[sdiy] Frequency Counter advice...

[Needham, Alan]

The problem with most frequency meters is that they have to be slow to
give any resolution. The DIY option here will read to the nearest 1Hz
and updates once a second, to get 0.1Hz resolution would mean a 10second
refresh rate, etc. This is where the 'reciprocal' meters (as suggested
by Paul Perry) >can< be easier to use, measuring the period of a
waveform instead of its frequency.

My 1980's Thandar meter can do both with an 8 digit display - but BOY do
you know it when the gate is set to 100seconds for high resolution
frequency at low audio.

What kind of accuracy do you need? - maybe a temperature-controlled
meter may be required - possibly oven-controlled (mains only!) so that
the ref crystal oscillator runs above ambient to eliminate thermal drift
(idea for expo converters there?? PE Minisonic?).

-----Original Message-----
From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl
[mailto:synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Gerard
Sent: 15 September 2009 10:19
To: SDIY List
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Frequency Counter advice...

In case you would like to build one yourself, something like this:
http://freenet-homepage.de/dl4yhf/freq_counter/freq_counter.html
cheap and not too complicated (actually, quite simple)
Also other designs using LCD displays can be found on the internet

Regards, Gerard


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