jm7 said:
Does anyone know of a Temp data logger that will present the temp on the
screen running off USB or serial. I just need to measure the temp just
outside the computer and view remotely by logging onto the server.
I woudl have thought this would be easy to get but it seems to be very
specialized.
thanks in advance.
John
If you cannot find a USB digital thermometer, look for a serial port
digital thermometer, then get a USB to serial port adapter to
complete the chain of devices. Or just use a serial port if
you've got one to work with.
Who knows, there might be other interface standards, that happen
to have added such a device. Since Bluetooth is such a novelty,
perhaps there is a Bluetooth digital thermometer. Then, add a
Bluetooth dongle to your computer.
I did see a device announced, but it was made in Japan ("Media Lab"),
which means you likely wouldn't find anyone distributing it.
Also, you could try searching on a site like National Instruments,
as they do all sorts of professional data logging stuff. I see
a 4 channel unit for about $500 (gulp!). But as that uses
thermocouples, you have a tremendous temperature range
by using different probe types.
http://www.ni.com/
http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/13880
Another route, might be to find a multimeter that has a
thermocouple interface, and happens to have an RS232
back end. Even one of my old multimeters here, has an
RS232 interface, and it cost about $100 when I got it.
If you have a multimeter, that has an RS-232 interface,
but you have no sensor, then you can look for a thermistor.
For example, Radioshack used to sell 271-110A, a thermistor
with negative temperature coefficient. At 25C, the resistance
is 10K ohms. 50C is 4.161K. Flipping the multimeter to ohms,
and connecting the sensor, gives you a stream of resistance
readings on the RS-232 interface. The conversion scale was
printed on the back of the thermistor package. With Excel,
you could program a piecewise linear interpolation, and convert
measured resistance values to temperature, using the data
from the back of the package.
Do you have a web cam ? Do you own an old style mercury
thermometer ? Do you have one of those huge "clock-style"
outdoor thermometers ? Maybe you can dream up a video
method, to capture a temperature reading from a
traditional readout.
I wish I had a nickel for each one of these I was
dreaming up
Paul
