Dx6i DIY backlight mod.

[jonnyhar]

Hello fellow freaks.
I just made my own DIY LCD backlightpanel for my dark dull dx6i-screen:



I tought I´d share the process with you, so you could try it for yourselves.

The parts I used were:

• 4 x 3mm 3,2v 20mA blue LEDs.
• 4 x 120 ohm resistors.
• A scrap plexiglass piece ca. 68 x 38 mm
• Some thin wire I had laying around.

Here`s a simple wiring diagram. (Alot more illustrative than pictures)


Okay, to the process.


First I cut the plexi to size, and filed 4 notches for the LEDs with a needle file.



Then I matted one side with some fine grit sandpaper.



I glued some white paper to the un-matted side. Go gentle on the glue (not like me), use a hotglue gun just around the border of the plexi.

Onto the soldering!


I trimmed the anode (long leg) on the LED and the resistor and soldered them together, as showed on the left.



Then I used a tiny dab of hot glue to fasten the LEDs to the plexi.



Notice the resistors on the LED anodes pointing together.



Then I soldered the resistors on the LED anodes together, on each side of the panel.



Then the cathodes got bent to the paper (back) side, and soldered.



Then I wired the 4 anodes and the 4 cathodes together on the backside, and soldered one long wire for + and one for - power.
The resistor (anode) side is + and the long LED leg (cathode) side is -.
I tapped into the points in the dx6i for power, showed by vseries here


The result:
Notice the gluespots.. They doesn´t show through the LCD though.



Then I just showed the backlight-panel behind the LCD-panel, and wired the powerwires to the two points in the dx6i.

In the dx6i:
(The glare in the corners isn´t that bad in real life..) The light is evenly distributed over the whole LCD, I promise!




Now I´m prepared for the long dark winters in Norway!

*EDIT*
OH, and insulate the backside of the panel so it doesn´s short anything. Hot glue works fine.

[sethf8403]

that seems a lot cheeper than the 60 dollar kit they sell on ebay!

[jonnyhar]

Yeah the cost should be around $10 I think.
The plexiglass is probably the most expensive, I don´t know, I had it laying around.

[Viet-Lama]

Great stuff man! I love it!
Thanks for taking the time to share

[jonnyhar]

No problemo! I´ve been getting alot of help on this forum reading the posts of others.

[thermalclimber]

Nicely done
Where could I get hold of that kind of plexiglass?
Noe du hadde liggende,eller vet du om ett sted der hvor man selger slikt

[jonnyhar]

<norwegian>
Clasern! Alltid Clas Ohlson! De har dioder, ledning og motstander også.
</norwegian>

[mapas]

You can use a cd-cover.... it is transparent, plastic and easy to cut...

[jonnyhar]

Yeah I guess, but I think plexi is better. It´s thicker.

[piperye]

I would love to see a picture showing how you mount it in the radio

Thanks.

[UBHSTRY]

Wow, that is great. i am going to modify that a tad for the RDS8000. I have always wished that had a light in there. This will be super! Thank you again!

[heli-on]

Not sure if DX7 and DX6 would be the same, but this could be an alternative:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=185389

[Hawk_Sport]

ok here i sit and wonder in awe. i love the idea of the blue leds, however , i have a cell phone that is no good . its a lg phone with keyboard. i have taken the liberty to take this thing apart. what a chore!!!!!. anyways i know that cell phones have baclit screens. this is why i took it apart. and now i have the socalled el board . so as it sits. there is 4 connectors on this board and was wondering if i wire to where it shows in the pics if this would work.? i would also be throwing a toggle in there as well so as to shut it off when not in use.... any suggestions would be great.
thanks all.

[Hawk_Sport]

well i wont have a blue screen. however it shall be white i had another el board that i had taken outta another cell phone. much bigger one . now the problem i forsee is hooking this up and not being able to shutt it off.? am i able to install a toggle between the pos and the board where the wires hookup? also where do i install this? i need more pics as to how this is installed .

[UBHSTRY]

Oh ya, I hope your successfull with that. I have hordes of phones, NEVER thought of it.........going to get one now....

[heli-on]

You're going to need an inverter. The one I got off of ebay works fine. There's a 3-pin connector going to the transmitter board where you can pick off the 12V. I used the Aux 2 switch on the Tx for power on/off for the inverter.

[jonnyhar]

I like the phone idea!

[jonnyhar]

I modded my Dx6i a litte further tonight.
I added two more switches. (The two in the middle) Dx10 next!


The right one turns the backlight on/off


The left one turns the buzzer on/off. That buzzer really annoy me sometimes when I´m setting up helis etc.

Damn these pics gets huge in here! Doesn´t the resize-function work?

[nexgen]

so what do the new switches do?

[jonnyhar]

Hmmm..
The left one turns the buzzer on/off.
The right one turns the backlight on/off