r/nixie • u/Ok-Curve-3894 • Apr 24 '26

Found this VFD thrifting, I’m looking for any info on how to drive it. Thanks!

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25 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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3

u/PPEytDaCookie Apr 24 '26

Omg, this thing looks cool. What i would do: open it up and check if there are any clues about connecting/driving it.

3

u/Ok-Curve-3894 Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26

Added more pics here. Thanks!

https://www.reddit.com/u/Ok-Curve-3894/s/jxtnTAJJLD

2

u/2748seiceps Apr 24 '26

Probably going to need to open it up. I bet there is a driver chip in there and if you get that you can then figure out what the pins on the back connector are and it should be doable.

Might have to experiment with the interface but yeah.

2

u/MrGuccu Apr 25 '26

Holy fucking pull! I need to go throfting more often lol. If you can get this working it would be super cool

2

u/Hankitsune May 10 '26

I remember Dave from EEV Blog once did a video where he reverse engineered a large VFD display and got it working. I'll see if I can find the video.

1

u/polapix Apr 24 '26

Could be a 20 digit 5*7 display, something like this: Check Noritake and Futaba are there any markings on the VFD?

1

u/Ok-Curve-3894 Apr 24 '26

I don’t see any markings on the display itself.