Bright Future: Jornada 720/680 CCFL to LED upgrade

I have tried several times, alas I have been completely unable to get hold of @Joval. I fear something bad has happened

Me too.....I've been hoping that he just got burnt out on this and decided to lay low for a while.....

He lives about 4-5 hours north of where I am....but don't go there very often....otherwise, I'd go drop by his office and check up on him.....

I have his contact info, so, will try to reach him...if I hear anything will let you know....and certainly will let him know that we miss him around here....

Mark

Thanks @ArchiMark, I hope for good news, even if he has moved on with his interests.

Thanks guys for caring...it's hard to come back to these posts.

Something really bad did happen: Patty, My wonderful wife of ~50 years suddenly became ill on her birthday with a horribly aggressive leukemia-like lymphoma was hospitalized for a month, 23 transfusions, chemo, intubation x 2 weeks...a noble struggle...but she died 5 weeks later on my birthday.

Oh, that was so so tough to just witness being there nearly everyday. Holding her warm hand, she nodding that she loved me and I vice versa. Afterward I was a broken man, a lost soul, life was meaningless... everything I had been working for for decades seemed lost, gone. I couldn't face the world, isolated myself, for many months. As Dante wrote: Abandon hope all ye who enter... it was a heartbroken lonely empty hell... for many months. Like John Lennon's song "Hey, you've got to hide your love away." or the Bee Gees Robin Gibb 'I can't see nobody." I felt like a complete and absolute failure. High anxiety almost unbearable, unable to sleep more than 1 or 2 hours---even with sleeping pills. Tons of bills and financial responsibilities rained down, the house was cold and empty... worst winter in decades... I was miserable.

My darling precious little HPC's meant nothing to me, thought of getting rid of them all...certain I would never enjoy them again or ever visit this website again.

But finally... a miracle. You see, for decades Patty used the same password for all her accounts: Martha. On her many sequential laptops, various email accounts, comcast, Ebay, Amazon, you name it. Why? Because she enjoyed Martha Stewart cooking and crafts etc. Of course I kept prodding her to change her password for security reasons...and she did in some cases add a birthyear, or Upper case spelling, but remained a loyal fan for some unknown, unmentioned reason...

And so it was some 8 months after my loss, that I met a very pretty woman, chemical engineer in management, who had lost her husband of 18 years to pancreatic cancer after a long downhill fight some 2 years earlier. Her name : Martha! I saw her at a friend's retirement party, and get this, she was accompanied by her then rather platonic boyfriend of 1 year: Stewart!

A few weeks later we started to see each other and within 3 days my life was back on tract, filled with teasing laughter and joyous warmth once again and beaming with confidence. And little by little... the cuddly Jornada 720 and MP900 HPC's began to cast their spell and led me back here to this web site... really a miracle I thought would never ever happen again. So, Thank you Patty... for keeping your faith in Martha. Thank you Martha for making me smile again!

And thank you HPC:Factor for... well... just being the wonderfully supportive HPC:Factor that you are!

Now, the future does look Bright...yes, very bright... indeed!



Edited by joval 2024-04-04 3:48 AM








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5 volt usb led tape vs 9 volt led strip + boost converter.jpg (60KB - 1 downloads)
5 volt ledflex tape vs 9 volt led rigid strip.jpg (57KB - 0 downloads)

Again, Joval, so, so sorry for your loss.

That is quite a saga to say the least.

So, glad to hear that things have been turning around for you and there's light in your life again.

And of course, we're so glad to see you back here again. Your absence was noticed and your presence missed.

HPC on, my friend!

Mark

I am sad to read this and I hope life goes well for you with this new hope.
I am not a believer, but I know that when one door closes, another one opens.

I really appreciate your posts and know that thanks to them I have been encouraged to do the Psion backlight.

Greetings and welcome back.

Welcome back Joval, not only to this forum, but to enjoying life. I hope you, Martha, and all of your HPCs are doing great!!!

It is great to learn you are okay. You have clearly had a very rough time and are incredibly courageous sharing your story with us. Hope to see you around the forum more and my best wishes for happiness to you both.

Mark,

Thanks for your kind words... much appreciated. You are quite the encouraging gentleman here is so many of your posts.

OK regarding the LED upgrade photo comparison above... the 9v rigid LED strip requires the boost converter which is based on the MC34064 chip and with my limited knowledge at the time I bastardized to the point where it works but dimming is reversed.

This I know can be corrected as I learn how the chip works and can design it properly rather than the" mickey- moused -keep -throwing -transistors, -resistors -etc -at -it"... prototype. Very high brightness, high efficiency but a bit too much on the blue white color spectrum dulling reds on the display. But works with incredible adjustable intensity and has withstood the test of time.

I don't quite recall the current draw on that setup... need to re measure.

Anyway, latest find are these 5volt 3mm flexible LED tapes available in a range from warm white to daylight. Runs directly off usb 5 volt but with less efficiency as it uses a 74 ohm limiting resistor for each bank of 4 LEDS. Typical current is 0.4 amps (400 ma) @ 5v and goes up to .8 amps at 8 volts (the Jornada 720 average display voltage)... the latter which is too bright and energy inefficient. So now a buck converter will be needed. I suspect there is a perhaps 30% loss in efficiency and things get warmer due to the current limiting in series resistor. But having the proper display color may be worth the trade off.

Best thing... 1 meter length of LED tape is only $5 !! Compare to rigid strip at about $10 to $20.

So plenty to play around with here. I will share details as I progress, but I can tell you now that installing the flex LED tape is a little easier than the rigid one once the ccfl tube is removed. Otherwise similar difficulty.

I can hardly stand to look at the old faded ccfl backlit displays on the other J720's I have. Like looking at a dirty muddy little kid. This is a real game changer and will make you fall in love all over again with your Jornadas.





Edited by joval 2024-04-04 10:16 PM






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Thank you both for your compassionate replies, it's good to be welcomed back in such a kind and understanding manner.



Thanks C:Amie. Yes... courage. A few minutes after I posted this story I thought 'OMG I have bared my soul to the HPC universe. What now?" I kept avoiding this thread because of your earlier caring worried comments brought up such sorrowful feelings. Finally I am strong enough to explain my absence, my loss, my "resurrection." haha

Martha and I both appreciate your supportive good wishes, it's so nice to be valued in such a warm and caring way. Gracias Amigos!

Edited by joval 2024-04-05 6:32 PM

Here is the easiest cheapest way to give your faded Jornada display a dirt cheap acceptable LED upgrade and a new life.

Pros:

The LED 3mm flex strip is about $5 for 1 meter length of which you trim to about 6-7 inches with a scissor. Can be used for several hpc's really

The buck converter shown on the screen is much smaller than the CCFL power converted so is easy fit, and costs $2

So for less than $10 you can have a good readable display

Cons:

No dimmer function with this simple design, so a bit too bright at night, a bit weak in bright sunlight

May be not as efficient on battery power use... I have yet to determine... but certainly lasts in the 2-3 hours range quick estimate


Overall, very nice in everyday use. Photo shows actual display (ignore interference lines artifact)

Full details and step by step photos to follow.... hopefully soon. Is there any interest???

Edited by joval 2024-04-10 6:21 PM






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buckLEDfix.jpg (173KB - 55 downloads)

more quick photos... sloppy but honest first pass:

green= connector to ribbon cable x 2 (brn) unlatch and ccfl tube (pink white wire) detach

yellow=bend out aluminum tabs/prongs straight

blue= ends of ccfl tube with rubber shock protection boot... clip white wire on right side and lift up to slide ccfl tube out to left and insert LED flex-tape in its place, keep LED oriented toward top of screen

orange= original (larger) ccfl power supply, lift out (held by double sided tape), comparison shows replacement buck converter (without wires)

I promise better quality photos later including opening case, location and removal of display video cable, etc. and soldering new buck converter.

Just giving ya a taste of things to come... looks complicated but is easy peasy if careful and follow instructio given later...


Edited by joval 2024-04-10 7:26 PM










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backsidedisplay.jpg (409KB - 0 downloads)
ledchange.jpg (1209KB - 0 downloads)
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select 5volt, 3mm, natural light or cool white (warm white not ideal IMO)

Edited by joval 2024-04-10 8:09 PM

This is going on. Thank you very much.