Author Topic: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement  (Read 10257 times)

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Offline daisizhou

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #25 on: November 21, 2024, 02:54:26 am »
I also encountered the same fault as you, that is, the display is dim due to the aging of the VFD.
I don't know what is the best solution for my VFD GU256X32-302.
GU256X32-302 has been discontinued.The interface positions of GU256X32-800 and GU256X32-820 are different. I don't know if they are compatible.
I would be very grateful for your help, thank you
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Offline Mickle T.Topic starter

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #26 on: November 21, 2024, 05:06:32 am »
Can this VFD replacement work on Advantest R6243 display?
It can be easily adapted to the R6243 display. It is only necessary to adjust the segment arrangement table and the regeneration sequence table. I think I will do this as soon as I get hold of such a power supply.
 

Offline gamalot

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #27 on: November 24, 2024, 10:47:55 am »
I am also trying to do almost the same thing as dietert1 did, but it got delayed for some reason. I chose the STM32H750VBT6 because it is much cheaper than the STM32H730VBT6 if purchased from LCSC.

I have only done a small part - displaying some pictures on the screen, which I think is a good start. Recognizing those characters should be easy, so presenting in different themes should be an option.

I haven't looked at the manual yet, and don't know if the tR6581 can display customized content like some other instruments, if it can, special pattern character sequences can be recognized as some instructions to control the display to do anything it can do, such as changing the theme, adjusting the backlight brightness, running screensavers, etc.

I ordered a 6-layer board with a size of 50mmx50mm, which has some other functions on it, USB, battery for the real-time clock, lithium battery charging, temperature and humidity sensor, buttons, etc. Please just ignore them.
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Offline Mickle T.Topic starter

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #28 on: November 24, 2024, 11:33:52 am »
I haven't looked at the manual yet, and don't know if the tR6581 can display customized content like some other instruments, if it can, special pattern character sequences can be recognized as some instructions to control the display to do anything it can do, such as changing the theme, adjusting the backlight brightness, running screensavers, etc.

Without a firmware patch R6581 can't display customized content like some other DMM. The R6581 supports the command "DISPLAY 0" which prints the string "DISPLAY OFF" to the display. Recognition of this string can be used as a flag to turn off the display backlight.
 
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Offline gamalot

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #29 on: November 24, 2024, 11:50:49 am »
I haven't looked at the manual yet, and don't know if the tR6581 can display customized content like some other instruments, if it can, special pattern character sequences can be recognized as some instructions to control the display to do anything it can do, such as changing the theme, adjusting the backlight brightness, running screensavers, etc.

Without a firmware patch R6581 can't display customized content like some other DMM. The R6581 supports the command "DISPLAY 0" which prints the string "DISPLAY OFF" to the display. Recognition of this string can be used as a flag to turn off the display backlight.

This is bad news, but being able to send a command to turn off the backlight is good enough, better than the switch I put in the PCMCIA slot on the front panel to turn off the VFD.

I also considered long-pressing a button to turn off or wake the display, and the Home button seemed like a good choice.
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Offline dietert1

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #30 on: November 24, 2024, 12:05:34 pm »
In my project (see archive posted above) character recognition is implemented and the "DISPLAY OFF" message that appears after the "Display Off" GPIB command turns off the TFT backlight.
My board was designed for that purpose with its size matching the size of the TFT, so it "disappears" when mounting the TFT on those brackets i showed above. The intention was reducing EMI, as all high frequency signals are covered by very close metal surfaces: The metal back of the TFT and the ground planes of the display board on one side and the ground plane of the R6581 front PCB on the other side, both with less than 3 mm distance.

Regards, Dieter
 
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Offline gamalot

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #31 on: November 24, 2024, 12:45:40 pm »
In my project (see archive posted above) character recognition is implemented and the "DISPLAY OFF" message that appears after the "Display Off" GPIB command turns off the TFT backlight.
My board was designed for that purpose with its size matching the size of the TFT, so it "disappears" when mounting the TFT on those brackets i showed above. The intention was reducing EMI, as all high frequency signals are covered by very close metal surfaces: The metal back of the TFT and the ground planes of the display board on one side and the ground plane of the R6581 front PCB on the other side, both with less than 3 mm distance.

Regards, Dieter

What you are looking at is a multi-purpose PCB, which can be a replacement screen for R6581, an alarm clock with weather information, or a lithium battery charger. Every time I order PCBs from JLC, I only use one or two of them, and the rest are all wasted, so I decided to try to make them have different uses.

I will remove the components that are not relevant to this project in the next version (if there is one), change the PCB size to the same height as the TFT display or even smaller, and shield them with copper foil tape if necessary (actually I don't think there will be EMI problems).
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Offline dietert1

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #32 on: November 24, 2024, 01:57:00 pm »
Yes, i understood that you designed your own board, too. I also saw a Adafruit board that drives the TFT, once more somewhat larger than mine. I tried to focus on getting the display replacement.
Concerning EMI: My graphics board produces digital video at 21 MHz, while the original VFD probably multiplexes at two KHz or so. And once more i didn't want to study that in all detail, but find a good solution that doesn't add any negative impact on the 8.5 digit meter.

Regards, Dieter
 

Offline gamalot

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #33 on: November 24, 2024, 08:07:29 pm »
Yes, i understood that you designed your own board, too. I also saw a Adafruit board that drives the TFT, once more somewhat larger than mine. I tried to focus on getting the display replacement.
Concerning EMI: My graphics board produces digital video at 21 MHz, while the original VFD probably multiplexes at two KHz or so. And once more i didn't want to study that in all detail, but find a good solution that doesn't add any negative impact on the 8.5 digit meter.

Regards, Dieter

Speaking of frequency, I found something strange. Mikle's circuit diagram marked the negative pulse width of CK4 as 2us, but I actually measured the frequency to be about 1MHz on my meter. Have you ever noticed the frequency of the clock signal on your R6581?
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Offline dietert1

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #34 on: November 24, 2024, 09:17:54 pm »
In my notes if found that the interrupt signal ("start of transmission") is a positive pulse of 4.73 usec every 9 msec.
SPI clock is 1 MHz, 8 negative pulses every 12 usec. During the 4 usec pauses the clock idles high. The data signal changes its value with the falling edge of the clock.
One packet of 5 bytes = 40 bits = 1 digit takes 184 usec in total.

I estimated 9 msec => 110 Hz refresh rate, times 18 mux positions gives about 2 KHz. Except the lower line has more positions, so it may be more like 3 KHz.

Regards, Dieter
« Last Edit: November 24, 2024, 10:32:53 pm by dietert1 »
 
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #35 on: November 25, 2024, 12:09:30 am »
I am also trying to do almost the same thing as dietert1 did, but it got delayed for some reason. I chose the STM32H750VBT6 because it is much cheaper than the STM32H730VBT6 if purchased from LCSC.

I have only done a small part - displaying some pictures on the screen, which I think is a good start. Recognizing those characters should be easy, so presenting in different themes should be an option.

I haven't looked at the manual yet, and don't know if the tR6581 can display customized content like some other instruments, if it can, special pattern character sequences can be recognized as some instructions to control the display to do anything it can do, such as changing the theme, adjusting the backlight brightness, running screensavers, etc.

Looks to be the same 4.58" LCD as I am playing with.....320x960 pixels.
I am working with the LT7680 board from buydisplay.com which takes the heavy lifting away from the BluePill.
Downside is that's an extra Pcb, but it's no big deal to integrate onto my mounting arrangement I have in mind......everything within the footprint of the LCD itself.

I'm developing on Visual Studio 2022 with VisualGDB plugin.
I first got MickleT's original source ported over to Visual Studio, compiling and tested, then added conversion of the R6581 bitmap data to strings. G1 to G47 and the annunciators.
Am now working to integrate the new LCD drive.....hmmm, the LT7680 datasheet could be better!

A great wee project to work on......makes a change from repairs here in the home workshop.

Ian.
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Offline gamalot

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #36 on: November 26, 2024, 03:09:15 pm »
Thank you Mickle T. Thank you everyone!

Maybe I should do something fun next.

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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #37 on: November 26, 2024, 05:50:29 pm »
Thank you Mickle T. Thank you everyone!

Maybe I should do something fun next.

Awesome gamalot!........I hope I am not too far behind you....:-)

Ian.
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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #38 on: November 30, 2024, 10:37:56 pm »
Hi all,

Here's my effort so far.....

4.58", 320x960 TFT LCD.
STM32 Blue Pill (STM32F103C8T6)
LT7680A-R TFT Graphics Controller.

It's been quite a journey to get to where this is right now, but today I got text rendering working on the display.......over the moon and over the technical hurdle, should be easy from now!

I decided to use the STM32 Blue Pill as I am experienced with them and they are easily integrated for somebody wanting to build up my version. However, out of the box and on their own they are NOT up to the task. Not enough I/O for one.

I picked the LT7680A-R controller because of it's size, it's narrower than the LCD and will mean it's easy to mount on the back and it of course took the heavy lifting away from the Blue Pill, just simple SPI comms with the LT7680A-R is required.
However, the way the LT7680A-r works is that you still need to communicate directly (via the pcb) to the LCD's ST7701S COG, albeit only once at startup to configure things.

In total I needed 3 SPI ports, the R6581T gets one, the LT7680A-R and............oh, the Blue Pill only has 2 SPI ports!
So, I bit banged a 3rd, the 3-wire interface to the ST7701S. It's only used once at boot so no worries.
Actually, I nearly went with the STM32 Black Pill (I still might) as it has 3 SPI ports, but we'll see.

I plan to design a Pcb thats the same dimensions as the LCD and mount everything on it. The green Pcb in the photo is just a temporary one used for dev.

Software is developed in Visual Studio/Visual GDB, and through the STLINKV3 it's got pretty good debugging, I can live watch variables etc.

By far the biggest problem was the LT7680A-R, the datasheet/manual and the supporting App notes are quite extensive. I had to sync the settings such as the back porch stuff and of course they are in different units and needed tweaked even after that. Also, having to set up the LCD PCLK, VSYNC, HSYNC settings...........having never driven a TFT direct before it was quite a learning experience.

The LCD pic below is just the first font I picked, plan is to have the nicest, smoothest font I think.

Thats all for now.

Ian.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2024, 04:32:57 am by IanJ »
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Offline gamalot

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #39 on: December 01, 2024, 10:33:16 am »
I tried to capture the dot pattern of all characters, but I only got 80 of them. There are a few characters that I have not been able to display on the screen, such as lowercase letters b, j, p, q, and left and right brackets.

I attached the characters I found, each character takes 6 bytes, the first 5 are captured from the serial bus, and the last byte is the ascii value.

I also tried to use different fonts to present them, maybe because of my lack of artistic cultivation, I am not satisfied with my work so far ...
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #40 on: December 01, 2024, 11:20:52 am »
I tried to capture the dot pattern of all characters, but I only got 80 of them. There are a few characters that I have not been able to display on the screen, such as lowercase letters b, j, p, q, and left and right brackets.
I attached the characters I found, each character takes 6 bytes, the first 5 are captured from the serial bus, and the last byte is the ascii value.
I also tried to use different fonts to present them, maybe because of my lack of artistic cultivation, I am not satisfied with my work so far ...

Thanks, I know there are some characters I haven't mapped properly yet, certainly some of the alphabet, and those up/down arrows etc. MickleT also mentioned some special graphics under one of the menu's.
Not sure if they and some others are available in the LT7680A-R character map sets, if not I'll have to create a few UDG's. The LT7680A-R has a flash rom on it that's available to upload to.

A couple of limitations, one being there is a maximum font size of 32x32 in the LT7680A-R internal set, but it does allow a x2 to x4 multiplier on top of that for the size. Their way of reducing character map memory footprint I guess.
So, I am using 16x32 with a x3 multiplier, you can see the jaggies on some of my characters.....................The pitfalls of such a hi-res LCD!

Pic below of my progress today, live data now working. Hmmmm, wonder if it's worth putting the AUX line in a different colour!

EDIT: Added another couple pics with Annunciators and different colours, taking my Keysight 34461A for some ideas. Green behind the R6581T panel looks too dim I think.

This has been great fun so far......especially as I am no software engineer!

Notes:
TFT LCD Display refresh rate = 14.5Hz
Used FLASH: 25KB out of 64KB (39%)
Used SRAM: 3544 bytes out of 20KB (17%)

Ian.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2024, 05:53:16 pm by IanJ »
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Offline dietert1

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #41 on: December 02, 2024, 03:49:29 pm »
That looks nice, so higher resolution fonts may be worth it. I also went to white as the R6581 front bezel takes away quite some brightness and i wanted to stay with 20 mA backlight current.
I also thought about using color, e.g. show the error anunciator or other error info in red.
Or if the meter operates in the same range for some time, one could replace the range info by a running average including standard deviation. A real playground..

Regards, Dieter
 
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #42 on: December 02, 2024, 09:26:40 pm »
All,

For some reason I found yellow has more punch through the R6581 bezel than white, not a lot in it mind you and maybe just my eyes.

The OHMS symbol is testing me to the limit of my C coding ability.......
The LT7680A-R only supports ISO 8859-1, 2, 4 & 5....and not an OHMS symbol in sight.

It does support UCG - User defined Characted Sets - but the datasheet/manual/App note is pretty sketch in it's usage.
I think I have my hex array stored properly, but calling it up for display brings up a blank.
I swear it was a lot easier to do on the ZX Spectrum back in the day!

I have a contact at Levetop Semiconductor, waiting on a reply, and hopefully some sample code.
They have been great, offering assistance!

It'll be nice to get the UCGs working, it will help with the E0 to E8 extended chars required for the DIAG screen vertical and horizontal fills.

EDIT: Levetop sent me sample code for UCG’s…….great stuff!

Ian.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2024, 08:10:58 am by IanJ »
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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #43 on: December 04, 2024, 08:45:06 pm »
Hi all,

Managed to get the UCG user-defined characters working on the LT7680A-R IC per the attached.

Small issue with the smaller one, so had to swap it out for the word 'ohm'......for now anyways.
I can create any amount of UCGs and call them up as long as they are all the same size.......but defining 16x32 and 12x24 has proved problematic due to the way the LT7680A-R works.......as I see it.

Another small issue is the line right along the bottom of the LCD (which actually won't show up behind the bezel), I can get rid of it by adjusting the display parameters, but it tends to make the display unstable in other ways.....so leaving it as it is. If I had access to the FULL spec of the TFT LCD then I could probably fix it but alas no full spec!

UPDATE:
I fixed the 2nd OHM symbol on the AUX line. Suggestion from Levetop, instead of rendering the UCGs at boot and using them individually, I am now rendering them on the fly just before they get used in the same area of memory. A little bit more of a CPU overhead for the Blue Pill but it seemed to handle it ok and the display is still fast.

Ian.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2024, 09:59:29 am by IanJ »
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #44 on: December 05, 2024, 07:37:02 pm »
Hi all,

Enough software for now, all working including ohms symbol.

Info:
Lcd update rate in every mode except resistance = 20.4Hz.
Lcd update rate in resistance modes = 14Hz.
This is due to the on-the-fly uploading of the user defined ohms graphic (hex symbol data) to the LT7680A-R IC.

I have also been working on a Pcb that will mount on the back of the display board and hold the LT7680A-R and Blue Pill board, keeping everything as low profile as possible.
Resultant connections to be made are just the 5 wires to the R6581 display board to pick up +5Vdc and the 3 serial signals.

Photos attached.

EDIT:
Re-mounted on back of display board (more room), much better mounting.

EDIT2:
Found issue with backlighting registers so have managed to increase brightness by about 10%+ over the photos below.

EDIT3:
My GitHub repo for this project:
https://github.com/Ian-Johnston/R6581_VS_Display

EDIT4:
I have edited the character encoding on the ones I had missed on the DIAG screen, and have come up with my own idea for the animated DISPLAY test. That should now cover everything and thus no longer displaying "?" for any missing font data.
Also added an option to tie input pin B0 down to 0V to swap the colours on the MAIN and AUX lines at boot. Default white for MAIN and yellow for AUX.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ayPeOh1u92w?feature=share

Ian.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2024, 07:12:54 pm by IanJ »
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #45 on: December 11, 2024, 02:22:04 pm »
Hi all,

LT7680A-R TFT LCD Driver for the R6581 DMM, prototype Pcb fitted to my R6581T......finally!

Photos below, and here's a quick YT Short:
https://youtube.com/shorts/QG-DmSFydeg?feature=share

Also, photo of what will be the production Pcb. Gerbers will be available soon in addition to the STM32 Blue Pill code etc. Just got to double check VFD SDA and SCK in-case I reversed them on the Pcb....oops!

The code is 99.9% complete, most of the past couple of days was going through the Calibration menu's on the R6581 and making sure I had all the font characters mapped. I did have a bit of trouble with dual OHM symbols on the Cal menus but got it fixed in the end. If the LT7680A-R had a built in character for the OHM symbol it would have saved me 250 lines of C code manipulating the OHM symbols into place.

There are two header links on the board:-
LK1 = swap the MAIN and AUX line colours (yellow & white). I prefer white for MAIN.
LK2 = choose between green or cyan for the ANNUNCIATOR colour. I prefer green.

The board has a notch out it as you will see, that's to accommodate a 100uF electrolytic capacitor on the main display board that gets in the way. I didn't want to move it.

After fitting the board there is just 5 short connections down to the R6581 main display board.

Assembly of the whole thing is a little tight, due to the length of the LCD flat flex and the R6581 front panel flat flex's also, if you don't want to disconnect them.

Note: The LT7680A-R board as purchased needs two solder links changed (to do with backlighting internal or external control):
J1 = open
J2 = closed
J3 closed (as supplied)

When the production PCBs arrive from PCBWAY I'll be doing a full YT video of the installation on my other R6581T.
I'll also edit this post and put a full parts list along with the gerbers and code etc.

Again, thanks to MickleT for the original reverse engineering without which........
PS. Boot screen on the LCD has a wee 5sec nod to MickleT.

Ian.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2024, 08:39:41 pm by IanJ »
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Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #46 on: December 17, 2024, 02:10:00 pm »
Hi all,

Video published on my TFT LCD effort:
https://youtu.be/rv6x6VsWyRo

Files:
GIT source = https://github.com/Ian-Johnston/R6581_VS_Display
GIT .HEX file = https://github.com/Ian-Johnston/R6581_VS_Display/tree/master/VisualGDB/Debug
Gerbers = https://www.ianjohnston.com/R6581_TFT/7680-Controller_backside5_V1_3.zip
Instructions = https://www.ianjohnston.com/R6581_TFT/Instructions.pdf

Parts:
LCD & LT7680A-R (c/w flat flex & FPC conn) = https://www.buydisplay.com/bar-type-4-58-inch-320x960-ips-tft-lcd-display-spi-rgb-interface
1 x 33uF 100V electrolytic capacitor (optional)
1 x 100uF 10V electrolytic capacitor
1 x 1uF polyester capacitor
2 x 10mm M3 brass standoffs
1 x STM32 Blue Pill (STM32F103C8T6)
1 x 5-way male SIL header
2 x 20-way arduino style female header
2 x Strips 2mm double sided tape
1 x Strip 6mm single sided foam

Ian.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2025, 12:48:29 pm by IanJ »
Ian Johnston - Original designer of the PDVS2mini || Author of WinGPIB
Website: www.ianjohnston.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IanScottJohnston, Odysee: https://odysee.com/@IanScottJohnston, Twitter(X): https://twitter.com/IanSJohnston, Github: https://github.com/Ian-Johnston?tab=repositories
 
The following users thanked this post: branadic, Mickle T., TheDefpom, gamalot, chekhov

Offline branadic

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #47 on: December 17, 2024, 04:47:59 pm »
Well done.  :-+
What are the other color schemes that can be choosen?
Now you only need to fix the INL issue. ;)

-branadic-
Computers exist to solve problems that we wouldn't have without them. AI exists to answer questions, we wouldn't ask without it.
 

Offline IanJ

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #48 on: December 17, 2024, 05:17:11 pm »
Well done.  :-+
What are the other color schemes that can be choosen?
Now you only need to fix the INL issue. ;)

-branadic-

Nothing heavy.......

Swaps the yellow and white MAIN/AUX display colours.
Select green or cyan for the Annunciators.

The jumpers are read at boot.

Ian.
Ian Johnston - Original designer of the PDVS2mini || Author of WinGPIB
Website: www.ianjohnston.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IanScottJohnston, Odysee: https://odysee.com/@IanScottJohnston, Twitter(X): https://twitter.com/IanSJohnston, Github: https://github.com/Ian-Johnston?tab=repositories
 

Offline branadic

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Re: Advantest R6581 VFD replacement
« Reply #49 on: December 17, 2024, 05:33:23 pm »
Thanks, a VFD like look instead of the Rigol color scheme would have been nice, but I also like the look of the Valhalla 2720 display.

-branadic-
« Last Edit: December 17, 2024, 05:40:29 pm by branadic »
Computers exist to solve problems that we wouldn't have without them. AI exists to answer questions, we wouldn't ask without it.
 


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