Serial Lcd display options!!

[retepsnikrep]

Look at this little beauty which even has built in buttons!! And you can print your enclosure/box!!!!!

TextStar 'Stick-On' Serial LCD Display with 'GraphSmart' | Cat's Whisker Technologies

I'm going to get one to have a play with

See the ES forum for a neat gadget by our own Jeremy using this.

[ex925]

Wish there were some devices like that for me...............
Basically I need idiot-proof up to (700?) amp and up to (200?) volt displays at ridiculously low prices
Probably I should study a bit harder, but, I am starting at a high level.........
(of ignorance, despite Paul's determined efforts to educate me)
Anyone with the patience to point me at something simple and cheap for amps?
Best I've done so far is:
Use a very cheap multi-meter to show volts
(so far, so good)
Try a cheap clamp-meter to show amps
(mystified by "3.8 amps" @12v. dc on motorcycle starter-cable when cranking.......)
(that was a first test of my understanding of the thing)
All the best
Ed

[jonathan jewkes]

How cheap do you call "ridiculously cheap"? I'm no good with electronic things, but have found that analogue moving-coil meters give a display that is readable at a glance while driving. Mine came from Howard Butler (www.hobut.co.uk)
They will supply an ammeter shunt to whatever current you specify and an appropriately scaled meter for about £40. They also do voltmeters for a similar price, including ones with suppressed zero (so that range of voltage on your battery occupies the whole of the dial - ie for a nominal 120v system you might specify a dial ranging from 90 to 150 v)

[ex925]

Many thanks for the link, had a quick look, see what you mean
I will settle down this evening and work out the best option to buy
All the best
Ed

[ChrisB]

.......... have found that analogue moving-coil meters give a display that is readable at a glance while driving........

Totally agree, I think its something to do with it being more like a picture, they say a picture is worth a 1000 words.
A digital display is very good for accuracy, but at a glance they take a lot more working out I think, sounds crazy but I think its to do with the fact its numbers that the brain has to convert to figures which then have to be calculated into a readable reading, where as a needle on a dial is just a picture that you interpret into a rough guide to say speed (if its a speedo) theres no working out to do

ChrisB