Matrix Orbital Corp

Hello good people, I've been reading over the forums and browsing on-line manuals and reviews for the Matrix Orbital LCD displays. I intend to use a Matrix Orbital display for first case mod and have a few questions on picking the best one for my situation.

I have an old printer that I have gutted and will be installing my new PC in there. I would like to replace the LCD that was used in the printer for displaying information with a MO display. I would like to have this display control fans, Cold Cathods, report temps, and possibly LED's if I find a use for them. I do not want a PC bay insert as this will not fit into area where the current LCD is located. I would like some kind of key pad to control the LCD outside of software. I understand you can simply use a switch to create keys, but what kind of switches and how do you go about doing this?

I'm currently looking at the LK204-24-USB or one of its other colors, I think this will meet all of my requirements.

You can see the LCD I'll be replacing here : http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pgapro747 ... pg&.src=ph

I would like to create switches to replace the existing printer control buttons there, and possibly add additional ones. If that is not a good option can you suggest a keypad that I could connect and hide somewhere on the printer to to control the MO display?

Thanks for any information you can provide

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thank you for posting at the forums.

You would be able to use almost any kind of switches for the keypad. I will explain to you a little bit about how the keys work to give you a better understanding on what to do with the switch. The key pad connectors consist of rows and columns. By shorting out a row and a column a character is generated by the pic microcontroller. You will then need to program the character to your desired application. Aslong as you can get your switch to short a row and column together, it will work.

Section 3.2 of the manual will give you some detailed information on the keypad connections at http://www.matrixorbital.com/files/LK204-24-USB_TM.pdf .

If you do not want to use switches, you can use one of our keypads shown at http://www.matrixorbital.com/index.php?cPath=12_17 . If you do not want to use our keypads, I can recommend a company named Storm at http://www.storm-keypads.com/ .

BTW Cool idea for a case mod. Feel free to post the pc in the galleries once you are finished.

If you have anymore questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,

Thanks for the info Tom, I'm interested in making a custom keypad to use with the MO display, and putting the switches in the original printer button locations. Could you point me in the direction of a place where I could buy switches that will create the short between the row and column?

Thanks
Jim

Jim,

The most inexpensive solution for obtaining your switches may be to purchase them at your local electronics component store. Switches are quite common, so the local electronics component store should have a good selection.

If you have anymore questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,