Analogue meters??

[Dazbo666]

Trying to find out some ideas or guides on how to do a DIY mod so that I can make my own decibel and/or volt meters using round analogue displays.

I'm sure I've seen them done, but can't remember where??

Any advice or links would be great?!

EDIT: The Coolermaster Musketeer is the sort of effect that I'm looking to achieve??

[linear1]

If the meter is scaled right, you just hook it directly to the thing you want to meter (HDD LED header, NIC activity, whatever). A milliammeter with full-scale deflection at 20-30 mA is about right I think.

You can often buy meters on eBay and replace/cover the dial face with something of your own design as well.

And you can light the dial faces too with just a single LED ususally. Sanding the LED a bit can get a better diffusion. Good luck.

[Dazbo666]

Thanks for the advice linear - that's exactly what I'm planning... but not exactly having much luck with suitable dials yet.

[linear1]

Sorry I can't help out much with a UK source, but any full-line house should offer a panel milliammeter in the 20mA full-scale deflection category or thereabouts.

http://www1.rswww.com/ has some if you search around for panle meters. Sorry but their URL scheme makes it impossible to give you a direct link. A bit pricey,but pretty attractive. Also, eBay can be a good source for panel meters.

Remember too, all moving-coil meters are fundamentally ammeters, so you just would change the series resistor on a voltmeter to a shunt resistor in the appropriate size for your needs (and replace the scale).