Vacuum Fluorescent Display Help

Question

Hi, I've been given a 16 character, 14 segment (plus decimal point & comma tail) starburst Vacuum Fluorescent Display, which was recovered from a fruit machine 20 odd years ago, and would like to get going again; connecting it to either a PC or Raspberry Pi. The VFD board is mounted on a driver board via headers, the VFD circuit is labelled 'Barcrest 682225 19364-2', while the driver board is labelled '15178-3' & '101 D/IC' - Barcrest is a fruit machine manufacturer in the UK. I've attached a photo of the device. The driver board has 5 wires (White, Yellow, Orange, Black & Red). The driver board contains one 40 Pin Dual In-Line package, which is labelled: 'Rockwell 10937P-40 A8201-30 MEXICO 9313 A30133-4' I've looked this up online and found a datasheet (attached PDF) for what appears to be a copy made under license, and have derived the following connections for the wires: White - SLCK (Clock) Yellow - Data Orange - Reset Maybe? Black - Negative DC voltage? Red - Positive DC Voltage? Any idea what kind of voltage/ current requirements this device may have (PDF datasheet seems to suggest 15v is typical)? I'm hoping that before going too far, I can power it up and see the display initialise to ensure it actually works. After that I'd like to get it connected (via serial?) to a PC or Raspberry Pi so I can send text to it, are there any guides for showing how to connect VFDs up/ send data etc, as I don't really know where to start. Thanks in advance! 
 Attachments: datasheet.pdf

pyrofer · Answer

Hi, It looks similar to mine, Have a look here and see if you think so too, http://www.pyrofersprojects.com/blog/vfd-clock-with-snmp-and-ntp/ Anyway, You need to send a few commands to activate the display not just power it up. You need to set the duty cycle/brightness and reset it and send characters. I power mine from 12v and use 5v logic for the data/clk/reset lines.

Former Member · Answer

Hi,

I wonder if you have sorted this out.

I think I remember using one of these displays.

The (larger) samsung equivalent is Samsung 16LF01UA3 and the datasheet is easily avalable.

There are 5V and 12v versions - I seem to remember that yours is a 12v one - you can check if it was a 5v one easily by seeing if the supply line from the Micrel 10937 (pin 18) goes to the power-in. (or by putting 5v on the red wire and checking the volts on pin 18)

These displays are cheap on ebay (normally £5-£10) and easy to use. The Samsung displays seem more common and larger (218mm wide!)

There is also an equivalent ITRON display (VAF1613) which is 5v and much thinner (transformerless design)

These are all great displays, are easy to use and can give blue/green/white with coloured filters.

Here is a picture of a clock that a friend and I made:

http://www.tubeclockdb.com/vfd-clocks/21-samsung-approximation-clock.html

If you need help, please ask.