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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

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Old 6th Nov 2022, 8:43 am   #1
DavidMS
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Default MK14 Display

I saw an Mk14 with an small adaptor board with 2 x 4 digit led displays on it at the Retro computer festival yesterday. The suggestion was that the gerbers for this are on the site but, having spent a while looking I cannot find anything - any suggestions ?
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Old 6th Nov 2022, 9:59 am   #2
SiriusHardware
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Hello DavidMS,welcome to the forum.

I believe this would be the post you are looking for.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...&postcount=743

ChrisOddy, the forum member whose post that was, had already had some of them made and may still have one or two left, try dropping him a PM (no sense having five made in China if you really only want one).
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Old 6th Nov 2022, 2:50 pm   #3
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Great thanks will do
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Old 7th Nov 2022, 2:32 am   #4
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Default Re: MK14 Display

I think these may have originally been a Trevor Hamlett? design, which he used to sell, but seemed to have stopped selling them. And he'd given Chris a copy of gerbers etc, to make some more.

There were two sizes, IIRC, and I'd got one of these from Chris for 2x 4-digit 0.28" high displays, after he'd offered some spare to people on here.
You do have to be careful about what displays you use, to be bright-enough - particularly on the Acorn System 1 that lacked the low-side? buffer-driver. But I did take a gamble on buying some described something like 7 Segment 0.28/0.36/0.40/0.56inch 1/2/3/4 Bit Digit CC/CA Led Display Bright Red (Selecting 20PCS, 0.28" Inch, 4 Bit, Common Cathode), and found these (Marked .2481AS-1+) worked very-well on an Acorn system 1 copy - Quite bright, and much easier to see than the original bubble-lens type.
And I managed to bend a tall pin header strip at 45deg, to get a good viewing angle, without needing ribbon cable etc.
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Old 7th Nov 2022, 10:23 am   #5
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Default Re: MK14 Display

My last display PCB has just gone to another forum member but I have some more on order, I expect them early next week. I'll add them to the For Sale page on my website (at NIL cost) so keep an eye out there.

Chris
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Old 10th Nov 2022, 3:36 pm   #6
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Default Re: MK14 Display

As you can see I have some tidying-up to do...
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Old 17th Nov 2022, 12:49 pm   #7
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Default Re: MK14 Display

I now have the display PCB's back in stock as well as a new consignment of MK14 Boards !

http://www.theoddys.com/acorn/For%20Sale/for_sale.html

Chris
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Old 30th Nov 2022, 2:05 am   #8
Phil__G
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Suitable 7-seg displays:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265676476236
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Old 3rd Dec 2022, 1:18 pm   #9
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Yay! PCB and leds arrived in this mornings post. Ta Chris!
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Old 3rd Dec 2022, 3:49 pm   #10
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Old 8th Dec 2022, 1:01 am   #11
Phil__G
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Look what I just bought! eight quid:
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Old 8th Dec 2022, 1:10 am   #12
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Seems a shame to destroy it for the display if it still works.
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Old 8th Dec 2022, 9:09 am   #13
SiriusHardware
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Quote:
Look what I just bought!
I have one of those as well, but it turned out to be in such beautiful condition that I couldn't be so cruel as to take it apart for the display. The keys on them are a particular weakness, just a blob of plastic attached at one edge to an overall frame, like the parts in an Airfix model kit. Once snapped off they are impossible to make a strong repair to.

I intentionally bought a couple with snapped / missing keys - those ones I didn't mind harvesting the displays from.
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Old 8th Dec 2022, 12:09 pm   #14
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Just remembered when I bought the displays for my MK14 I set up a saved search:

Code:
(nsa1198,nsa1188,als318,cqyp95,5082-744,til 393) display
And waited for email notifications. At the moment of writing there is one in Germany but its over £25 so I'd skip that, but every now and then you get much better deals from Poland and the ex-USSR countries. I got mine from the Ukraine, but that's probably not an option at the moment.
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Old 9th Dec 2022, 5:01 am   #15
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Default Re: MK14 Display

I got a ALS318A (NSA 1198 - CQYP95 ) BUBBLE MICRO INDICATOR RED NOS, back in Feb'21 from the USSR via a well-known auction site that said it was £11.68 inc. shipping. But I then discovered eBay were now adding 20% VAT to everything, irrespective of value, since the start of that year - Being made to collect the tax on behalf of the Government who'd made a rather unpublicised change to the previous tax exemptions limits.

So it cost rather more than that calculator did, even though it's a shame to have to raid it for that - but could always restore it, if you sudden found some more display cheap.
I must admit, back in the early 80's we'd even raid old calculators for the PP3 battery clip (well Tandy's charged quite a bit for not very good ones, and Maplin hadn't got any shps nearby yet) as they were rather thirsty on batteries compared to current LCD ones. And I built an audio amp into the case of an old Commodore Calculator PSU. But now these are getting much more desirable, then I'd try and restore these back to be complete / working order.
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Old 9th Dec 2022, 6:11 pm   #16
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Default Re: MK14 Display

Its a shame I have about 12 of the MK14 style displays hidden away in storage I don't currently have access to that i bought years ago from the Czech republic. Some day I will get them though which will be nice because I need one at least to repair my Commodore calculator that has an intermittant connection on its display that appears to be one of the gold bond wires.
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