Hack a Dollar Store Pedometer Into a Basic Voltmeter

This story will display in ...Nov 17, 2012 12:00 PM  

If you'd like a voltmeter for a small project but don't want to shell out for a commercial model you can make your own using a dollar store pedometer, a PIC12F683 microcontroller, and a few other miscellaneous parts. It won't give you a millisecond refresh rate, but if that level of precision doesn't matter you can save a lot of money by building your own.

Maker Paulo Renato wanted a panel voltmeter to keep an eye on the small solar panel in his shed but didn't want to spend $18 for a new one at Amazon so he instead figured out how to hack a $1 pedometer with a cheap microcontroller and miscellaneous electronics parts into a basic voltmeter for less than $4 out of pocket.

For a full writeup on how to convert the pedometer and why it works visit the source link below.

A Dollar Store Voltmeter | Paulo Renato via Hack-A-Day

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