display
>last such that the clock treats the display like a peripheral and
>updates it but doesn't concern itself with lighting up this or that
>segment.  It would just send out BCD or ASCII digits to a second PIC
>that managed the display itself.
>
>        What I don't desire is what I have seen in some devices I have
>salvaged in which there is a ribbon of 4 score and 7 tiny stranded
>conductors wave soldered to the surface of both the display board and
>the main board.  That is not my idea of fun.  I am sure it works fine
>in a mass-production environment, but not here.:-)
>
>        Thanks for any useful ideas.  This is a one-of-a-kind project,
>but one never knows where these things can lead.
>
>Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
>OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group
>_______________________________________________
>http://www.piclist.com
>View/change your membership options at
>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>
>  
>

>        I want to have a lighted display in a clock in which the
>digits are in the general range of 2 to 4 inches high.  If someone
>makes individual digits like that then I will need to build a
>controller for them, of course.
>
>        If there is a display module that fits this general
>description, then I need to be able to connect it using DIP headers or
>something similar that I can accommodate with wire wrap technology.
>
>        The idea is to make the clock work first and add the display
>last such that the clock treats the display like a peripheral and
>updates it but doesn't concern itself with lighting up this or that
>segment.  It would just send out BCD or ASCII digits to a second PIC
>that managed the display itself.
>
>        What I don't desire is what I have seen in some devices I have
>salvaged in which there is a ribbon of 4 score and 7 tiny stranded
>conductors wave soldered to the surface of both the display board and
>the main board.  That is not my idea of fun.  I am sure it works fine
>in a mass-production environment, but not here.:-)
>
>        Thanks for any useful ideas.  This is a one-of-a-kind project,
>but one never knows where these things can lead.
>
>Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
>OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group
>_______________________________________________
>http://www.piclist.com
>View/change your membership options at
>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist

>On Aug 30, 2004, at 6:14 AM, Mike Hord wrote:
>
>> O.W., I fear you may need to make the display from individual
>> LEDs.  Not TERRIBLE, but certainly not plug and play.
>>
>With modern ultrabright LEDs, you shouldn't need more than two leds per
>segment, I'd think.  Although the engineering required to get even
>brightness
>out of edge-illuminated "things" is pretty daunting (take apart a laptop
>backlight sometime.)
>
>The electroluminescent wire I was talking about in another thread might
>make
>interesting clock segments, but the brightness and lifetime isn't great
>for
>a clock that would need to be read in the daytime to.
>
>Hmm.  For a somewhat LARGER clock (say, 12 inch high digits), I bet you
>could
>do interesting things with those CCFL tubes that aren't too expensive
>on the
>surplus market.
>
>For those last two, driving electronics might be ... challenging.
>
>BillW
>
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>Engineering Info writes:
>  
>
>>You mention "lighted display".  Are you wanting the big red LED's or are
>>you talking an LCD with a light behind it?
>>    
>>
>
>        Probably the LED's would be the easiest to design around but
>they would also require the highest drive currents.
>
>        A back-lit LCD would have virtually no segment drive current
>but would need a supply for whatever light source was used.  Do they
>make large LCD digits that one can mount in a row?  If so, this would
>be a good possibility.
>
>        Right now, I am just digging for possibilities and will choose
>one that appears to be optimal.
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>  
>

>Mike Harrison writes:
>  
>
>>I missed the start of this therad, but you can get 7-seg  LED displays up to 8
>>" high (Forge Europa,
>>Farnell 366-5320), or for a 10" display that's truly sunlight readable, how ab
>>out these :
>>
>>www.distel.co.uk/asps/details1.asp?ID=RW44
>>    
>>
>
>        My thanks for all the suggestions.  One of you
>referred to CCFL tubes.  I am not familiar with them unless they are
>those little fluorescent tubes that are found in portable lanterns.  I
>remember almost buying a bunch once at a ham fest because the seller
>only wanted ten Cents a piece for them and it occurred to me at the
>time that one could make a sign with them, but I had a
>huge stack of stuff all ready along those same lines so I passed them
>by.:-)
>
>        They are probably a bit longer than necessary for this
>application, but several of the other displays mentioned in
>this thread sound like just the thing.
>
>Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
>OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group
>_______________________________________________
>http://www.piclist.com
>View/change your membership options at
>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>
>  
>