Another challenge was to connect an OLED displauy and get it to display a reading such as temp. As I had a 16 pin LCD screen I decided to try that instead – how hard can it be…
Tried to do this tutorial – https://maker.pro/microbit/tutorial/how-to-setup-an-lcd-screen-with-microbit
Using Python for Micro:bit – https://python.microbit.org/v/2.0
The LCD is much more complicated to wire up compared to an OLED display. It also requires a potentiometer (variable resistor) and a 5v external power (that became important later).
Fritzing diagram of how to connect an 16pin LCD display to a MicroBit
The messy result of my LCD wiring
My first attempt to follow the tutorial didn’t work, the LCD powered up but that was because it was powered by the power supply but no text was displayed.
I found another example online and had another go – http://www.multiwingspan.co.uk/micro.php?page=lcd
It still didn’t work and this is almost certainly because it required using a Python style method of programming which I’m not confident with.
This didn’t matter as during my second attempt the power supply spiked from 5v to 25v . Everything got very hot, especially the processor on the Micro:bit and it was not longer responsive. Nothing when reset, nothing when connected via USB. Toast.
After all this I did find this simpler way to connect LCD that is specifically designed for Micro:bit – http://www.suppertime.co.uk/blogmywiki/2019/11/microbit-colour-lcd/
