Most Basic Temperature Logger...
 

I came across this USB - temperature probe on ebay - $13.85, free shipping.

It might be just the thing for very simple temp logging tasks. It requires the USB to be attached to a PC.

I know nothing about it beyond THIS LINK, but it looks promising.

-AC

Review: Most Basic Temperature Logger
 

I bought one of these little rubies off ebay for $13.85.

A couple of weeks it arrived...


'Most Basic' pretty much sums it up...


The USB and probe are combined.

The light green paper dis-information sheet should be discarded immediately without reading, it will just make you grumpy.

the tiny CD is very useful and should be carefully saved

First I plugged the USB device into my laptop, an my computer (Win7) recognized it immediately and a HID device and all drivers loaded immediately (maybe they're in the USB dongle).

Then I loaded the tiny CD in the CD tray and double-clicked the *.msi file. Everything proceeded as it should. A bit later, the installation process was completed, with the exception that I could not find the shortcut.

Finally, I searched my entire computer for it and discovered that it was on my desktop.

OK... it worked as it should.


So here's the open screen:



I did what any good hacker would do... I put the probe in my mouth to see if I was still alive.

The results were encouraging.

But they also illustrate the response time of the sensor... It seems slow enough that if you wanted to measure very short-duration thermal change, it could be a problem. But if you wanted to log events with slower thermal change, this device would be just fine.

There is an 'option' tab (under 'tool')


The default sampling rate is once every 2 seconds, but that can be changed.

It is possible to store an off-set value that will correct error in the probe.

All kinds of interesting possibilities are available, like sending emails or instant messages, launching skype, etc, presumably in the event of temperature exceeding some set-point... or maybe ongoing, i haven't gotten that far.

The question dawns on me, do I really want a Chinese program handling my network, email, IM and Skype logins, and passwords?

These are questions that should be considered.


By default, the logger program stores data in a folder in the 'Documents' directory, where they can be dragged & dropped into a spreadsheet like Excel or Gnumeric for further processing.

But, all in all, I think that this Most Basic Temperature logger, if used within its limits, is a most useful device at a most attractive price, and it's a really cheap way to discover the potential in data logging.

Best,

-AC

Looks like a nice little gadget for the price.

A Tool in Our Flight From Ignorance
 

I think that it's actually more than a gadget.

Some years ago, as I became interested in thermal behavior, I started doing bizarre things like performing my own comparative testing of available insulations because I didn't trust the advertised values.

The only tools that were available to me were a digital multimeter and a temperature sensor from Radio Shack. I constructed a simple apparatus in my living room because it was temperature controlled.

My apparatus was a sheet-rock mud bucket. I lined it with the insulation I was testing and as my heat source for the tests, I used an aluminum beer can that had just been yanked from a pot of vigorously boiling water, and it went straight into the humble test chamber. The I covered the beer can with more of the insulation I was testing.

Then I watched the values from the sensor as they were displayed on the multimeter, and wrote them down by hand every five minutes. This gave me valuable data because better insulations slowed the thermal decline.

The process was quite time consuming, the cost was minimal, but the knowledge I gained was considerable.

Since then I have done many more experiments and wanted to be able to log multiple temperature points of the same thermal event.

The equipment to do this has been so expensive that I have resorted to using cheap indoor/outdoor thermometers and setting up several at a time and hand logging events.

This is how I did the first graphs for the Homemade Heat Pump Manifesto. This is how I came to understand that it is possible for a beginner with few tools to achieve a COP much greater than 1.

It was after that, that I built my own mulit-source data logger from preconfigured micro-computer assemblies.

So, in my opinion, being able to accurately log thermal events is fundamental to understanding those events, events that can't be directly perceived.

And any device that puts this power in your hands does not deserve to be called a gadget.

It is a tool in our flight from ignorance.

Best,

-AC_Hacker

Pretty neat gizmo. But, I like the idea of portability.

Track It temperature data logger with display and standard battery from Cole-Parmer

On-board stand-alone logging would be nice for those short term logging jobs.
Like how hot does the trunk of the car get during the week.?. :eek:

Too bad you can't get them for under $20.00

Tell Cole-Parmer to get their act together.

The links to the manual, etc are all "404".

-AC

There are good pdf load links on this page..
Monarch Instruments Track-It Temperature Datalogger | Dataloggers | Instrumart

Looks pretty good.



However, THIS_LITTLE_RUBY is $45, open-source, highly configurable, can log data from a string of 1-wire sensors (1 is built in, but 97 sensors tested) and isn't much larger than a couple of postage stamps.

This is what I currently have logging every room in my house (< 97 rooms).

-AC

AC, is the MultiLogger a temperature only logger or are there other sensor types?

In a way, this thing is hard to understand because while most products are closed (like the loggers mention previously on this thread), this one is open.

It comes with a 1-wire sensor header. So far only temp sensors are available for 1-wire.

This logger is very useful as a temp logger, and can be used as-is, and that is how I use it.

If you are technically inclined (are you?), you have the schematic available, the source code, and headers available to make it do whatever you can imagine.

You can use the Arduino IDE for program development.

Applications are limited only by your ability and imagination.

The designer modded his to work with a GPS, to monitor & record position & temperatures when he went hiking.

He also used it to monitor activities of remote players when they interacted with an internet controllable robot game (real robot) he devised.

-AC