On Fri, 28 Dec 2001, Jinx wrote:

> > Another option would be a colored plasic sheet with 7 segments
> > masked off, lit by brake lamps under PIC control with MOSFET
> > drivers.  No moving parts, which I like better
>
> Filament bulbs ? Not fussy about those unless you run them under-
> voltage to extend lifetime. "grain of wheat" neons perhaps behind
> a diffuser

For one that big I'd be more tempted to use bigger bulbs.  Run 'em off a
12V source...  I only lose bulbs in my car every few years, and they run
on 13V+ and get a lot of abuse.  Anything much smaller I'd be concerned
about the brightness in direct sunlight.

> What I really objected to with LEDs was all that soldering. It took
> me the best part of half a day to solder up a 7 x 64 and I reckon
> you'd be looking at 30 hours (at what cost ?) to make a large
> 7-seg display. Imagine the tedium - LED after LED after LED....

Oh, yeah.  It would be *almost* enough to make you wish for a wave
soldering machine.  I say "almost" because I've seen what is involved
in owning one, was tempted a few years back.  I could have had one fo next
to nothing, complete with 800# of solder -- still in the machine, of
course!!  No thanks...

Dale

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