diagram circuit

This charming little circuit is a genuine four-digit running-text display, complete with a Christmas / New Year’s greeting. Naturally, any competent programmer can easily arrange to have a different text scroll across the display. The associated soft-ware, including the source code, can be downloaded from the Free Downloads section of our website or obtained from Readers Services on diskette (order number 020365-11).

As can be seen from the schematic, the hardware consists of little more than an AT90S1200 microcontroller, a 4-digit LED display and a 5-V voltage regulator. The only external circuitry needed by the microcontroller consists of a reset circuit and a 4-MHz crystal, and the remainder of the components are limited to a few decoupling capacitors.

In the prototype model, an Osram SLO2016 display module was used. Although this four-digit module measures only 10×20 mm, it provides an especially clear and bright display. In order to give the 7805 voltage regulator sufficient ‘breathing room’, the supply voltage should be at least 8 V. A standard 9-V mains adapter should thus be perfectly adequate. The supply voltage does not have to be stabilised, and the adapter does not have to provide an especially large amount of current, since the running-text display draws scarcely more than 50 mA.

Author : R. van Arem - Copyright : Elektor