OH HEY. Since we are talking about the Hitachi HD44780 compatible LCD-displays on the other thread, I just remembered this thingy. I wanted to make a new thread since it'd be buried on the very looooong one and I guess this might be useful for many.So, speaking of the Hitachi character LCD panels, check this out:http://mikkila.wabbits.org/fsbus/lcd/There's a schematic to wire one or two lcd thingys (can be 2x20, 4x16 or 4x20 characters) - this is the "common thingy" that is used for many other things as well - there are endless number of things that can use this hardware - things to display your winamp current playing mp3 song title, your system load and CPU usage etc.. A very common LCD display. Just needs to be one that is using the HDC44780 controller.The software is made by a friend and it can drive one or two displays, it works great and you stick those to the parallel port. The 2x20 might work nicely for a MCP since it is quite wide. I use the 4x20 for my radios:http://tigert.gimp.org/vatsim/cockpit-stuff/radiot.jpegIt currently shows COM1 (left side) and NAV1 (right side) active and standby frequencies in the first two lines. Between them is the sim clock time and in the center top is the current sim FPS number (useful things from FSUIPC you can access :))While not super-realistic in the appearance if you want to have that almost-like-real-bendix-king-setup :) I can tell you this works incredibly nice and I use it currently in place of the FSBUS 7-segments since I am lazy :)And since we talk about radios, check these out:http://www.alsim.com/Site/Product_Range/AL...AL100-2_Big.jpghttp://www.alsim.com/Site/Product_Range/AL...00MCC-2_Big.jpgNotice the clever placement of radio frequency "displays" on the very edge of a TFT screen, so you can use "fs gauges" and put the rotaries just right next to the monitor. One good idea which looks very nice with a front plate. You can avoid the whole 7-segment mess quite nicely wiht that approach, and you can still fit the rotary switches (which are pretty bulky behind the panel) just off the edge of the TFT. ("real simulators" from www.alsim.com)For those who value practical use and clever ideas over "must look exactly like plane XYZ" :)Tuomas

And notice!Those who already looked after schematics and are doing something with them.There was bug on drawing!Schematics are now fixed. Thanks to Jan Karling for finding this out and fixing it. -J

Hi Tuomas,I like all the data you have on there. I bought a 2x20 LCD with the HD44780 controller many years ago when I was in the University getting my EE degree just in case it would come in handy. Lo and behold, now it's handy. :-lolAnyway, the one I have has a serial interface, not parallel like most HD44780 so it'll require different wiring and software to drive it.You have a very good eye to catch how the radios were done in those cockpits. It's a good idea. I'll have to remember that for future use.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums ModeratorRenegade/Seawolf Design Group (RSDG)[table border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1][tr][td][table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0][tr][td bgcolor=#6f0000]http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/logo75t.gif[/td][td align="center" bgcolor=#FFFFF6]Bush Flying Unlimited"At home in the wild"Looking for adventure? Come join us! * [link:bfu.avsim.net|Web Site] * [link:www.cafepress.com/bfu,bfu2,bfu3,bfu4|BFU Store] * [link:bfu.avsim.net/join.htm]Join!][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table

You're right - I was thinking of the physical layout, and didn't need to. How about this, using only two 2x20's, and no demuxers or fancy electronics?Richard

Yeah, that looks great! You could fit some more info there too by moving the active frequency displays to the right and using the remaining area on the left (max. 7 chars plus a space) for four more display values such as:1. XPDR code2. clock (just hh:mm or hh:mmAM/hh:mmPM)3. outside temp4. radar altimeterThat would be sweet! I'd love to do something like that too.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums ModeratorRenegade/Seawolf Design Group (RSDG)

How about this....http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/45439.jpg

>How about this....Yea, I've thought about those all. But it boils to the fact, that I just stuck the one big display there for testing, and it was just fine in practice. I never bothered to think about anything else.Besides, nowadays one has all those "non-bendix-crown-series" avionics anyway, so having one big "multi-display" is just as "real" as anything else. My 20x4 works great, but yea, you can "frame" a 2x20 just fine like that and have it show different things, but it can become confusing easily. I prefer to keep things simple and have the stuff on top in one big screen, one can always put labels on the sides and it stays simple and nice.This is how I planned it originally:http://tigert.gimp.org/vatsim/cockpit-stuff/radiopanel1.jpgIt has two knobs for COM/NAV radios, since we didnt have the idea about how to do the dual concentric ones yet. But that one works just as fine, and many many older GA-planes have those two knobs anyway, it is not a big deal either. One for the full MHz tuning and another for the fractional part.The functionality is great anyway. And the software works very well. Big thanks to Timo for writing it.Tuomas

I made this LCD thingy with 1 2*20 LCD display that i went to get today. I soldered the entire thing with the adjustable resistors as shown on the page you give.Result that I get is that I get backlight & I can adjust that via the "pot resistor" (or whatever it's called).Only I get NOTHING on the LCD. No text, no nothing. It's connected to my LPT port (obviously) and the program & fs are running (obviously).Both resistors work just fine (as i can see from my multimeter).Now where is the f** problem ?? :)Just a thought .. could it be that I got my LPT port in the wrong settings in my BIOS ?? I remember I had to change it for my LPTswitch to work when I was creating & testing that. Maybe this one needs other settings ?

just in case ..this is the model i use:http://www.xmocular.com/MODULE/GDM2002D.htmtried to figure out if the LCD needs EPP or SPP or ECP setting in BIOS but no result :(google is not with me today :/

This may be a silly question, but the specs say the built in controller is a "S6A0069 or equivalent". Are you sure this is an equivalent to the Hitachi 44780 ?Richard

Any hints on where to find suitable LCD's for this project. I have looked at www.elfa.com but I didn't find any similar as described. The ones I found has only 14 pins, and in the layout there is 16 pins on the LCD's. It would be great if someone could give a hint where to buy as I would really like to build this.Johan

I'm not sure at all ... :sI told the guy from the shop that it had to be HDG44780 compatible or whatever .. he told me most are and that it wouldn't be a problem:/if this is the problem ... what should I do then ?u think I could use it still ?u think I lost my money ?or u think I should get my money back (or get one that does work) ?

>Any hints on where to find suitable LCD's for this project. I>have looked at www.elfa.com but I didn't find any similar as>described. The ones I found has only 14 pins, and in the>layout there is 16 pins on the LCD's. It would be great if>someone could give a hint where to buy as I would really like>to build this.eBay !! There's a zillion of them for sale there every day.Richard

Richard,That looks great. I forgot about ADF and stuff. As Tuomas says, build it so you're happy with it. I like it.Philippe,If it's not compatible, try to get a refund. If you can't, then get the specs for the display so you can write a program that will be compatible with the controller you have.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums ModeratorRenegade/Seawolf Design Group (RSDG)

When powering up 44780 compatible LCD module. You should get at least one row black squares. Does these appear?Check contrast values.- J