If you are an electronic hobbyist, an Arduino fan, or a radio amateur you will certainly have a look at this Arduino compatible frequency counter project now funding on Kickstarter. This is a versatile tool that can be programmed, for example as an instrument of a toolchain.
The concept of this board is to build an open, very versatile frequency counter, so it can be used to measure a wide variety of signals. It is designed to be customisable in every possible way.
Very wideband, it can measure frequencies from less than 5 Hz to 5 MHz or 120 MHz, thanks to a unique hardware and software architecture. Low frequency signals (LF), high frequency signals (HF) and very high frequency signals (VHF, on 120 MHz model) are treated separately to get full precision across the bandwidth.
It uses a standard LCD 16 characters, one line display for clear presentation of the frequency. LCD display can be disassembled from the board and mounted on a box as needed.
It can be powered using a 9V ac/dc converter or directly to PCB pins or by a 9V battery with the adapter included in the package. It tolerates voltages between 7.5 and 12 volts. The power source is protected by a polyswitch fuse.
It is protected against over voltage and under voltage power conditions. The board will show error messages.
Signal can be fed to the board using a BNC connector or PCB headers. Input impedance is 1 MOhm. Signal input is ESD protected by a TVS diode up to 600 W / 100A peak power discharges (Caution, this is about electrostatic discharges only! Users should never try to measure signals above 30 volts peak-to-peak!)
The board comes with the “FreqLfHf” library. It is loaded with a standard program and the user can create his own program very easily.
It is available in two versions.
* Up to 5 MHz
* Up to 120 MHZ
If you would like such a device, it is now (until the end of the year) or never! The frequency counter will be delivered during the first quarter of 2021.
