CGMMSTICK Vacuum Fluorescent Display

I’ve had a couple of these display modules sitting around for a while. They have a 10-pin connector, not the ‘normal’ 14 that an LCD module has. I also don’t have a data sheet for the display, but a couple of old data sheets for different but somewhat similar displays. Every time I bump into the modules in my box of stuff I wonder what they look like when activated.

It is pretty easy to use MMBasic to just try these modules, even if I’m not confident that the data that I have on the modules is correct. I’ll give it a good try with the limited information that I have.

Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) Module

I decided to wire up the display to a CGMMSTICK to test them. It is a 5V display, so I’ll use OC outputs pulled to 5V through a 10k resistor. The display has a reset line, data in (serially transmitted, synched with the clock line), and clock. Data is most significant bit first.

According to the info I had:

Pins 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 are ground

Pin 1 +5V

Pin 3 clock

Pin 5 data

Pin 7 reset

I powered the module before connecting to the CGMMSTICK. Nothing appeared on the display, but I didn’t get a cloud of smoke either.

VFD Test Circuit

The data sheet for a similar module says that the value that it takes to write “A” is 1, “B” is 2. This doesn’t follow ASCII.

Below is the code I used to test the display:

And the result:

” CIRCUIT GIZMOS ” written to the VFD. Looks better to the eye than to the camera.