One of the things we all love are meters. Over the years, I have bought some used or surplus meters here, and some there, some are given to me, and others I find on ebay.
My latest find was on ebay, some Surplus new in box 1975 Beede 100 mv full scale meters, each costing about 4 bucks..
Using a freeware program, called meter.exe and a HP-GL capable laser printer, I can make a meter face for just about any size and shape meter one can think of.
The one I made today was for a PV application where I needed 20 amps full scale, and using a shunt out of 12 guage copper wire that I calibrated to drop 5 mv per amp.
These Beede meters are very easy to open and access the original blank face plate, and using the meter.exe program, designed exactly what I wanted. I then cut out the face I made, sprayed on some 3m adhesive, and reassembled.
Here is the result:
I have made several 11 to 15 volt expanded scale voltmeters, small amp meters, large amp meters etc, using proper scaling resisors and shunts.
More to come on meters.
JimU
