Chuck
Aren't we on the PowerFC Forum?:D

Love ya!

Jeff

Full circle....:cool: Now......here are some pics. finally. It was a crap cam so I will post better pics. as soon as I get them.

Full circle....:cool: Now......here are some pics. finally. It was a crap cam so I will post better pics. as soon as I get them.

t https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=2164961

t https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=2164962

Now........shoot me a PM or email for those interested. Talvendi@cs.com

I figured that's what he was doing. The only thing new about this screen is that he changed the electroluminescent (EL) element behind it to a different color. That amounts to de-soldering and re-soldering two connection points. This isn't that far off from a DIY project, and there are a lot more colors available than blue.

The power fc uses EL versus LEDs for it's backlighting. EL is basically a thin filament that's the exact shape of the screen. If you take apart your commander screen it's easy to see (you have to remove the lcd from the circuit board, which I would not recommend if you're just poking around).

See this site for a non-power fc tutorial: http://members.tripod.com/mrpcbman/Backlight.htm

From that tutorial, some EL material is available here: http://www.beingseen.com/sheets.html

There's no way that the stock commander uses EL for lighting. One, it's not the right color, two, it's lighting isn't anywhere near even and three in conjunction with the first two, you can see the two light sources on either side of the screen. The brightness sucks too. I'll agree that the mod does use an EL panel, but that kinda limits your color options too.

Have you ever taken it apart?

No but now I will (tomorrow). I take it you have? Do the buttons have an EL panel as well? They are the same shade of green as the screen.

No, the buttons are tiny LEDs. I argue that the screen backlight is EL because it's a thin white filament, it's the same size as the screen, it's got two connection points, and it lights up green (the whole thing) when power is applied. I didn't notice any LEDs behind the screen itself, but it's been over a year ago since I played with this.

To get to it, you have to remove the LCD from the board by bending the metal tabs from the housing. I'll warn you now, it was very difficult for me to re-align the contact points from the LCD to the PCB when I wanted to put it back together. I was getting some pretty weird display results until I got it right.

I haven't tried to change the backlight color. I was just poking around when I mounted the screen in a DIN slot.

i like it but not for $120. Not to insult you, but i think i would be willing to pay a 1/3 of that.

i share matty's opinion

It doesn't really look like it's that much easier to see than the green lighting? So... other than the "neato" factor, what's the point of doing this? Maybe if you can do an Amber color. But even then I don't think I'd pay 120 for it...

Do you have a link to Goblin's post?

Any more info on the protocol?

Simple search... :p:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=147597

Railgun69: Thanks!

Sorry for bringing up an older thread (but better than creating a new one like some) but has anyone else done this yet? In addition, what about replacing it with a reverse LCD screen (which I think can be done just with the filter in it already). What I mean by that is to have lit characters and a dark background. That would greatly improve visability. Second to that, have it as someone mentioned earlier, either red or orange.

I agree with matty,
cool but not for $120.

badass7, if you get enough interest, maybe you could think about lowering the price.

Guys, sorry but this mod. is NO LONGER available. Thank you.

So is there a DIY for this mod.. i would like to get amber look to match my interior gauges..

Having a PocketPC software for Datalogit would be soooo nice. But the time needed to make one from scratch and relatively small market for it, it would make its price very uncompetitive.

How much would you be willing to pay for such software ?

I dont know if you guys have seen this but there is a guy on ebay who custom makes car computers (not ems). It is a bare bones system that is about the size of a shoe box and goes for pretty cheap. It has a video out that could be hooked up to one of the 200 dollar ebay screens. all you would need is a small keyboard and one of the gyration gyroscopic mice and you are good to go.

Well, Sony is coming out with world's smallest PC.. maybe this fall or winner..

http://www.msmobiles.com/users/1/arc...ony-vaio-u.jpg

plug in your datalogit and you are set!!

http://www.dynamism.com/u70/u70-pack-all.jpg

SPEC:

Just found out that its out on the market..