Do I need a particular indicator for a remote display?

No. The display is driven by KiloSahihi from the weighing station over a serial port on the PC, so it does not depend on the indicator's brand, firmware or display output.

Can one bridge drive more than one display?

Yes, and they need not be the same kind. A site can run a display per deck and a combined scoreboard at once, each with its own port and settings. The limit is spare serial ports on the station PC.

How do remote displays work on a multi-deck weighbridge?

Two ways: one scoreboard showing every deck and the total, or a display per deck showing just its own figure. An indicator has one display output, which is why multi-deck boards have traditionally been tied to one indicator family.

Can I add a display to a weighbridge I already have?

Yes. The bridge, load cells and indicator stay as they are. The display is wired to a spare serial port on the station PC and switched on in settings.

The display shows an error, or keeps cycling its welcome banner. Why?

An error is usually the wrong baud rate — Keli units are commonly 14400, not 9600. A display cycling its banner is timing out between messages, so the repeat interval is longer than it will wait. Both are settings on that display's own entry.

Remote displays

Driver-facing displays that are not tied to your indicator.

A remote display normally hangs off the indicator, so the indicator decides what you can show and how many. KiloSahihi drives the displays itself, from the station, over the spare serial ports on the PC already running the bridge.

The problem

One channel, one display, one brand.

Wiring a display to the indicator is simple, and it ties that display to the indicator's brand and firmware.

The hard limit is the channel. An indicator drives one display output. A multi-deck bridge has four figures and one channel to show them on — so sites end up with a board only one indicator family can drive, or no board at all.

Three arrangements

Pick what matches the site.

Same software for all three. Chosen per display in settings, not by which indicator you bought.

One scoreboard, every deck

Each deck and the total on a single panel. It gets the indicator reading exactly as it arrives, so a board already wired to the indicator keeps working.

One display per deck

A unit per deck, each on its own port, each showing the figure you assign it.

A single figure

The same mode on an ordinary bridge: one unit showing gross, facing the driver.

On site

Four decks and the total, on one board.

A roadside scoreboard driven from the weighing station, with the ANPR camera on the same pole.

One panel, every deck. The driver reads the load without leaving the cab, and the total is on the glass before the ticket prints.

On site

Or a display for each deck.

Four single-figure units in a weighbridge office, each on its own serial port, each fed its own deck.

The arrangement multi-deck sites have used for years — now driven from the station, so it no longer depends on the indicator.

What changes

More than one arrangement, at the same time.

Because the station drives the displays, a site is not choosing between the two above. It can run both: per-deck units in the office and a scoreboard at the roadside, from one station. The limit is spare serial ports, not the indicator.

Add a display to a bridge that already works, without touching the indicator.
Keep the displays if the indicator is ever replaced.
Drive different display types from one station, each with its own settings.
Nothing opens a port unless that display is switched on.

Commissioning

Set up per display, in minutes.

Each one is configured on its own, and none of it touches the indicator.

1
Pick the port
Choose the COM port it is wired to. Until then the display stays inactive and says so, so a half-finished setup is never mistaken for a fault.
2
Set the baud
The setting most often wrong on arrival. Keli displays are commonly 14400, not the 9600 people assume; the wrong speed shows as a steady error on the glass.
3
Choose what it shows
The whole multi-deck reading, or one figure — gross, or a named deck.
4
Press Test
Every display has its own test, so an installer proves each unit before the site goes live. No truck needed on the bridge.

By design

A dead display cannot stall a weighing.

Driving displays from the weighing station only works if a display can never interfere with weighing. Writing to one never blocks, every write times out, and failures are retried quietly.

The settings screen reports whether the relay is running and whether the indicator is feeding it — the one question a report of “the display is not working” actually needs answered.

On the bridge

Driver-facing

Questions

Frequently asked

Do I need a particular indicator for a remote display?: No. The display is driven by KiloSahihi from the weighing station over a serial port on the PC, so it does not depend on the indicator's brand, firmware or display output.
Can one bridge drive more than one display?: Yes, and they need not be the same kind. A site can run a display per deck and a combined scoreboard at once, each with its own port and settings. The limit is spare serial ports on the station PC.
How do remote displays work on a multi-deck weighbridge?: Two ways: one scoreboard showing every deck and the total, or a display per deck showing just its own figure. An indicator has one display output, which is why multi-deck boards have traditionally been tied to one indicator family.
Can I add a display to a weighbridge I already have?: Yes. The bridge, load cells and indicator stay as they are. The display is wired to a spare serial port on the station PC and switched on in settings.
What happens if a display fails during a shift?: Weighing carries on. Writing to a display never blocks the weighing path, every write times out, and failures are retried quietly. A faulty or unplugged display shows nothing and affects nothing else.
The display shows an error, or keeps cycling its welcome banner. Why?: An error is usually the wrong baud rate — Keli units are commonly 14400, not 9600. A display cycling its banner is timing out between messages, so the repeat interval is longer than it will wait. Both are settings on that display's own entry.

Keep reading

Axle, Multi-deck & Rail Weighbridge Software in Kenya

Axle weighing with East African configurations and overload checks, multi-deck bridges summed per deck, and rail wagons weighed by wagon number.

Driver-facing displays that are not tied to your indicator.

One channel, one display, one brand.

Pick what matches the site.

One scoreboard, every deck

One display per deck

A single figure

Four decks and the total, on one board.

Or a display for each deck.

More than one arrangement, at the same time.

Set up per display, in minutes.

Pick the port

Set the baud

Choose what it shows

Press Test

A dead display cannot stall a weighing.

Where displays usually come up.

Frequently asked

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