Guy Prevost
Well Known Member
Hi,
Does anybody know what the typical capacitance range is for Van's capacitive senders? I'm getting ready to build my own converter to measure the capacitance at the plates and output 0-5V for a Dynon or whatever.
For any microcontroller nerds out there, my general plan is to build an R/C circuit with the R being constant and the capacitance varying with fuel level. I'll use a microcontroller to measure the time constant of the circuit and output a variable (0-5V) voltage using PWM. There will be a calibration routine to go through, just like you have to do with Princeton's units. Feel free to scoop me on this idea--I won't get my feelings hurt.
No promises that I'll make this work, but I don't think it will be too difficult. (Of course, the devil is always in the details). If it goes well, I'll post the schematics and code here for all to use. Parts for both channels should run <$65.00 depending on where you get them and only require basic soldering skills to assemble.
Anyway, if someone knows the approximate capacitance range of the tanks I can start working on some of the design. I'll work on this in ernest in the 2 months I'll be waiting for the fuselage after my wings are done.
TIA,
Guy
Does anybody know what the typical capacitance range is for Van's capacitive senders? I'm getting ready to build my own converter to measure the capacitance at the plates and output 0-5V for a Dynon or whatever.
For any microcontroller nerds out there, my general plan is to build an R/C circuit with the R being constant and the capacitance varying with fuel level. I'll use a microcontroller to measure the time constant of the circuit and output a variable (0-5V) voltage using PWM. There will be a calibration routine to go through, just like you have to do with Princeton's units. Feel free to scoop me on this idea--I won't get my feelings hurt.
No promises that I'll make this work, but I don't think it will be too difficult. (Of course, the devil is always in the details). If it goes well, I'll post the schematics and code here for all to use. Parts for both channels should run <$65.00 depending on where you get them and only require basic soldering skills to assemble.
Anyway, if someone knows the approximate capacitance range of the tanks I can start working on some of the design. I'll work on this in ernest in the 2 months I'll be waiting for the fuselage after my wings are done.
TIA,
Guy