[francisx]

we have a two proto tracks and recently one of their displays died. instead of replacing the crt again i did some looking and found an lcd that fit like a glove , this should fit most "QuickCells" and "Proto track's" that have VGA video and a 110 volt power source in their cabinet. All i had to do was remove the crt VGA cable and power plug . remove the cast frame that holds the crt to the front of the cabinet to drill and tap two 10 x 32 through holes reinstall the frame put the LCD into the frame with large washers holding the LCD to the front glass and plug in the VGA and power supply to the 110V power plug.you have to drill a hole through the box for access to the power button or mount the button board so the remote control can turn on the display on through the rear fan opening on power up. i emailed the company in the us and they said if you request it they can program it so it will power on when 110 comes on. the display is great and my QuickCell actually has red blue and green in the graphics.for $210.00 US its much brighter then the crt.
Lilliput 8" 4:3 SKD Open Frame Touch Screen VGA Monitor
Attachment 195358
this is the distributer link
ZhangZhou Lilliput Electronic Technology Co.,LTD - Quality Assurance

[dkams]

I would like to go this route. How did you make the video connections? I believe the old CRT has a 10 pin flat edge connector and the new LCD have a standard VGA Connector.

[Fabric8r]

I bought the above Lilliput 8" monitor. to replace the CRT in my Prototrag A.G.E. 2 control. Mine also has the flat 10 pin edge connector. Can anyone tell me how the video connections might work? I have tried a few ways but have not had any luck.
Thanks,

[jrrhotrod]

I have and MX2 with bad CRT monitor that needs an upgrade also. I am looking to go this route but the 10 pin edge connector has me holding off till I find an adapter or info on how to make it work. Looks like a lot of wright ups on this but none with real specific directions on how to get it hooked up if anyone comes up with a solution please post.

[Fabric8r]

I have and MX2 with bad CRT monitor that needs an upgrade also. I am looking to go this route but the 10 pin edge connector has me holding off till I find an adapter or info on how to make it work. Looks like a lot of wright ups on this but none with real specific directions on how to get it hooked up if anyone comes up with a solution please post.

Im hoping ill have this 10pin edge connector figured out by next week. I have found out this Prototrak CRT monitor runs at 15kHz, it needs to have the signal doubled to atleast 30Khz or the new Lcd monitors with VGA input will not get a signal.

[jrrhotrod]

Oh wow this is going to be a little more complex than I was thinking it was going to be but I am electronically challenged to say the least. Thanks for the update and keep us posted.

[dgfatz33]

any chance you've looked further into the 10 pin edge connector to vga? we have the same problem hoping to find a cheaper solution then 1500 for a new unit.
anything would help .
Thanks

[BillTodd]

The older prototrak machines us a MDA or CGA monitor which is not usually compatible with VGA monitors. However, the full size PC mother board will take a standard ISA VGA card

The software will recognise the VGA and use it instead (and in colour!) but you will have feed a new monitor cable (you might be a able to rewire the existing cable to do monochrome).

Bill

[john-100]

I have no need to connect a MDA or CGA monitor output to a VGA monitor
( some 15 years ago I have used a VGA to PAL Composite Video converter - connecting a VGA output to a UK 625 line TV !! )

to solve your problem , the devil will be in the detail
you can buy adaptors to enable arcade games to work with new LCD VGA monitors


with a multi standard monitor this simple wiring adaptor will work

Attachment 339192


to use a VGA standard monitor you will need a standards converter to get the monitor to work

Attachment 339190

John

PS


found more info on the net


looks like the machines monitor like arcade monitors have RGB Video inputs
and both positive and negative going Horizontal and Vertical Sync inputs





PSS

9 pin D-type to high density 15 pin D-type adaptor


pinout of various adaptors
these are the pinouts for mda, cga, ega, and vga. According to an old textbook

MDA:

1:Ground
2:Ground
3-5:No Pin
6:Intensity
7:Video
8:Horz. Sync
9:Vertical Sync

CGA:

1:Ground
2:Ground
3:Red Signal
4:Green Signal
5:Blue Signal
6:Intensity
7:No Pin
8:Horz. Sync
9:Vertical Sync

EGA:

1: Ground
2: Secondary Red
3: Red Signal
4: Green Signal
5: Blue signal
6: Secondary green
7: Secondary Blue/monochrome
8: Horz. Sync
9: Vertical Sync

VGA:

1: Red Signal
2: Green Signal
3: Blue Signal
4: no pin
5: self test
6: Red Return
7: green return
8: Blue return
9: No pin
10: Digital ground
11: digital ground
12: No pin
13: Horz. Sync.
14: Vertical Sync
15: no pin

[shuwal]

Posted for jeffd44 Email responses to jeffd44

I acquired a Trak AGE 2 stamped with a 1997 date but it had a bad CRT, I wasn't sure if there was anything else wrong with so I didn't want to spend much just to get the screen running. I checked with Omnivision and they wanted $600+ for a drop-in LCD replacement. First I tried an arcade-type adapter GBS8200 , but it didn't have the right frequency compatible with the monochrome output which is different than CGA/EGA, plus I would have had to put the monochrome output on the red, green, or blue channel, not so pleasing to look at. That was a $30 investment. Digging into the computer, there was an old Hercules Graphics MDA/HGC card clone installed with only a monochrome output . I found that out here. I looked at the adapter GBS8229, but they were even more money, though I do think one would work with the monochrome output.

I bought an old ISA VGA card for $25 on ebay, it was 16bit and so is the motherboard, that was plug and play, and now I have a color output! For a monitor , I was just using an old PC monitor for the test, but I plan to get a small security-type LCD to fit in the original housing from Amazon, they are $70-90 there. The only downside is running the VGA cable from the computer box to the display, I plan to punch a hole on the bottom of the computer box, so nothing falls in. At the other end, I will make a hole in the back piece that sticks out of the back cover, it's easy to remove and modify.

As for the 10-pin connector, this is what I found. My unit may be different that others, there could be variations. Three contacts are for the CRT Intensity control, this will not be needed in my setup. I am hoping to get an LCD with a remote, just in case. Two of the contacts are 12vdc and 0vdc, I plan to use these to power my small LCD. The other three are for the original monochrome video; video, horizontal sync and vertical sync, since I removed the old video card, these are no longer active. It is not possible to send the new VGA signal through these wires.

One last note, removing the old video card from computer also removes the printer function since that is on this card too. I am not that familiar with this system, but I dont think I would be attaching a printer to it.

[CSX66]

Excellent info,

Thanks John.

I had a close call with my prototrak the other day. My CRT still works fine but I made a mistake with my tool path and snapped off a tool which flicked up and smashed the glass on the front of the screen. I thought for a minute "oh no!" but on closer inspection I only broke the protective glass in fornt of the CRT. I stripped the head unit down and replaced the shattered glass with a piece of tinted poly carbonate. This should ensure no accidental breakage in future.

Attachment 341046

Cheers

Mike

[clembrant]

Has there been any updates or suggestions to this post. I am in the market for an lcd upgrade, but do not want to spend $1300 for a new monitor. I have
an older DPM( 90s) with AGE 3 control. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if I find anything I will post it.

[monitorexperts]

Indutrial CNC Retrofit Monitors 714-995-0100

- - - Updated - - -

www.monitorexperts.com

[BillTodd]

I've just fitted a pci vga card and 8" lcd monitor to my brother's AGE 3 machine . Nice to see age 3 is in full colour !

The ebay monitor waseasy enough to mount in place of the crt and runs from the same 12v supply . I ran an extra vga cable down to the pc box .

Pci card works straight out of the box (i removed the mga card and fed the parallel port from the onboard port. )

Bill

[clembrant]

Bill,Thanks for the reply. Do you have any pics, or suggestions on what to buy?

[BillTodd]

sorry, i didn't take any pictures.

Have a look at your controller board (it will be some kind of pc) , see if it has a spare pci slot or, like my other trak edge machine, an onboard vga output (blue 15pin D ) .

Finding an old pci vga card should not be difficult on ebay (any older nerd will have one!).

The monitor i bought was a 8" 4:3 lcd £50 cheapy from ebay . It has a whole pile of different inputs including the important vga socket. it runs from a 12v wallwart. but i just snipped the plug off and wire it to the 12v in the head unit.
I mouted it with four plastic p clips. (they happened to be about the required size) at the four corners using the existing monitor fixings.

I had some fun and games with a faulty monitor (got it working myself after swaping it !) but hopefully you will get a working one first time (buy from a local supplier!).

Then you'll need a 2-3m (6-10 foot) male-male vga lead.

[hdokes]

Greetings all,

I have a Proto Trak LX2 lathe who's crt has taken a dirt nap. I have been researching an economical replacement for it and stumbled upon this page which I believe is right down my ally.

I have no issues with doing a conversion however I do want to confirm some questions this thread has risen.

The console box of the LX2 contains a power supply, the 9" CRT, membrane keyboard annunciating panel, and a logic board internal to the box. My discovery/assumption is that the video signals for the CRT may be a pass through from the 'brain board' in the cabinet to the logic board and then to the CRT and that the logic board interprets the membrane buttons and passes them to the brain board.

A cursory inspection just a bit ago of the brain board gives me the impression that it is little more than an industrialized IBM PC.... probably an i386 and a hybrid back plain of both ISA and PCI slots. If this is the case then I'm assuming that there is the equivalent of a monochrome graphics adapter in the ISA slot. I also observed that all ISA slots are taken however there are a couple open PCI slots.

Sounds like the same thing you ran into Bill T. If so this may be a piece of cake having been involved with the evolution of the desktop since the Timex Sinclare, Trash 80, and the original Apple ][ and should be a no brainer. The only question I think I have is can I swap the monochrome card out with the vga card as you indicated you did Bill or is it possible the LX2 may not lend itself to that? The biggest concern is the need for any drivers to drive the vga card.

I just received permission to pull the brain box out of the lathe tomorrow which will reveal all I'm sure.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

[hdokes]

Ok.... a bit of an update. I do have the controller (brain) box in my grubby little paws. It is nothing more than a basic 'ol i386 pc. It contains a 68000 co-processor board that has an additional daughter board piggy backed on to it. The two crkt board numbers are 20808A for the daughter board and 15796A-5 for the co-processor board. The two boards are all discrete logic. I'm having '80s flashbacks! Some one turn on some Flock of Seagulls!!! :banana:

The daughter board has a massive Xilinx gate array chip on it but aside from that it's all 7400 series ttl logic chips.

The unit does not have an on board video port on the main motherboard which implies that the video provisions have to be on the co-processor board or daughter board however I am having difficulty defining the origin of the video signals or the video circuitry on either.

All this is to say that while I can probably get away with plugging in a VGA graphics card (I have plenty) into the pci backplane I see no means of removing or disabling the existing mono graphics circuitry.

Hoping Bill Todd gets in here every once in a while still and may be able to shed some light on his conversion. Trying to determine if the AGE 3 system is newer or older than the LX2 and what parts of the co-processor/daughter units actually make up the video sourcing. Is the 'AGE 3' control actually the whole pc assembly I am looking at, or perhaps the 68000 co-processor board with it's associated daughter board which carries the moniker of 'Proto Trak LX2'?

[hdokes]

Ya know..... I may have the answers to my own questions if I keep going at this rate.

So I believe I have identified that the AGE 3 is the precursor to the LX2 in the ProtoTrak evolution. I also believe I have found that while the AGE2 Through the MX3 all used the same monochrome crt with the same set of signals driving it, they may have generated those signals differently between models. Where BillTodd found a stand alone MDA card within the back plain of the motherboard it appears that the LX2 integrated the MDA circuitry into the co-processor board or it's associated daughter board. Can anyone else confirm this? On line data is very sparse when it comes to these details.

At the very least I'm hoping that for what ever information I discover on this it will help someone else by documenting it here.

[hdokes]

Ok... making limited progress.....

Discovered that not only was the display bad in this lathe but the power supply for the main pc was also bad. Assuming that the 12 volt supply to the monitor was probably shorted with the burned out transistor in the monitor.

Set up a newer atx style power supply with the appropriate voltages. Installed the graphics card into the pci slot and hooked up an LCD monitor. Damn if the system didn't come alive when I turned on the power supply. Got video on the screen and in color..... issue is.... only got the post test stuff on the screen.

Initially the floppy drive would not boot but I did not have the co-processor board and it's daughter board installed. So I installed them and the floppy was able to boot at that point. MS-DOS.

That's where the fun ended. It is my guess that video at that point is redirected to, or then generated by, the co-processor board and out to the original crt. As I stated it has a 68000 processor on the co-processor board (the same used by the old Macs) and some sizable firmware ROMs.

As I have never actually seen the entire boot cycle of the Proto Trak system I'm not certain what I should be seeing after the "Booting MS-DOS.........". The floppy runs for a few seconds after that comes up at which point I'm sure it turns control over to the co-processor board. I am a bit familiar with this type of operation as the old Apple][s used this same method with the Z80 co-processor that you could plug into the backplane to run CP/M. Difference was it still used the same display circuitry to route the visual data through.

So..... I'm kind of at a stand still here, again, possibly or likely looking at the need for a video converter from MDA to VGA. Going to see if I can pick the boot floppy apart to see if it is actually doing the redirection of the video through the co-processor board.

If anyone could chime in that would be JUST Duckie!