I'm looking for the very smallest -- panel mount -- LCD voltmeter.  My 
Google searches have been dissapointing.  The smallest I could find is 
about 2" wide.

This will be part of a 12V bicycle light system.  It will mount in a 
small box, probably on the handlebars.  It's measurement range should be 
about 8 to 20 volts.

A voltmeter is not complicated.  I would think that one could easily be 
made in a 1/2" square.

Does anyone know of a really tiny voltmeter?

Thanks for your help.

On Feb 1, 5:45 am, "Bruce W.1" <s...@noDirectEmail.com> wrote:
> I'm looking for the very smallest -- panel mount -- LCD voltmeter.  My
> Google searches have been dissapointing.  The smallest I could find is
> about 2" wide.
>
> This will be part of a 12V bicycle light system.  It will mount in a
> small box, probably on the handlebars.  It's measurement range should be
> about 8 to 20 volts.
>
> A voltmeter is not complicated.  I would think that one could easily be
> made in a 1/2" square.
>
> Does anyone know of a really tiny voltmeter?
>
> Thanks for your help.

Less than 1" wide:
http://au.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=9932909
Standard 200mV FSD, just make your own input scaler.

Dave :)

David L. Jones wrote:
> 
> Less than 1" wide:
> http://au.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=9932909
> Standard 200mV FSD, just make your own input scaler.
> 
> Dave :)
> 

=================================================

Expensive little guy isn't it?  My battery pack (12 C-cells) exceeds its 
[14VDC] voltage rating.

BTW, I'm also building a Pulse Width Modulation circuit so I don't fry 
my 12VDC lightbulbs.  This voltmeter will monitor its input and output 
voltage.

Bruce W.1 wrote:
> Expensive little guy isn't it?  My battery pack (12 C-cells) exceeds its 
> [14VDC] voltage rating.
> 
> BTW, I'm also building a Pulse Width Modulation circuit so I don't fry 
> my 12VDC lightbulbs.  This voltmeter will monitor its input and output 
> voltage.

Bruce,

	If you need to do voltage monitoring and PWM at the same time, I might 
recommend a AVR for the whole job. There might be cheaper/better/faster 
ways to do it, but you can get AVR microcontrollers for a few bucks that 
have PWM and ADC right on them. Use the ADC and a little resistor 
voltage divider to monitor your power.
All the software development tools for AVRs are free, and you can build 
a programmer for them out of a parallel printer cable and a pair of wire 
cutters :)

	You may be completely familiar with AVRs and microcontrollers, but if 
not, feel free to drop me a line at j...@vonnieda.org if you want some 
tips.

Jason

Bruce W.1 wrote:
> I'm looking for the very smallest -- panel mount -- LCD voltmeter.  My 
> Google searches have been dissapointing.  The smallest I could find is 
> about 2" wide.
> 
> This will be part of a 12V bicycle light system.  It will mount in a 
> small box, probably on the handlebars.  It's measurement range should be 
> about 8 to 20 volts.

Here is the smallest I have used, from Digikey:
http://rocky.digikey.com/WebLib/Martel/Web%20Data/DPM_1AS-BL.pdf
Pretty spendy, though.  You would have to scale the voltage 
down with a voltage divider.

David L. Jones wrote:

> On Feb 1, 5:45 am, "Bruce W.1" <s...@noDirectEmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>I'm looking for the very smallest -- panel mount -- LCD voltmeter.  My
>>Google searches have been dissapointing.  The smallest I could find is
>>about 2" wide.
>>
>>This will be part of a 12V bicycle light system.  It will mount in a
>>small box, probably on the handlebars.  It's measurement range should be
>>about 8 to 20 volts.
>>
>>A voltmeter is not complicated.  I would think that one could easily be
>>made in a 1/2" square.
>>
>>Does anyone know of a really tiny voltmeter?
>>
>>Thanks for your help.
> 
> 
> Less than 1" wide:
> http://au.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=9932909
> Standard 200mV FSD, just make your own input scaler.
> 
> Dave :)
> 
you got to be kidding me, the price will kill the budget before
you even get started.


-- 
"I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken"
Real Programmers Do things like this.
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5

On Feb 1, 7:03 am, "Bruce W.1" <s...@noDirectEmail.com> wrote:
> David L. Jones wrote:
>
> > Less than 1" wide:
> >http://au.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=9932909
> > Standard 200mV FSD, just make your own input scaler.
>
> > Dave :)
>
> =================================================
>
> Expensive little guy isn't it?

What's your time worth?
If it's worth nothing to you then yes, it's expensive, otherwise it's
not so expensive.
You might be able to get it cheaper elsewhere.

> My battery pack (12 C-cells) exceeds its
> [14VDC] voltage rating.

No problem, drop the voltage with a regulator

Dave :)

On Feb 1, 10:43 am, Jamie
<jamie_ka1lpa_not_valid_after_ka1l...@charter.net> wrote:
> David L. Jones wrote:
> > On Feb 1, 5:45 am, "Bruce W.1" <s...@noDirectEmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>I'm looking for the very smallest -- panel mount -- LCD voltmeter.  My
> >>Google searches have been dissapointing.  The smallest I could find is
> >>about 2" wide.
>
> >>This will be part of a 12V bicycle light system.  It will mount in a
> >>small box, probably on the handlebars.  It's measurement range should be
> >>about 8 to 20 volts.
>
> >>A voltmeter is not complicated.  I would think that one could easily be
> >>made in a 1/2" square.
>
> >>Does anyone know of a really tiny voltmeter?
>
> >>Thanks for your help.
>
> > Less than 1" wide:
> >http://au.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=9932909
> > Standard 200mV FSD, just make your own input scaler.
>
> > Dave :)
>
> you got to be kidding me, the price will kill the budget before
> you even get started.

The OP did not specify any budget.
He asked for the smallest panel mount LCD voltmeter. If that's the
best available then he might just have to pay that.

Dave :)

Bruce W.1 wrote:
> I'm looking for the very smallest -- panel mount -- LCD voltmeter.  My 
> Google searches have been dissapointing.  The smallest I could find is 
> about 2" wide.
> 
> This will be part of a 12V bicycle light system.  It will mount in a 
> small box, probably on the handlebars.  It's measurement range should be 
> about 8 to 20 volts.
> 
> A voltmeter is not complicated.  I would think that one could easily be 
> made in a 1/2" square.
> 
> Does anyone know of a really tiny voltmeter?
> 
> Thanks for your help.

Well, you might be able to use LEDs of different colors, or a small 
seven segment LED (or LCD) to indicate one of 10 voltage levels. Add an 
led to the display to get 20 levels.

But without more information on your constraints and objective function, 
we're just playing bring me a rock.


Chuck

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"David L. Jones" (a...@gmail.com) writes:
> On Feb 1, 7:03 am, "Bruce W.1" <s...@noDirectEmail.com> wrote:
>> David L. Jones wrote:
>>
>> > Less than 1" wide:
>> >http://au.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=9932909
>> > Standard 200mV FSD, just make your own input scaler.
>>
>> > Dave :)
>>
>> =================================================
>>
>> Expensive little guy isn't it?
> 
> What's your time worth?
> If it's worth nothing to you then yes, it's expensive, otherwise it's
> not so expensive.
> You might be able to get it cheaper elsewhere.
> 
Of course, one can make a tradeoff.  Go bigger, and the selection goes
up and the prices drop.  Low end DMMs have become so cheap that using
one as a dedicated meter is not outrageous.  But then, the original
poster wants small.

Or get a cheap analog panel meter, even one of those surplus "tuning
meters" that have a calibration that doesn't mean a thing.  Make
the scale.  Put a zener diode in series to get expanded scale, so it
reads the range you want.

The poster can figure out what they really need the meter for, and
then come up with some scheme that does the job without overkill.  Some
LEDs and comparators, or one of those voltage level ICs (their proper
name escapes me at the moment), so they get discrete steps.  Maybe
making sure the voltage is merely "good" and "too low" is sufficient,
so two comparators driving two LEDs is sufficient, or there are neater
schemes to have LEDs turn on at a given voltage.

   Michael