SURVIVAL EQUIPMENTS

The VFD is now connected to the protoshield and a test program shows all of the number segments operational. Here's some pictures of the finished shield mounted to an Arduino.







Next is writing the driver and encapsulating it into an Arduino library. :)

I did some tests and discovered that the plates (segments in each display) will need to be driven by the full 12 volts while the grids can be supplied by the Arduino's typical 5 volt digital output. This requires me to use a transistor to drive each plate along with a resistor driving the base of each transistor. The circuit (minus the resistors driving the transistors) should look something like this.


It appears I will be using 11 (7 plates + 4 grids) to drive the VFD. This just squeezes into the IO ports available on my Arduino.

Next step will be to get the VFD attached to my protoshield, along with the transistors and resistors so that I can begin writing code... :) Can't wait...

I've continued to work with the display I referred to in my last entry. It may seem like a small step, but I carefully calculated what resistor I would need to properly power the VFD filament from a 12 volt power supply. I did indeed power the filament and saw in a dark room the soft glow of the orange heaters.



Next, I decided to power the actual grids and plates to see the display light it's blue display elements. Here is a picture of the display I am using. It's a Futaba 6-BT-65ZK (Part Number 4230782). I know very little about Futaba part numbers, but I did find that most followed this format. I was unable to find a reference sheet on this actual display.



I attached 12 volts to each grid and tested each plat to see which elements lit up. After documenting the display connections, I arrived at this pin out for my display. As you can see, there are not many elements and it's geared towards a clock radio in a car.

Letters A - G apply to the segments in the 7-segment display characters. For more information on which element corresponds with which letter, see this Wikipedia image.

Next, I will be trying to figure out how to drive the display using a multiplexer circuit in conjunction with an Arduino. I'll keep you posted on what I discover along the way. :)