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[Reply #15 on:]

Hi,

Im not sure if thats the right part of the forum.... so im sorry if its not
Im biulding myself a VFD tube clock with 6 IV-6 tubes, and two really small ones for the dots.
Ive got the theory alv figured out, BUT I only have 2 max6921, so thats for driving 4 tubes right?
ive been thinking... can I multyplex those tubes? As together, Bs together, Cs together.... and only switching Grounds on and off, either with high transistors or spare outputs on 6921?

Am I thinking in a right direction. Is this even possible?

Thanks for ur answers in advance.

regards from Slovenia

[Reply #16 on:]

MAX6921 is 20 outputs, two are 40  outputs.
http://www.maximintegrated.com/solutions/led_vfd_drivers/parts.mvp/scpk/1336/pl_pk/0

tube datasheet
http://www.tube-tester.com/sites/nixie/dat_arch/IV-6.pdf

So you appear to need 7 segment drivers/tube
6 x 7 = 42m, so you're a couple short.

Do you need 6 full digits? Perhaps have the left-most digit just be 1 or Off, and only use 2 segments.
Then 5 digits * 7 + 2 segments = 37, and you can use 3 remaining for periods in between pairs of digits:
1H.MM.SS,

[Reply #17 on:]

You might try modifying a Soft SPI library if you need custom word length.

[Reply #18 on:]

I needed to shift out 25 bits of serial data to two 16 bit serial series connected shift registers wired to the SPI pins. I just would do the transaction as four consecutive 8 bit write operations and just let the first 7 bits sent fall out to the bit bucket of the far shift register.

Lefty

[Reply #19 on:]

Make the delay(1) a delayMicroseconds(1)!  SPI is fast (most devices support 10MHz).  Also digitalWrite takes more than 1us anyhow!

Agreed. Digital read and write are HORRIBLY slow. I replaced some "digitalWrite" lines in a VFD driver with PORT = xxx and got an almost TENFOLD increase in speed!

[Reply #20 on:]

spikey is sort of thread hijacking...
40 bits is 5 bytes, nothing custom needed.

Code:

SPI.transfer(byte0);
SPI.transfer(byte1);
SPI.transfer(byte2);
SPI.transfer(byte3);
SPI.transfer(byte4);
digitalWrite (latchPin, LOW);
digitalWrite (latchPin, HIGH);
/* Load Input. Data is loaded transparently from the internal shift register to the output
latch while LOAD is high. Data is latched into the output latch on LOAD’s rising
edge, and retained while LOAD is low.*/

or do a little for:next loop instead of 5 discrete writes

Code:

for (x=0; x<5; x=x+1){
SPI.transfer(displayData[x]);
}

[Reply #21 on:]

Make the delay(1) a delayMicroseconds(1)!  SPI is fast (most devices support 10MHz).  Also digitalWrite takes more than 1us anyhow!

Agreed. Digital read and write are HORRIBLY slow. I replaced some "digitalWrite" lines in a VFD driver with PORT = xxx and got an almost TENFOLD increase in speed!

Are you perhaps thinking of analog reads?
Because digital read is a matter of reading a register.

Analog read takes a bit over 100 microseconds.

This loop in my ultrasonic sensor code runs in just about 1 microsecond per pass. How do I know? I count the passes in echo and I compare them to micros() which is what I use to estimate sound travel distance. The numbers are very close even with many 1000's of passes.

Code:

  mikros = micros();

  //  Test distance = (high level time * sound velocity (340M/S) / 2)
  echo = 0UL;
  while ( ( digitalRead( ECHO )))
  {
    echo++;
    if ( echo > 1000000UL )
    {
      echo = 0UL;
      break;
    }
  }

  mikros = micros() - mikros;

And yeah, I need to add a temperature sensor since Mach 1 varies with temperature.
As now, my project is only good to a bit under an inch where 2mm should be possible.

[Reply #22 on:]

@CrossRoads
losing a few is a great idea, thanks! I wil definitely be thinking along those lines.

@GoForSmoke
I was actually considering this, but only as the last resort, thanks for a reply tho

@CrossRoads
yeah I know... really sorry about that :/
uu, loop idea looks promising

well anyways, thank you, both of you, thats pretty much all I needed to know.
If I need anything else, I will open a new thread.

cu all

[Reply #23 on:]

How do I send 20 bits of data if the SPI sends everything in 8-bit sections?

The answer to your question is right there in the datasheet.

[Reply #24 on:]

What page describes sending 20 bits, dhenry? It isn't divisible by 8.