Serial Data Logger
with PIC microcontroller
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Here comes my favorite part of each project - the pictures.
I chose yet another old modem for an enclosure: 
The first step was to strip the board of all components that are not going to be needed. All that remained was the phone connectors, the serial port, power on/off switch, the LEDs, and the LED driver IC: 
I experimented a bit with the power supply, trying to build something that is relatively noise-free. My attempt at wiring an LRC-filter was not very successful, but I left it in place anyway in case I decide to experiment with it later. Here is the power supply with the experimental filter (the green jumper is for connecting and disconnecting the inductor): 
Looks kind of cool, but it is too tall to fit in the box without some modifications to the mother board. Now, instead of being attached to the board as initially planned, the filter is glued to the back of the enclosure and sticks through the board: 
The amplifier, microcontroller, and the RS-232 driver are on a separate prototype board with a bunch of connectors to plug it into the telephone cable connectors (where the sensors connect), the serial port for data transfer, and the potentiometers for signal centering and for adjusting the amplification: 
Finally, here is the whole thing, assembled and powered up: 
From the outside, you can hardly tell this is not a modem anymore... If you want to see the data logger in use, check out my Light Recorder (Light-to-Sound) and Magnetometer projects. |
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