Smaller LCD/OLED?

[cbrunschen]

Certainly, the total cost for one of these is likely to be higher than for the current emulator. But compared to having to cut open the case of the keyboard, or jury-rig some kind of separate front panel with a visible cable running to it from the emulator, a bit of an extra cost is a much preferable thing.

To put this into a more specific context: I have two keyboards - an Ensoniq VFX-SD, and its younger brother, an Ensoniq SD-1/32. Both have floppy drives, which are supported by the emulator. But the current solution would require either some cutting into the case in order to put in openings to allow me to build in the current system and have its display visible and buttons accessibly, or have the thing exposed, or have the external boxed version still with the floppy cable & power exposed and visible. Neither of those options is particularly appealing to me - I like the way the keyboards look, feel, and so on, and I don't want that ruined just because I want a more reliable storage option than an ageing floppy drive - so I haven't bought any of the emulators.

If there was a version available without a display, but with the SD card slot to a side and poking out a bit, I could supply my own display, put together my own face plate, and fit everything into the existing floppy drive bay, with no need for cutting or drilling or any external boxes or exposed wires; just with an emulated floppy drive instead of a physical one; but with no large change of appearance, or any alteration of the case of the keyboard itself.

That option would suddenly change the emulator from "nice in theory but with big enough drawbacks that I don't want it" to "worth buying".

Best wishes,

// Christian

[pulkomandy]

The LCD isn't soldered to anything, so just remove it and put in a smaller one.
It is easy to add the required connector for it and the buttons for your front panel.

[cbrunschen]

The LCD isn't soldered to anything, so just remove it and put in a smaller one.
It is easy to add the required connector for it and the buttons for your front panel.

I know that. But for one thing, I'm reluctant to pay for a useless display that I'm going to get rid of immediately. And for another, that still leaves the SD card slot in the middle of the circuit board - such that if I were to try to fit everything into the space of a 2.5" floppy drive, even a smaller display would still get in the way of accessing the SD card slot, or to put it another way, the fact that the SD card slot is in the middle of the circuit board makes it impossible to put the display together with it.

I'm fairly certain I had covered these points in previous comments on this thread.

Best wishes,

// Christian

[5c4r7]

The main issue I have encountered is the SD card position and sourcing a smaller (compatible) LCD. If the slot could be moved over to the right, then it would be very easy to make a simple bracket for mounting the card/LCD/buttons.

I have an old SCSI CF card reader from SCSI for samplers and they simple took a piece of metal and bent a 90 degree bend on the front and 2 90 degree bends to create flaps to mount the card on. Then they just cut holes for the components on the front part of the metal. My father and I actually made a few similar brackets for my HXC's. They took bout 15 minutes each to make and cost about $2-$3 CAD in materials to make. With this bracket, if the card slot was moved and I had a smaller LCD, they would definitely work and fit into a standard 3.5" bay.

The LCD/OLED issue I have is, which one will properly work. The only info I have gathered is that it is a 2 line 16 character Hitachi format LCD. Is there anything else I would need to know to ensure that it is compatible?

[pulkomandy]

It's a standard LCD using the HD44780 command set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD44780_Character_LCD

Most character LCD follow the same format.

[cbrunschen]

The main issue I have encountered is the SD card position and sourcing a smaller (compatible) LCD. If the slot could be moved over to the right, then it would be very easy to make a simple bracket for mounting the card/LCD/buttons.

Exactly. Even if it wasn't extended forwards, that could be done separately and fairly inexpensively using one of these.

I have an old SCSI CF card reader from SCSI for samplers and they simple took a piece of metal and bent a 90 degree bend on the front and 2 90 degree bends to create flaps to mount the card on. Then they just cut holes for the components on the front part of the metal. My father and I actually made a few similar brackets for my HXC's. They took bout 15 minutes each to make and cost about $2-$3 CAD in materials to make. With this bracket, if the card slot was moved and I had a smaller LCD, they would definitely work and fit into a standard 3.5" bay.

... and that would make the product a perfect slot-in-replacement for a 3.5" floppy drive, without requiring any extra cables to an external control panel, extra software to control the floppy emulator form the device itself, or modifications to the casing of the computer/keyboard/other device whose floppy drive is being replaced.

The LCD/OLED issue I have is, which one will properly work. The only info I have gathered is that it is a 2 line 16 character Hitachi format LCD. Is there anything else I would need to know to ensure that it is compatible?

The 'Hitachi format' is, IIUC, the standard pin set and command protocol used by almost every character LCD available.

Best wishes,

// Christian