Custom Gauge Project

[IDBoating]

Very, very nice. I especially like the milling work. Kudos!

I presume the LCD is a non-backlight reflective? Those gain contrast as ambient light increases.

Right now I'm looking for a "backless" LCD, i.e. one that has neither a reflector nor a backlight. Most people don't realize LCD's are entirely transparent when no electrical field is applied; the reason you can't see through most of them is because they have either a backlight or a reflector. I want it for a HUD thingie I'm considering as a personal side project....

[ChrisSnow]

Very, very nice. I especially like the milling work. Kudos!

I presume the LCD is a non-backlight reflective? Those gain contrast as ambient light increases.

Right now I'm looking for a "backless" LCD, i.e. one that has neither a reflector nor a backlight. Most people don't realize LCD's are entirely transparent when no electrical field is applied; the reason you can't see through most of them is because they have either a backlight or a reflector. I want it for a HUD thingie I'm considering as a personal side project....

Thanks :-) I really enjoy CNC, this project taught me an awful lot about it!

have you thought about just tearing the back off a normal back lit screen?

This may be a silly question as I have little understanding about advanced electronic gizmo stuff like this... but with no backlight are you gonna be able to see the display at night?

this is the screen I used, it's Transreflective, so the brighter the ambient the better, though they still work in low light too, and can be back lit as they still pass a bit through from the rear, I didn't bother as i don't intend in boating in the dark!
http://www.sharpmemorylcd.com/2-7-inch-memory-lcd.html

They're a bit different to most LCD's, basically an "on" pixel is actually a mirror and an off is a black pixel, they're incredibly energy efficient too, not important for this though!

[Dandy]

I just cannot believe the things that I see so many people on this forum create . I used to think I was fairly smart...maybe I am in a much simpler way. This project is fantastic. Since you are sharing links, can you share where that little CNC Mill is from? If I could figure out how to operate it, I have plenty of projects both personally and professionally that I could use that for.

Fantastic work. We are blessed to have the likes of guys like you and ID Boating to aid in electrical tech, Chp for Audio and Ballast and BoatWakes and Dom with a bunch of mechanical knowledge to share with us. I am sure there are quite a few others I am leaving out...sorry, but there is just so much free, friendly knowledge shared here.

Again, way to go. As stated above this very well may be TO DIY 2016 Project Of The Year

[IDBoating]

have you thought about just tearing the back off a normal back lit screen?

Yes, but word on the street is they are bonded rather well. "Tearing it off" may be more accurate than desired!

I am going to give it a shot, though. Might start with a cheap digital watch, tear out its display, and rip off the backlight. I presume I'll end up with a transparent screen that I can selectively darken its segments. I'll have to reverse engineer its pinout, but that won't be a huge deal. I'd rather have a dot matrix display, though.

Then I have to work out the optics. A display immediately in front of your eye can't be seen very well. I used to work with lasers but this is an entirely different application. Back to the books!

[jslayde1]

I just cannot believe the things that I see so many people on this forum create . I used to think I was fairly smart...maybe I am in a much simpler way. This project is fantastic. Since you are sharing links, can you share where that little CNC Mill is from? If I could figure out how to operate it, I have plenty of projects both personally and professionally that I could use that for.

Fantastic work. We are blessed to have the likes of guys like you and ID Boating to aid in electrical tech, Chp for Audio and Ballast and BoatWakes and Dom with a bunch of mechanical knowledge to share with us. I am sure there are quite a few others I am leaving out...sorry, but there is just so much free, friendly knowledge shared here.

Again, way to go. As stated above this very well may be TO DIY 2016 Project Of The Year

I couldn't agree more!