An attempt at an electroluminescent backlight for the AE-1200

I'm new to modding the AE-1200 but thought I'd aim high by trying to see if the best features from SKMEI 1335 (the backlight) could be combined with the best features from the Casio AE-1200 (literally everything else). I've never been a fan of the hotspots visible with the LED backlight on the Casio. Since then it as been a long journey down the rabbit hole. The EL inverter in the 1335 is controlled by the main IC so its functionality needed to be reverse engineered and then replaced with my own controller. The controller has been implemented on an ATTINY10 microcontroller and this has been tested in the 1335.

SKMEI 1335 with custom controller driving the backlight.

The EL panel from the 1335 has been also fitted to the back of the AE-1200 LCD. A very small amount of trimming is required (and this must be done carefully so as not to damage the EL panel contacts). and has been tested with the 1335 PCB. It was a bit dim in this pic because I nearly killed the battery by shorting it out at one point.

EL panel fitted to the AE1200 LCD. Driven by the 1335 PCB for testing.

The next step is to transplant the inverter circuit from the 1335 into the small amount of available space on the AE-1200 PCB that isn't blocked by the plastic battery holder. I may do this with fine wire on the prototype or use some flexible PCB material that I can squeeze into the space available. The connections from the PCB to the panel will also need to be accommodated by making some modifications to the plastic LCD holder.