Pickup Winding Counter Help Please (Red Lion Cub3)

[NateRS]

Hi all,

I built my winder about a year ago out of a sewing machine motor and MDF. It works great my only issue is I need to attach a counter to it so I can wind more accurately based on turn count instead of measuring dc resistance (like i have been).

I already purchased my counter, it is a Red Lion Cub3 counter. It is battery powered and has 3 wires coming out the back of it (red, white and black).

I am hoping someone reading this can help point me in the right direction for picking up an opto sensor that will work best for this counter and also is relatively affordable (~$20 or less). If anyone can link an ebay post for the type of sensor I should buy I would be extremely grateful.

Also once I get the sensor I have no idea how to properly wire it with the Cub3. If anyone has experience with this could you help explain it to me or possibly draw a simple diagram of how I would hook up the opto sensor to the three wires coming out of the Cub3?

I know this topic has been covered previously, but looking through the threads I was unable to find a definitive answer to the questions I am posing. Any help is much appreciated!

[John_H]

I detailed an optical switch that I made for a Cub1 counter in this thread. http://music-electronics-forum.com/t220/
I come in at post 24. It works well, and is the one I use on my winder.

These are a cheap stand alone counter that work fine up to ~1,200rpm. P11-5A LCD Digital counter punch magnetic switch reciprocating rotary counter | eBay

[David King]

This one looks just fine for under a buck. QRE1113 Fairchild Semiconductor | Mouser
Note the the optimum distance is 1mm, not a lot of room for a wobbly disc.
I don't see any on ebay but mouser has a great search utility that will let you fine tune your search according to your criteria.

If you don't have your Cub 3 yet then the $12 counter that John posted above is a rocking deal.

[52 Bill]

These are a cheap stand alone counter that work fine up to ~1,200rpm. P11-5A LCD Digital counter punch magnetic switch reciprocating rotary counter | eBay

When I had to change the motor on my winder, the speed increased enough my old counter couldn't keep up at the higher speeds. I bought one of these and it works very well. My original counter was magnetic based, so all I had to do was install the new sensor.

[NateRS]

When I had to change the motor on my winder, the speed increased enough my old counter couldn't keep up at the higher speeds. I bought one of these and it works very well. My original counter was magnetic based, so all I had to do was install the new sensor.

Yeah, I think I might just give up on the Cub3/opto sensor combo, and just go with the rotary counter linked above (seems like it would save a lot of effort with trying to wire up the opto sensor).

Thanks for the help guys!

[David King]

Nate, with any sensor try to keep the "duty cycle" close to 50%. That's a little trickier for magnetic/ hall effect systems but not impossible. Check out one of the semicircular hard drive magnets that looks like a crescent. Some of these are segmented NSNSN etc. which you obviously don't want. You could also just cut out a semicircle from sheet metal and use a neo stuck to the back of it.

[RedHouse]

PM me, I can send you one.