Lately I was playing around with a kit I had bought from ICStation: MAX7219 Dot Matrix Module Control Display DIY kit.
I liked it and bought it because it is compact, small and cheap. I got 4 pieces a couple of months ago, and soldered them the same day I got them! Other obligations took my mind off them and I put them somewhere, together with ‘assorted electronics stuff’.
A few days earlier I decided to put them in use, and I grabbed an Arduino nano and got to work. Well, Arduino makes it so easy sometimes… The most development time for this project was testing sketches for scrolling characters I had downloaded. Then some very little modifications and voilà!
I ended up picking a sketch from a guy that liked AC/DC, but I forgot to bookmark the place I had downloaded it from, and I cannot give credit where due, sorry.
I just modified the characters so I was able to display messages in Greek. i modified the uppercase only, the lowercase are still in latin characters. This is my sketch: max72xx_scroller – for anyone cares to use my characters. Feel free to do so. I am sure it needs more work and polishing up, but it did the job for me and I gave the hole setup away already. I hope it will do the job for you too.
Have fun.
