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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Explore100
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| WhiteWizzard Guru  Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
It is worth running an eye (and iron!) over any suspect looking joins on 'cheap stuff' purchased on eBay or the likes. In the past I have had TFTs and OLED modules arrive with such bad soldering it is amazing that they ever work at all. In one parcel arrive I had three SMD parts fallen off (possibly in transit?). 
I would put my money on a dry joint on the 40-way male header on the TFT unit. Anyone else experiencing TFT issues similar to that in the photo above is worth noting the 're-soldering' advice 
One other thing - beware of TFTs sold with 'Touch Panel' that don't have the on-board Touch Chip installed! This is something that has confused a few people here. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
I've seen a few display corruptions on the 5" connected to an E64. Initially blamed the birds nest, but soon realised it seemed more likely the LCD end. Resoldered both my 5"s last night, & the original joints weren't that flash, with a couple on each display definitely suspect when touched with the iron. Adding some lead seemed to help....  |
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| dhester Newbie  Joined: 17/07/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 11 |
WW My point about keyboards was that a normal size keyboard just seems wrong with a "small computer". I have several raspberry pi with 7" screens and the normal size keyboard seems out of proportion and in my mind the system needs a mini keyboard, the same with the explore 100 and a 5" screen. Perhaps I'm just weird. Again thnaks for the help and for supplying the board. |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
Oh - yes I see now what you mean 
If you are familiar with the iMac wireless (BlueTooth) keyboard - I modify a BT keyboard identical to this (dare I say it, they are cheap on eBay) and convert it to PS2. End result is a stylish and small keyboard that is proportioned beautifully
I will see if I can find a photo . . . . |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
Here is a 'modified' keyboard that works well with the MM+ It does not have a Home or End button so Geoff kindly made Ctrl and cursor keys mimic these functions in the early days of Beta Testing. Note that in this photo the MM is connected to an 8" TFT. However, it looks good with a 7" and a 5" too. 
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Zonker Guru Joined: 18/08/2012 Location: United StatesPosts: 772 |
WW.. You had mentioned the 8" display units (i guess based on the SSD1963).. Can you point me in the right direction to get two of these units..? I will have a poke around too... I guess I missed hearing about them... I love your 7" box and KBD setup..! With the E-100 PCB and a known box to construct with, this could make a solid unit to do some awesome design work for control panels... With the IO bus IDC cable coming out the backside and snapping to the expansion board, you would have a complete prototyping setup to start working some MM magic...!  |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
How do you do this conversion Phil? Greg |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
@paceman I take out the circuit board, and add my own that contains a PS2 Matrix chip (HOLTEK), and drill a hole in the back for the PS2 lead to pass through. It is a real 'custom' job that takes a fair bit of time. If people are interested in this then I would make some PCBs up BUT the cost on eBay for a PS2 keyboard doesn't really make this economic sense. The parts for the PCB (excluding the keyboard itself) come to about £6. It takes about 1 hour to do the 'modification'; and then another £8 for the BT keyboard. @Zonker The TFT is a SSD type, BUT it has a totally different pinout to the E100 PCB. I would like to make an adaptor PCB for the quality TFTs (sustainable & consistent availability; direct from manufacturer (BuyDisoplay)) but it is the usual issue of having way too much on my 'to-do' list! WW |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
@Zonker Geoff's Sept Silicon Chip article on the "Explore 100" notes that: The 8" display is available from EastRising at www.buydisplay.com. Note though that the EastRising panel uses non-standard interface connector pin-outs so you must use point-to-point wiring between the Explore 100PCB and the LCD panel. Guess that means either a new PCB or a bit of a rat's nest. Greg |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9643 |
Is the September issue out already? I don't have an 8" display, but was toying with the idea of getting one. If I do, I could design an adaptor board which would convert between the E100, and the EastRising 8" LCD. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
The BuyDisplay (EastRising) is a very decent display and available in a consistent quality (and is also sustainable). Price is comparable with eBay too so a win-win situation. I sent one to Geoff in the very early days of MM+ development and he noted the different pinout to the usual pinout found on cheap TFT modules from eBay. Grogster: IMHO it is well worth doing an adaptor board for these TFTs as the quality is really good. And when run at BACKLIGHT 80, the current consumption is decent as to be not too high (for the resultant brightness seen). These TFTs are the one I was to be using for the School Computer BUT the cost of all other components made the product too expensive; especially when compared to a £4 RaspBerry Pi, or a free BBC MicroBit! I cannot recommend these TFTs enough - but let me re-iterate and be very clear in that they will NOT plug directly into an unmodified E100. WW |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
One thing I forgot to mention - I have seen an SSD as a 10" display while searching for screens for my School Computer - but just cannot find one now. Has anyone else seen this? And if so, have you tried one with a MM+? WW |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
@WhiteWizard Ah, OK, I couldn't see that it would be simple - a small mini cheap one would be nice though.
Greg |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9643 |
WW - can you provide me with a link or a model number for the 8" ones you were going to use? If you have any spare you want to get rid of, please send me an email or a PM and we can arrange something there.
As far as I know, the SSD1963 controller chip cannot support displays bigger then 8" as it does not have enough video memory. I guess if it was a 10" display with a slightly zoomed resolution which was not the 10" native resolution...... Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9643 |
I am currently using these silicone ones from eBay. They are USB and PS/2. They even come with a USB-PS/2 adaptor. I have tried these with the VT100 terminal, and it works fine. I expect that the PS/2 code from the VT100 is probably the same Microchip library code as that which is used in the Micromite, but I could be wrong on that one.... I will try it on an E100 board in the next couple of days. These ones are not quite as small as you might want though. I wanted these ones specifically, as I needed something that was easy to pack away into a field-service-unit, so the fact they can be folded or rolled up to save space is a big thing for stuffing it into test equipment you take in the car. Also, the waterproof nature of these suited my purposes, where I often need to use it outside, so these ones don't care about rain. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
Here it is. I notice they now do two SSD TFTs - but pinout looks the same as each other. Unfortunately I only have one 'unmounted' one left and I have a plan for that one - sorry. As you see, the price is decent; and timescales not too bad (but not as quick as the PCB house!) By the way - should you not be in bed at this hour!!!!!! WW |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2948 |
Note that regarding keyboards; some claim to be PS2 and USB but when tried with the VT100 and MM+, they simply would not work with the PS2 adaptor. My advice would be to go for a dedicated PS2 keyboard (i.e. one with a PS2 connector hardwired on the end of the cable)
Also, if the keyboard is too small, then typing code becomes a pain. Better go for one without the numeric keypad - keeping key size very comfy for coding! WW |
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kiiid Guru Joined: 11/05/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 671 |
Here I have been using these after some very small mods in MM+ source (my post ). Also submitted the changes to Geoff for consideration whether to include them into the main source tree. http://rittle.org -------------- |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9643 |
[Quote=WW]By the way - should you not be in bed at this hour!!!!!! [/Quote] Probably, but the night is young!!!! (1:33AM) 
The blue silicone ones I linked to in the previous page, ARE PS/2 compatible. They definetly work with the VT100, and I will test the E100 on them tomorrow. These are medium sized ones, less the numeric keypad. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| dhester Newbie Joined: 17/07/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 11 |
Not sure if I should start a new thread. On the Explore100 I have not installed the optional reset mcp120 & capacitor, what does this do? Is it worth installing? |
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