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I've been reading the gauss meter group buy & other associated threads with interest. I quite fancy one of these myself, but can't really justify one - then it suddenly occured to me that anyone like myself who already has a Microchip Pickit2 is already 70% there wrt to constructing a very low cost gaussmeter.
Hear me out (then feel free to shoot me down in flames!).
Firstly, for those that aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, a Pickit2 is kind of like a 'Beginners intro to Pics' - but with a programmer thrown in too (a Pickit2 costs about £40 ...which at present exchange rates is about $70 I think)...
Essentially, it's a PIC programmer that can rather handily provide power to a small cct board (the 5V it supplies is derived from your PC's USB port), but rather funkily, the Pickit2 package comes with a nice little utility called 'Uart Tool', that runs on your PC & acts as a 'conduit' between you cct board & your PC for serial data - this provide onscreen PC info from your circuit....as well as keyboard input.
Therefore in principle, all it would need is a circuit board with a simple opamp and hall effect trannie - then a little PIC program to AtoD the result for onwards display on a PC.
I've just ordered myself up an Allegro A1302 from the far east & will have a pop at this when it arrives. The major win here being - providing you already own a Pickit2 - is cost...I'd imagine the outlay should be no more than £5 (about $7.50), due to the PICkit2 programmer 'hosting' a lot of the extra bits & pieces needed for the circuit (PSU, display, IO etc).
Of course, if you don't already own a PICkit2 ...or weren't pondering buying one to 'get into PICs', then it's not such a viable option cost wise...but still thought it worth tabling here for comments anyway!
Hear me out (then feel free to shoot me down in flames!).
Firstly, for those that aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, a Pickit2 is kind of like a 'Beginners intro to Pics' - but with a programmer thrown in too (a Pickit2 costs about £40 ...which at present exchange rates is about $70 I think)...
Essentially, it's a PIC programmer that can rather handily provide power to a small cct board (the 5V it supplies is derived from your PC's USB port), but rather funkily, the Pickit2 package comes with a nice little utility called 'Uart Tool', that runs on your PC & acts as a 'conduit' between you cct board & your PC for serial data - this provide onscreen PC info from your circuit....as well as keyboard input.
Therefore in principle, all it would need is a circuit board with a simple opamp and hall effect trannie - then a little PIC program to AtoD the result for onwards display on a PC.
I've just ordered myself up an Allegro A1302 from the far east & will have a pop at this when it arrives. The major win here being - providing you already own a Pickit2 - is cost...I'd imagine the outlay should be no more than £5 (about $7.50), due to the PICkit2 programmer 'hosting' a lot of the extra bits & pieces needed for the circuit (PSU, display, IO etc).
Of course, if you don't already own a PICkit2 ...or weren't pondering buying one to 'get into PICs', then it's not such a viable option cost wise...but still thought it worth tabling here for comments anyway!