Single Display LED Frequency Counter

Posted on Feb 6, 2014

As equipment becomes increasingly more compact, designers are often obliged to follow suit by reducing the size of displays. At some point, the usefulness of the display can become compromised. I, for one, dislike having to peer intently at tiny displays in an attempt to read vital information, if only because it serves as a reminder that my eyesi

Click here to download the full size of the above Circuit.

ght is no longer the 20:20 model of optical perfection I`d like to pretend it once was. In the search for suitable displays for compact equipment, I explored using a single seven-segment LED to display multiple digit information. If successful, this could both deliver the required functionality and minimise display size. With a suitably large LED digit, information could also be seen from some distance without the need for eye strain. But is such a display practical in real applications This little frequency counter suggests that it is. It is a lightweight and remarkably rugged portable frequency counter which will readily operate up to 65 MHz. While using only a large single LED display, it displays a frequency with five digits of resolution (i. e. to the nearest kHz) in a package which can be easily carried in a shirt pocket. Some initial tests showed that displaying multi-digit frequency measurements on a single display is best handled by displaying the information in a series of three digit bursts. Any more information than this seemed to introduce the potential for confusion. In this case, each set of three digits is sequentially displayed for about 300mS per digit with a short inter-digit pause of about half this duration. This is followed by a longer pause of about a second to clearly flag the end of the three digits of information. There is clearly something of a tradeoff in this timing. A longer duration for each...

Visit page

Leave Comment

characters left:

Related Circuits

METAL DETECTOR Circuit

Metal Detector DIY

The heart of this DIY metal detector circuit is CS209A. The metal detector is build with one 100 µH coil. CS209A has one oscillator which forms a LC circuit, the inductance of the coil will change...

homemade Geiger counter with UGP interface

It uses very common building blocks. The high voltage power supply is a classical oscillator circuit used in many places where a low current and high voltage is needed. TR is a step-up transformer...

English Amiga Board

Digital Clock

The complete circuit diagram is shown in Fig. 1. Heart of the system is lC2, National`s MM5402 clock chip. It is an MOS monolithic large scale integrated circuit. It`s pin configuration is shown in...

Digital High/Low Logic Tester Circuit diagram

When the input signal is logic 1, the display shows `H` and the loudspeaker emits a note which is an octave higher than the `low` tone. Operation of the circuit can be seen from the circuit diagram...

Digital Voltmeter and Ammeter Circuit Module

This V/I display module is eminently suitable for building into an existing DC power supply, where it gives a precise indication of the set voltage or the current consumption of the load. In the...

Electronic Voltmeter Ammeter Circuit Using Single IC 741

Simple Electronic Multimeter High cost deters many hobbyists from buying a conventional multimeter. Since it is difficult to obtain cheap 50 uAor 100uA meters which are essential for a highly...

New Circuits

Zero consumption Anti-theft High power Code Switch for E-Bike Batteries

This project fits more for custom made battery casing that can have more space to hide things inside. This switch with few alterations can be used for any other project as well but is designed based on e-bike needs! This project use a clever functionality of....
Ultrasonic distance finder circuit

The circuit described here uses ultrasonic oscillations and operates based on the propagation velocity of these oscillations in the air. Thus, we can easily determine the distance of two points if the time within which the wave travels this distance is....
Simple Metal detector circuit with CD4030

Sometimes the precious metals are hidden too deep and are not detected except with complicated devices. In many cases, however, small pieces of precious metal buried near the surface can be detected by relatively simple means. Everyone is very attractive to....
Fully automatic watering circuit for flower pots

Many times for various reasons we forget or can not water the plants that we have in our homes. And many humidity sensors units just notify us with a beeping sound or with a flashing light, that the pot needs watering. But what if we are away from home? This....
Simple deep searching metal detector circuit

The principle behind a metal detector is really very simple. Proof of this is the circuit that follows, in which it proves that the construction of a metal detector can be done in the minute, with few components that we find very easily everywhere. With the....
Sub-Harmonic Bass Converter for Electric Guitars

The sub-harmonic bass generator is a sound producing unit for guitars. The sound it produces looks very much like that of the bass guitar. The octave generator is sometimes quite unusual since it does not produce any of the usual ways of coloring the sound,....
Echo Depth Sounding Sonar for Boats

In the past the sounding (sea bottom measurement) was done with the "bullet", that is, with a heavy lead object that the seamen plucked into the sea hung from a calibrated rope. As soon as the "bullet" reached the bottom, the depth appeared directly from the....
100W HiFi Audio Amplifier Circuit

This Amplifier was designed to have the following specifications: Distortion less than 0.1% at full power of 100W even at 20KHz. Power has to be attributed to an extended bandwidth. The output transistors must be protected against short circuits. The power....
Plant-Pot Water Level Indicator Circuit

A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional digital integrated LEDs and a series of LEDs, we make a very useful device for gardening. The device detects the amount of water in the pot and alerts the grower.....

Create NOW your QR MENU for your Restaurant / Hotel / Bar / Caffe,

Comprehensive ordering/paying features. fully personalized to suit your Business.

Update Anytime! Easy and Simple!

Popular Circuits

PIC16F84A based LC Meter circuit with explanation

This is one of the most accurate and simplest LC inductance / capacitance Meters that one can...

build solar engine

Discussion about application of microcontroler PIC16F84 both for Control or Robotics and How to...

charger

The circuit was built on Vero board and tested using a large value electrolytic capacitor instead...

YD7312 DUAL RECORDING/PLAYBACK PREAMPLIFIER CIRCUIT WITH ALC

The YD9088 is a bipolar integrated circuit for use in mono portable and pocket Radios It is used...

NMEA 2000 CAN Marine Interface

The CAN Bus interface uses an asynchronous transmission scheme controlled by start and stop bits...

Ultrasonic anemometer Ultrasonic wind sensor

This ultrasonic anemometer serves for the 2-dimensional capture of the horizontal components of...

Maytag Neptune Schematic

This circuit is basically repeated for each of the 3 motor phases. Here is my experience with...

REMOTE TELEPHONE BELL RINGER

The telephone-line extension bell ringer shown will enable you to add a remote ringer in your...

With a CD4013 produce laser light remote control switch

FIG 220V AC by the step-down transformer T, VD3 ~ VD6 bridge rectifier and a three-terminal...

Plant-Pot Water Level Indicator Circuit

A series of LEDs serve to alert the gardener when plants need water. Using two conventional...