That's great info Russ,
It does seam like you are the only one fighting with the RS485 at the moment, I'll be going down that trail in a couple of weeks when I get the chips.
Regarding the pin numbering on the unpopulated IDC socket (If I'm thinking of the same connector as you) see that attached pictures. I should have included this numbering information with the schematic I made up for the power board also.
On a diferent note, I tried hard late last night to blow my VFD sky high, with no success.
I have had mine stripped down and rebuilt several times during the reverse engineering process. When I reassembled it late last night and tried to run it I got the E.O.C.A error.
Not being able to read the Chinese manual, I slipped onto the net to find the meaning of the error. (Over current during ramp up). A bit unusual I thought because I had had it running b4 with no problems.
In my mind I put it down to maybe wiping the EEPROM during probing the board. (Very unlikely, but it was past midnight and my brain is not noted for it's clarity at that hour)
It was then that I saw the problem. Sitting on the desk next to my mouse were the two silicone insulation strips that go under the IGB's.
Well you can say one thing, the output short circuit protection works.