I also got a chance to work/think on the rear logic display some today.

Here’s a quick picture. Again I was lucky to pick this up pre-assembled (thanks Tom).

It works great and once I put it in the dome this will help bring R2 to life.

It’s not as fancy or as elegant as the front logic displays. There’s 108 LEDs on a bread-board sequenced by a PIC Flasher. The PIC requires 9 volts, and the LEDs 24 volts. So it requires multiple connections and difference batteries.

My original plan for the dome was to have a self contained rechargeable power source, preferably 12 volt. But the 24 volt requirement throws a spanner in the works.

It would be great if I could up-convert the 12v to 24v. It can be done I’m told by some friends who know a lot more than me, but it maybe expensive or wasteful on the battery. So I need to figure out the power requirements of the LEDs and calculate the size of the DC to DC
converter.

The simple solution would be to have 2 x 12v batteries in series in the dome, but again I’d rather avoid the extra weight.