VFD on the wane

[guymusic]

Hi all,
Long time UK based d8b owner of 11 years with no issues, and an old member of previous forum....

Could you advise? My VFD is becoming almost unreadable. All fader meters and other displays are fine. I have the intensity of the VFD set to high, and can toggle to Medium and Low, but of course it becomes even duller and indistinct. Some portions of the display's letters are brighter than others, e.g. the G of GAIN might be brighter than the N.

New battery in CPU has not made any difference. BIOS settings all correct, running OS 5.1, 300mhz motherboard with increased RAM (upgraded by Woody at the old Mackie UK many years ago), just in case this info helps.. There is a post in the Database about replacing the display, but I don't feel qualified to carry this out!

Are there any cables or connectors that I can re-seat or check that might overcome this problem? Although I can cope without it, it would be good to see it working more clearly.

Grateful thanks for any suggestions.

Guy

[Crash]

A battery change would not help you out with this issue. Unfortunately, getting to the VFD is not for the faint of heart as it was one of the first steps in the assembly of this animal. It is likely that the VFD just needs to be replaced at this point so if you decide to go this route get one sourced and then tear into it.

[Petersueco]

Guy, welcome to the forum.

You may find some info regarding the VFD replacement here.

Peter Holmquist.

[guymusic]

Thanks to you both; Crash for info, and Peter for your welcome.

Unfortunately the Database link to Digikey is not showing any VFDs in stock, so the hunt is on, although I am trepidatious attempting to tear into it by myself. Maybe I should live with the dullness, and continue with the mouse instead, although finger tips and knob prodding / twiddling are one of the many reasons I've stayed with the desk. Will let you know if I am successful with the hunt, and thanks again.

Guy

[Crash]

http://noritake-vfd.com/

Go straight to the source and see if they can hook you up with something compatible. That is the link to the online store

[csp]

Guy,

I haven't looked at the elec tronic circuit or the wiring to the VFD unit, but a possibility could be to buy a small external video display unit and wire it to the video going to the VFD and mount it externally (ie sit it on top of the original unit). Some of these video monitors an be purchased at places like Radio Shack very cheaply and run off qwuite low DC voltage and current and I am sure that they would work for you.

All VFD units will eventually start to fade, just the same as the picture on old CRT TV sets fade over time and unless the voltage to your VFD unit is failing (ie becomming low) for some reason, the problem will simply be the units age and use.

David