I'm not too concerned about the money, but I'd like to know how I could connect the gold flexible PCB to the arduino. The holes are too small to just stick a wire/resistor into, and the spacing between holes look too small to try and solder something on without spilling over other holes, or do I just need an extra precise soldering iron?
Thanks for your help, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions as I explore the arduino!
Most LCD's sold on Ebay have available what is called a 'pinboard' email the store and see if they have one. If not search Ebay for a pinboard that has the prerequisite number of connections. The soldering can be difficult as the spacings on many are on the order of .5mm (.02") Ctr - Ctr. The LCD's were meant to plug into a connector rather than solder but solder you can, I pre tin all the pins with a "LOW TEMP" iron @ 550 - 600F or 285 - 300C and tack every 4th or 6th pin and then go back and just heat them all till the solder flows. (Heat the pinboard trace or solder pad and let it melt the flexi board pin solder) Be CAREFUL soldering to the 'foil' itself (if you break one) as it is most difficult especially at higher heats as the solder 'alloys' with the copper and will eat the foil in an alloy with the solder. I bought a couple of those 'Bargain' devices at various times and although I have the skill to solder them... I don't as the displays and pinboards make great gifts... For people I don't particularly care for... If you are interested try Adafruit... for the pinboard and their displays work well too AND they supply the library's and sample code as well. I have that 1.8" TFT display, nearly useless as a real display especially for old eyes like mine but GREAT learning tools AND mostly unless you make a mistake, Work the first time... 4D Systems is a good display but there are no libs for the 1.0 compiler and Itead labs seems to have a good product, I bought one for $20.00 with a header soldered to the board and it comes with working support software when and if you buy again, be certain that there is support for a 'common' driver before you purchase unless you are good at writing the support lib's and the header files. There is further madness in my 'method' and it is that likely the devices have a chance of working... Too
Thanks Doc, I will contact he seller and ask about that. The display is just for learning so I'm not too concerned about quality. Fortunately I'd already found a library for this LCD's controller hence why I was keen on getting it. If it doesn't workout though I'll take a look at adafruit's products.