Hardware on Freetronix Dot Matrix Display

 

Before trying to control the display, we first had to assess exactly which components were attached to the board in order to know the power and signalling requirements.  Thankfully, much of the information was found online, originally this information was located through a search engine on pastebin.com but later a source was found on the freetronix.com forums [2].

Please see the dot matrix display hardware page for details on the physical hardware found on the panel.

 

Hardware used on 68HC11 Development Board

 

We also needed to assess the capabilities of the 68HC11 development board and align its capabilities to the requirements of the display.

Please see the serial peripheral interface and brightness control pages for details on the use of the 68HC11’s SPI and A2D subsystems.