Agreed but I have over 1000 combinations and only about 100 of them would work
What a crock. From your fuzzy out-of-focus picture it appears there are only 28 pins on the package connecting to 24 segments, including a decimal point for each digit, plus a common cathode for each digit. So, out of 28 pins, 27 are actually used. However, there are many more than 1000 combinations and there is only one that works.
Try using the connections on
this image, or visit
this web page.
If you can't read the pin numbers (even after blowing the image up large) use the following "trial and error" method to identify the pin connections: solder one end of a 47Ω 1/4 watt resistor to the positive terminal of a "D"-size alkaline cell. You will hold the cell in your hand and use the free end of the resistor as a test probe. Solder about six to ten inches of insulated hook-up wire to the negative terminal of the cell. The free end of that wire will be a second test probe. Together you will use this rig to find all the segment connections and all the common cathode connections. It will take you less than thirty minutes if you are methodical and write everything down.
Touch the free end of the resistor to pin 1 on the display. Touch each of the remaining 27 pins with the free end of the hook-up wire until you find a pin that makes a segment illuminate. Mark that pin as Kn, where n is the digit position and K stands for cathode 1, 2, or 3. Mark the first pin na, nb, nc, nd, ne, nf, ng, or ndp (decimal point) depending on what lit up. Congratulations! You have now found one segment pin and one common cathode pin for one digit!
OTOH, if none of the remaining 27 pins make a segment light up, reverse the leads and repeat the test, again marking the positive lead as na, nb, nc, nd, ne, nf, ng, or ndp depending on which segment lit up. Mark the pin of the negative lead as Kn.
If none of the segments light up with the leads reversed, mark the original first pin you chose as N/C (not connected). Pick another pin and repeat the test until you find a segment that does light up. There should be one N/C pin on the display, so you stand one chance in twenty-eight of finding it on your first try..
There are three common cathode pins, one for each digit of the display. Once you have identified the first common cathode and the digit it is associated with, leave the negative lead of the hook-up wire attached to that pin and find the remaining segments for that digit by touching pins with the free end of the resistor. Once you have found and labeled all the pins associated with a single digit, attach the free end of the resistor to another pin that you have not identified and repeat the first test until you find another common cathode. Leave the free end of the hook-up wire attached to that common cathode and use the free end of the resistor to find the remaining segments for that digit. Finally, connect the free end of the resistor to one of the remaining pins that have not been previously identified and repeat the first test until you find the common cathode for that digit. Leave the negative hook-up wire attached to the common cathode and use the free end of the resistor to find the remaining segments.
Easy peasy once you get the hang of it. The complete test takes only a few minutes to find all the segment connections and the common cathodes. Be sure to write everything down.