I bought this Super Bank it CPU board LED Display on eBay last Monday and it's currently on the way via UPS ground http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350243020203&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
When I get it, I'm going to use it as a scoreboard on my miniature model of the Price is Right big wheel as seen on http://www.angelfire.com/funky/plinkoman/projects.html

Anyone know what kind of controller or numeric keypad is suggested I get for this? Something like a controller where I can make it display .05, .10, .15, .20, .25, .30, .35, .40, .45, .50, .55, .60, .65, .70, .75, .80, .85, .90, .95, 1.00 and with a clear and flash functionality. Any suggestions/recommendations?

 

Wow, no documentation at all? Can you get the numbers off the IC's present?

Part of the challenge is the sheer numbers of absent components. What might those resistors and transistors do? What should the missing connectors attach to?

This turns into an exercise in reverse engineering. If the seller did not and will not provide it (love that no return policy), you may need to use a meter to discover the schematic. That, and the function of the IC's may let you attach some inputs to control the display.

 

Well, I just got it and took some bigger pics.

I hope these pics have better detail and hopefully, someone here can help me out. What kind of controller would be suggested I use to make it work like the scoreboard on the big wheel on The Price is Right?

 

If it helps, that IC is a 32 bit serial input driver with latched outputs - http://www.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheets_pdf/U/C/N/5/UCN5832.shtml

The data sheet and observation should let you make some progress figuring out the board. Wonder that that TRIAC is supposed to do?

 

Hmm. I'm also gonna need to find out where I can buy the right cables to attach to the input/output prongs and where I can get a control panel for it, such as a numeric keypad to make it operate. And whether I can use a low-voltage AC adapter power supply to make the controller work so that any number I enter will be output to the 3-digit display on the front side of the circuit board.

 

Lazer-tron is (was?) a manufacturer of arcade games, so this is probably the score display from one of them. The board is likely used in multiple games; the missing parts get added as needed, In order to display anything meaningful, you will need a microprocessor to take the your numbers and convert it to the bit pattern that you need to shift into the register (I guess you could do it with a ROM, counter, and a latch too, but the micro is easier).

I'd ignore the optoisolator, triac, and J2; that was likely used to turn on some 110VAC device like a siren or rotating light.

It looks like power (likely somewhere between 7 and 20V DC) comes in on J4; the left three pins for positive and the right two for ground.

That leaves J1 for the input. U2 buffers the signals before passing them on to U1, so I would trace or buzz from J1 to U2, and then from U2 to U1 to figure that out. According to the data sheet, U1 pins 2, 4, and 38 are inputs, and 39 is the shift out (for connecting multiple displays together). This should be easy to get working.

/mike

 

Ah. It'd take me a while to study that and let that knowledge soak into my brain before attempting to connect. I'm not going to connect multiple displays together. Just this one. All I need is where I can get the proper wiring and a controller that fits my needs, such as a numeric keypad with clear and flash buttons on it, too. I was thinking along the lines of something like this:

And with AC Adapter capability to power the controller up.
Can anyone tell me where I could buy the wiring an a numeric keypad or controller. Can anyone help me?

Lazer-tron is (was?) a manufacturer of arcade games, so this is probably the score display from one of them. The board is likely used in multiple games; the missing parts get added as needed, In order to display anything meaningful, you will need a microprocessor to take the your numbers and convert it to the bit pattern that you need to shift into the register (I guess you could do it with a ROM, counter, and a latch too, but the micro is easier).

I'd ignore the optoisolator, triac, and J2; that was likely used to turn on some 110VAC device like a siren or rotating light.

It looks like power (likely somewhere between 7 and 20V DC) comes in on J4; the left three pins for positive and the right two for ground.

That leaves J1 for the input. U2 buffers the signals before passing them on to U1, so I would trace or buzz from J1 to U2, and then from U2 to U1 to figure that out. According to the data sheet, U1 pins 2, 4, and 38 are inputs, and 39 is the shift out (for connecting multiple displays together). This should be easy to get working.

/mike

 

Sadly it's going to take a lot to make it do much of anything. It probably takes a serial input signal and you're going to need to know exactly how the pulse train needs to be generated.

It was a specialized part designed to connect to their specialized computer control system.

 

Unfortunately, you are not likely to find an off-the-shelf solution. You will need a keyboard, microcontroller, some support circuitry, and have to write some embedded software. I would probably start by looking at http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Main/KeypadTutorial for examples of hooking up keypads to an Arduino.

The other option would be to connect it to the parallel port of an older PC and write some software there.
/mike

 

Would this keypad be good for it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/4x4-Matrix-Keyb...-8051-ARM-/400079328840?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0http://cgi.ebay.com/4x3-Key-Matrix-Keypad-Keyboard-General-/130395616352?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

 

Sure, but you will still need a processor (and a program) to sit between the keyboard and display.
/mike