Dedicated Frequency Panel Meter?

I'd better clarify my statement about enduring difficulty searching.

There are a number of sites much easier to access than others. gmail is difficult and so are Google and Yahoo. Amazon and eBay are hit or miss. Lunch hour is particularly difficult during weekdays and having 4 time zone lunch hours.

I can google and it might take 5 minutes for the search page to load or more often it just 404's. Clicking a link is even harder. Sometimes it takes eight clicks then I get a "Server Time Out"

Please forgive me for not being able to access links quickly. I only have access from 10:00AM to 5:00PM mountain. If I had internet at home (impossible) I'm sure things are better from midnight to dawn. Once in a great while my cellular can go online but that's rare.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
However, as limited as my searching ability is, down here, I cannot seem to find a frequency meter other than the old vibrating segment type.

If you will settle for LCD and a 120vac outlet just below the meter

Build a Kill-a-watt into your panel. it has that feature, bunch more as well.

I will do a bit of research but I suspect it will be easy to find a fequency meter

E-bay has a bunch of 'em

The Yahoo search term was "Digital Frequency Meters" found many

Hi Mex,

I'd just buy a kill-a-watt meter. Cheap and reliable. lcd though not led.

We had an Onan with a reed type frequency meter- wasn't exactly fast acting, but it worked :)

the Green Ebay meter is supposed to be a Generator meter

Features:


working voltage: single phase: AC 80-300V

Resolution:1v

Frequency measurement range:30.0-70.0Hz

Resolution:0.1hz

cumulative working hours:Total run time, time memory power ,timing range of 0 to 99999.9 hours

display mode:lcd
Working conditions temperature:-20-70?

working life? more than two years



application:

voltage monitor , Generator Sets , industrial control equipment , Pressure regulating device and so on

Geez, thank you Mr. DrewE. for a concise analysis. And kudos to Mr. Wizard.

My Kubota has a Woodward electronic governor. It maintains engine speed to +10 -3 RPM. Reliably.

If speed should droop more than that it means fuel issues. Even though the system has a Delco H9000 voltage regulator (discrete components!) which at one time was the strongest and most exact generator regulator in the world, it, like other generator regulators, hates to encounter 55Hz while under load (this in power generating terms is called the regulator "cornering frequency") By monitoring (lack of) exhaust plume and frequency I can tell if the engine is having problems. The gen shed is to the north of rig and casita therefore opposite the almost constant sea-breeze. To protect the engine, I have Murphy switch gauges monitoring temperature and oil pressure. If a problem should arise, the circuit completes, the contactor opens instantly, and the fuel solenoid cuts off and the engine spins down within 5 seconds. The temperature tube probe is plumbed to a cylinder head water jacket.

I think I am going to pursue DrewE's caution and not trust a digital meter until I witness it's trends and tendencies over a period of time (verification).

Amazon has several possibilities, some coupled with a voltmeter. Some of them have reviews that complain of long-term drift (a tenth or two Hz per day) during continuous operation and also have a frequency calibration trimpot, both of which kind of surprise me. It suggests that they are not using a crystal frequency reference, but perhaps an RC oscillator built into the microcontroller at the heart of the meter. A crystal oscillator, even a low grade one, would be much more precise than the three digit display. I guess if you can get away with saving a penny or two it's deemed worthwhile....

Here's one that may be appropriate for what you want (or what appears to be the same unit from another company). There are a few more choices if you don't mind a backlit LCD display.

Edit: Fixed second link; originally had URL and description swapped.