USB Thermometer | Tech Off

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

Does anyone know where I can get a cheap USB thermometer? Preferably in Canada. I bought a gecko as my girlfriends Christmas present, and she often worries about it while we're out for the day, as he requires a strict temperature range. I've always got the laptop with me, and as I work through the Indigo/Avalon CTP, I'd like to create a ClickOnce deployable application that will interact with an Indigo service on the server at home so that the temperature in his tank can be monitored. Possibly even a video feed from a webcam as well.

Any help would be appreciated in finding such a gadget.

Note: I might have to wait until a future Avalon CTP for video capabilities... but for now the temperature would be nice.

Maurits
AKA Matthew van Eerde

How about this?

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

I was looking at that, but it's way out of my price range. I'm looking for a novelty item thats 10 bucks but gets the job done. Also, that one I believe you have to place in the environment, let it record it's temperatures, and then insert it into the USB port afterwards to download the temperatures. I'm looking for realtime temperature readings.

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

I found a guide on building your own USB Thermometer. I'll run it by my dad this weekend as he enjoys soldering and fiddling with electronics. Thanks for the help!

Blkbam
Bam, Bam! Bam, Bam Bam!

It sounds like something that should be on the market but these things are hard to find. I did some research on them in the summer and found a couple but I got side tracked and didn't get to use one.

The trick is when you search, don't search on what it does such as usb powered temperature or usb temperature probe.

As far as cheap, Concider anything under $100 (US) cheap with these things. The average is about $50 - $70 though.

Cairo
I want my waffle sundae, give me my carbs!

Actually, I've been looking for inexpensive USB connected and powered thermal sensors, to allow us to monitor the environmental conditions in our office suite. I'd like to put a sensor under each person's desk where their chair goes, to get a reading of their personal environment's temperature. The HVAC in the building is notoriously flaky -- blowing heat in the summer on occasion, etc. -- which makes people cranky, and can harm computer equipment (especially these hot hot P4s).

So, any good suggestions for < $50 usb sensors with a programming API I can get at?

bantar76
I like cats!

Why not mount a small thermometer on the tank and point the web cam at it?

Cheers

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

bantar76 wrote:
Why not mount a small thermometer on the tank and point the web cam at it?

I was hoping to be able to get real time data that I could serve through an Indigo service... and I don't have a good view of the current thermometer which is bonded to the tank.

Maurits
AKA Matthew van Eerde

Sort of a lo-tech solution, but you could get a min/max thermometer - reset it before you leave, and when you get back you'll know the temperature range the little guy experienced in your absence

PhilW
Are you happy Citizen?

How about - http://www.phidgets.com/index.php?module=pncommerce&func=categoryview&CID=6&KID= ?

Lots of nice input/output devices there - I'm playing with the 64 LED controller myself at the moment.

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

Maurits wrote:
Sort of a lo-tech solution, but you could get a min/max thermometer - reset it before you leave, and when you get back you'll know the temperature range the little guy experienced in your absence

This would be alright... however I would really like real time updates. Not only because it will give me an excuse to write an Indigo application, but also because I intend to extend the system further on. For example, if the temperature reaches a certain level, turn off the heat lamp. If it goes below a certain temperature, turn on the heat lamp. Possibly even different programs for the time of day, and it can be overrided using the Indigo service, etc.

Tyler Brown
Bullets change governments far surer than votes.

PhilW wrote:
How about - http://www.phidgets.com/index.php?module=pncommerce&func=categoryview&CID=6&KID= ?

Lots of nice input/output devices there - I'm playing with the 64 LED controller myself at the moment.

This looks really interesting, and I would buy it, but the kit that you need to build off of is $150.00. Kind of out of my price range for a simple USB thermometer.

PhilW
Are you happy Citizen?

It's expensive to get started, but you only need the one controller for the 8 inputs and outputs - think of all the other projects you could do with it! Smiley

Auto fish feeder (Servo), Auto temp manager (current controller to the heater), Auto fishing pole (servo) - well maybe not.

steviev

I realize this thread is very old, but for those who have stumbled across this, you may want to check out this cheap product from DealExtreme:

USB Digital Thermometer Dongle

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7003

It's written in .NET and is unlocked, so you can write your own software, or use one of the SourceForge solutions.

I plan on ordering this one and using it to monitor temperature in my house. I've had two thermostat failures that caused the furnace to run continuously, and the house got up to 38 degress Celcius by the time we got home, with our poor dog stuck inside.