Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio

CHAPTER 5

A General Purpose Panel Meter

As we mentioned in Chapter 2, one important aspect of any μC system is to be able to display data. Panel meters are found in many “homebrew” projects. Any radio amateur who’s been around a while is bound to have a few old meters hanging around the workshop. We find them at the swap meets or remove them from some old piece of gear we’ve parted out. Chances are good, however, that the one you found in your junk box has unknown characteristics and a scale that needs to be replaced. Although replacing a scale is not too difficult—there is software available to print a new scale—you run the risk of damaging the delicate meter movement while swapping the scales.

This chapter’s project creates a general purpose ...