Super simple Arduino Frequency Counter

[@YouAllKnowBob]

Nice simple, but useful little project! Thanks! I built it on a full size breadboard with a breadboard power supply and built a 555 a stable oscillator on the other end. Fun to experiment with capacitor and resistor values and see the instant results.

[@learnelectronics]

Gotta love an RC circuit. One of fundamental building blocks of electronics.

[@clarkeastman5897]

I kept working from your orignal project and it does measure AC sine wave without issue. Question was how to get from 120VAC to 10VAC. I purchased a standard door chime transformer (U.S.) that drops 120VAC to 24VAC/16VAC/8VAC for $14.00 at Home Depot and added (2) 1/4W 20K resistors to both the plus and minus connections to keep the current draw down - presto measures 60Hz. My problem solved. Thanks for posting your early efforts, It helped me solve my issues for my project.

[@JernD]

I made a USB current/voltage meter by using the same OLED+Nano and a shunt resistor. The arduino has an internal voltage reference, which I used to scale the analogRead voltage.

[@danaknight7678]

Big problem, you fed it a signal from function generator that was not offset to meet input range of a pin, 0 - 5. Your input swings below ground. Thats a great way of burning out chip. You need to add an R divider to bias up input, Vdd >> R >> pin >> R >> ground. Then capacitor couple input signal to the pin. The Rs around 1K or less. In your example with 50 ohm generator, you swung -2.5 V across pin, thats about 50 mA you drove into pin. Not a good idea.

[@MrBenG3]

Or just a diode to stop it from going neg 0 at that point?

[@monizpaul]

Hall effect sensor with a 4 or 2 magnet collar to measure shaft rotation speed.

[@emiliomartineziii2980]

Amazing Video! This helped a ton at work!

[@opalprestonshirley1700]

Always amazed at the Arduinos capabilities.

[@junkLAVENDER]

this only work for square wave signal. it really is piece of cake. thank you so much.

[@MisterChaos96]

Thanks to you i found a use for one of my arduinos. I made slight changes so i could use it on a 16x2 lcd screen and hocked that baby up to my adjustable computer clock. Now i can finally exactly see on which frequency im running

[@lone-eltemplodeltalento6196]

Very nice project! Can this be done with radiofrequency too? I mean, make something like a fequency counter to measure the working freq. Of a garaje door key for example? Thanks!

[@josephtannenbaum8696]

This is great. I did it with s bare bones arduino on a circuit card with a breadboard buddy PS and put it in a plastic box 3.75" by 2.25". Checked with my oscilloscope, it is indeed acurate.

[@jimmym2719]

What’s I have been looking for. 💡 Converting stepper pulse signal from a CNC into a value to map to a pwm output gear motor control. I believe it will work for my application. Thanks brother💕 you are awesome

[@learnelectronics]

Good luck!

[@planker]

Like Thanks, I'm going to give it a go. I'm also going to jam it in a Tiny85 and see what happens.

[@ChristinaLaRagina]

Can this be run with a microphone input (digital or Analog) for the Frequency Capture source and what would the code changes be to make that work?

[@botak333]

Hi sir it posible to check frequensi 100khz until 150khz on welder machine??

[@xiahua3811]

Hi thanks for sharing this valuable application. I am wondering if you could demonstrate: using ultrasonic detector (read only) and print out the frequency the detector receives from a ultrasound source such as a broken bone/metal/adhesive or anything that can generate ultrasound wave when broken.... thanks.

[@Moonbrony]

Nice! I'd add an input buffer/amplifier and voltmeter then it would make a great display for a homebuilt function generator, showing the frequency and amplitude.

[@learnelectronics]

Moonbrony go for it, if you need help with opamps just ask. They are my specialty.

[@fakerio9901]

Can you make sinewave a frequency counter

[@yoangarneau9051]

Nice work! Would it work with sinus?

[@jesseb4712]

Want to use this for reading high freq lighting controls via bpl in commercial construction. Would be much cheaper than the current standard which uses a DC signal on 18/2 to EVERY single luminary.

[@rafaelbragacampello1396]

What Can I do in this project to measure up to 10 MHz?

[@ducatezserge2839]

Hello, great project. What is the maximum frequency that can be measured (Square wave). Thank you.

[@xyzzyx348]

Cool. I'm gonna use it in my water flow meter project.

[@euoplo1007]

do i still write FreqCount.begin(1000); to start the count or do i use something else? im not well versed in this so sorry if i am asking obvious things would it be something like FreqMeasure.begin(1000); ?

[@DigitalDivotGolf]

That Paul guy is the founder of the teensy. Go check them out!

[@TheArtofEngineering]

Could you use an op amp buffer and then comparator cct.....and then use it to measure low HF say ham HF ?

[@georgechambers3197]

Nice little project! Useful too. Keep 'em coming...

[@learnelectronics]

I try. It's hard to come up with ideas sometimes. Im always open for video ideas :)

[@MaxSMoke777]

I'll have to try this in my portable Arduino box. Since I switched up to the ESP chips for my EMF detector v2, it's been neglected! Exact same hardware in a 3d printed small handheld using a fat 18650 battery.

[@jwsomrvl]

I would like to set up this to read out in morse code. Can you show how?

[@minahilashraf5617]

what should be the minimum voltage of the signal whose frequency is to measure. I want to read Microvolt signal frequency, is it possible with arduino?

[@valdiralexandre2642]

Muito bom , bem simples e funcional , Obrigado !

[@minahilashraf5617]

can we read 50Hz sinewave signal with same library

[@mrbiggs110]

Its a kool video but what can you do with a frequency counter?

[@longdongsilver4719]

If you don't know, it means that you don't need one. But if you are really curious, why don't you rather use Google?

[@aryashahrestani6962]

can u help me to change period to +Duty to measure duty cycle of a pwm signal

[@AlienRelics]

I only had to make minimal changes for this to work on a Teensy 3.0, which is suppose to be able to measure up to 65MHz. The PJCR website has a page that tells you which pin to use and which won't work with analogWrite() while using this library. It doesn't list the Nano, but a Nano is just a small Uno without a voltage regulator. My display seems to have an error, in that it has a jumper for 0x78, but only works when the software is set to 0x3C. I have no idea why. I have seen comments from others having this same problem. www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_FreqCount.html

[@MeineVideokasetten]

Y *Yes!* Ia need this to realign my MJF-1278 modem from 1988/89.

[@MarcelOoms]

Basl in the glory of LadyAda, LOL! Nice little project. Peace.

[@longdongsilver4719]

Very nice and helpfull. Thanks for the video.

[@osmanadany2142]

hello thanks for video, very educative, is it possible to find a round trip time of a signal using arduino?

[@Michael-hv8uo]

Amazing video thank you. Could this be converted to rf? i.e to measure the frequency output of a metal detector coil for instance? Maybe adding a coil say 50mh?

[@hassantj5775]

Sir good project. But you have not mentioned the frequency range.

[@SciStrike]

This is great! I'm going to tweak it to run on the Sparkfun Microview!

[@pulesjet]

Add some 3v Zener diodes back to back to protect your Arduino on the input.. Limiting the input to 3.0V ? eaa?

[@TheOscarzanin]

Hi!! Good! what the maximun frequency read? thx!

[@JerryEricsson]

Carry on! Love that series of movies, I have the most of them in my collection, and not a night has gone by since I have received them that I have not watched at least one of them. Last night's movie' Carry On Regardless!

[@ConsertandoTudo]

what is the maximum frequency this project can read ? really nice.

[@JCC__BMX]

Good job!!

[@INFO_SELABX]

BUG: if the count is 0 , there is infmS displayed . I bypassed with if else so that i get a 0 if count is 0

[@Yuēhàn24]

How do I make the counter show more digits? I have an input frequency of 69.3hz but the counter just flicks between 69 - 70hz. if I change the parameter FreqCount.begin(1000); to FreqCount.begin(10000); the counter shows 693.00hz so the full frequency but the point is in the wrong place. I am very new to the arduino so just learning any help please?

[@IsuruLakmalAdikari]

Could you please suggest me a way to deal with a crystal oscillator resonance frequency? Because I'm willing to make a microbalance by removing the metallic part of the crystal oscillator. The change in the resonance frequency of the crystal oscillator when external thin film of material deposited on the oscillator will take into account. So is their a way to count that resonance frequency with Arduino due? Anywhere to look at? Thanks.

[@SalesEngineeringUniversity]

How about for sine/audio?

[@myguitardidyermom212]

super late and you probably have an answer already but for anyone else reading this; you can turn a sine or other analog waveform into a square wave by using a comparator.

[@longdongsilver4719]

I know I'm late for the answer but maybe it can help other people. It does not work with audio. Only with simple waveforms which you can meaningfully convert to a square wave. Audio, usually, has a complex waveform. This implies that you use FFT to get the period of the mains signal.

[@ryanallisontattoos]

Thanks for the video! Is there a way to be able to make this an elektroslush as well as the frequency counter? Any help on doing so would be greatly appreciated

[@stefanb.933]

Nice project! It was good if the signal type (sinusoidal, square, triangle) was also displayed ...

[@darrelthompson3940]

How could I convert that frequency to a 4-20 mA output and what hardware would be needed? Thanks.

[@ultramar1126]

What is the minimum frequency that it measures?

[@GeorgeGeorge-xj2bc]

For a device which is clocked to 16MHZ to measure a frequency of 1KHZ is very little and can catch this frequecy even using your own ear.

[@clarkeastman5897]

Thanks for sharing your efforts. Q: can this work with a sine wave as well? I'm looking at setting up a simple ATMEGA328P (Nano) to monitor supporting DS1307 RTC and an SD (SPI) card module to tell if a 45VAC signal at 1350Hz changes by more than +/- 2Hz.

[@AlienRelics]

Send it through a CMOS buffer with hysteresis, that will square it up and make it 0-5V. You'll want a resistor and diodes at the input of the CMOS gate to clip the voltage so it doesn't go outside 0 to 5V. Come to that, you could probably feed the 45Vac through an appropriate resistor and protection diodes right into the Arduino. Clipped, it will be pretty close to a square wave.

[@Elitesniper257]

I have a tiny little LCD and I'm thinking of throwing a pro mini, 9v battery, and some leads in a 3d printed case for it. I'm planning on using it to check the ignition coils in some old cars so I'll need a voltage divider too(not on the hv side, on the pin that gets pulsed on/off)

[@learnelectronics]

Mario Castillo sounds like a great project, please share your progress.

[@yagzefedemirel3934]

How frequently does this measures frequency?

[@traianangheluta3761]

I have build a function generator and this frequency counter It's exactly what I need. Unfortunately I have 128/32 OLED display. Can I use double slash before display.println(""); in order to fit all lines in 128/32 ?

[@learnelectronics]

+Traian Angheluta Yes, just change the parameters

[@TheOutlaw426]

hi there, may you post the code again? the link is broken.

[@SqueakSqueak100]

I am working on a project to turn frequency from striking a tennis racket into tension. We are using an Arduino microphone and thought this video was useful. How could you connect an Arduino speaker to this set up to display audio frequency?

[@learnelectronics]

+Sarah Stearman how would a speaker display frequency?

[@SqueakSqueak100]

I apologize I meant to say microphone

[@cpjsparks]

Your awesome & thanks for expanding all our curiosities! At the moment I am trying to get the movement and angle looking at the end of a 1/2" shaft. The end of the shaft is splined with 34 very small teeth and behind that the nut holding everything bond in place. I can mount an enclosure as close as I want to the shaft but has to be completely enclosed.The shaft stays within a 0 and 50 degree range and moves very slow...very slow. Needs to be within 1 degree accuracy. Not so much a frequency project....or is it? Any suggestions?

[@leewimbs1773]

Just use a rotary encoder.

[@traianangheluta3761]

I'm a little bit confuse...For a short time (at min. 9 in this video), frequency is 80Khz and period shows 0.01mS. Hmmm. I still wanna keep the smoke inside the components... :)

[@dennisqwertyuiop]

very good

[@ericlulz]

Hello! I see the input pin is D5. Where did you select this? I have a arduino uno, and I want to measure frequency. Thanks!

[@nicholasinzunza8887]

I have the same question ;-;

[@ferencujvari1071]

Do you have any idea, how to measure two different frequencys and show them on the display ?! I have to compare two freq's and write the realtions on the screen.... Please help !

[@longdongsilver4719]

You just use 2 input pins and change the code.

[@ferencujvari1071]

@@longdongsilver4719 Ok...but how to chaneg the code ? What part and what to write ?!

[@longdongsilver4719]

@@ferencujvari1071 I suggest that you take some time to learn how to program. There are tons of tutorials on the web. Most of them are very good and for beginners. And, best of all: learning to program is fun.

[@helpseeker6036]

can i divide 1000MHz to 80MHz by using this way?

[@Michael-lo3ht]

Did you see how far you could push it frequency wise? It would be nice to try that on an 32-bit micro too. Thanks

[@AlienRelics]

FreqCount: best for 1 kHz to 8 MHz (up to 65 MHz with Teensy 3.0 & 3.1) FreqMeasure: best for 0.1 Hz to 1 kHz www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_FreqCount.html

[@belectroart]

I do not see any information on how to set which pin to use for frequency input, is it locked to pin 5 only? Also I assume it only accepts digital input and not analog signals?

[@learnelectronics]

+Brian Moreau Yes the library is locked to that pin and it's digital only with a 5VDC max.

[@mdibrahimshariff3386]

What is the maximum frequently that the Arduino can read ?

[@stilltocool]

can you build it to transmit would be great in the car for garage door and ham radio

[@poijmc606]

Great video! Be careful with this metal ruler near the pins :P

[@JoseCarlos-qy4gg]

I added to the circuit a 78hc4017 ci to read frequencies up to 60 MHz. how to add an offset line of 9,700mhz for use in cb radio

[@GnuReligion]

I think it is cool that it picked up the omnipresent 60 cycle hum before hooking up the generator. Definitely looking into this 78hc4017 so I can read the value of salvaged crystals of unknown value. Hmmm, don't you mean a counter, like the 74hc4017?

[@keithrawlings9262]

I was inspired into action finding this nice simple introduction to Arduino. Got this up and running, but I am out of my comfort zone with programming. How can I modify the software to display kHz with 100Hz resolution using only 4 digits? The frequency range of interest is 10kHz to 120kHz. And leading zero suppression would be really nice!!

[@gartmorn]

What is the max frequency it reads? Just curious! Wondered if it could be adapted to measure RF frequency to tune transmitters?

[@learnelectronics]

gartmorn according to the library 5MHz

[@gartmorn]

learnelectronics oh well, but still a cool wee project!

[@JoseCarlos-qy4gg]

com um 74hc4017 ci, ele vai até 60MHz py2ohh.w2c.com.br/trx/arduinofrqmtr/arduinofrqmtr.GIF

[@meesiphht2769]

Hmmm, how about an RPM Counter?

[@republicoftutorials6068]

Very Useful Thank You

[@digitART30]

Great ! Simply clever, thank you, subscribed 👍🏻

[@sanu7210]

can i test ac voltage frequency with this ??????????

[@mikechapple2363]

Could this be used to generate an error signal which, when fed into a vco, could act as a frequency stability control for an oscillator?

[@WurstPeterl]

mike chapple In theory yes but there are better established methods to achieve frequency stability. If you need any help just let me know

[@longdongsilver4719]

In fact, the answer is NO. The arduino timing is far from accurate.

[@skydancer222]

This is absolutely fantastic stuff! It would be very helpful for me, if you could turn this frequency counter into a analog sound to MIDI converter to translate frequencies produced by guitar strings into a midi signal . I really would like to build such a thing, since I recently got cought by various synthizyser sounds and the equipment we find on the market, I just don't like and it is expensive as well. Furthermore it would be great, if this device is pretty small, so it can be hidden in an electrical gitars body with good looking nobs, if needed. Obviously we would need some coils with a magnet under the six strings, to get some voltage for metering. What do you say as an expert? Certainly I'd like to give you a hand if necessary. Regards Albert

[@stevehamilton1972]

I'M beginning to research on the same subject... convert guitar strings sound to MIDI... found the solution on your part ?

[@FairlyOldGit]

Excellent Video ! - Just what I need to progress my battery powered tachometer project (to be used to measure motor rpm in an RC boat) - Thanks ! Now if anybody can recommend a suitable optical sensor . . . .

[@learnelectronics]

+R W A I'm working on something...keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of days.

[@charliemopps4926]

Note detection to MIDI note... that's what I'm looking for... 🙂

[@bacot4825]

Where did u get the frequency 10 khz?

[@j.clowers7223]

Any way to make the frequency audible by chance?

[@learnelectronics]

J. Clowers sure, just map it to audible frequencies idk 1k to 20k and use the tone comnand

[@vetrivel1740]

Is it possible to measure the frequency wireless? By picking up radio waves

[@elkochannel6677]

How we can measure frequencies from 3 Mhz until 50 Mhz?

[@longdongsilver4719]

Buy a real frequency counter.

[@codewizard5327]

Nice one.

[@045muhammadbuveestungkoro3]

error in board arduino, why? error compilling for board arduino ..............(anything) can you help me?

[@learnelectronics]

More information required

[@ovi_4]

You have chosen the wrong type of board from the list or the wrong type of programmer from the list. Or....the third option. You've made a mistake while writing the code

[@bahrilnugroho1474]

can i use other pin except d5 ?

[@learnelectronics]

Yes

[@projetos_leotronico]

Fantástico!

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Can you at maths functions to this?

[@sanildm0779]

Share for Coding frekuensi Counter Aurdiono master 🙏

[@daanishmufti6456]

code ?

[@theonlyalan731]

How low a frequency can it read?

[@AlienRelics]

FreqCount: best for 1 kHz to 8 MHz (up to 65 MHz with Teensy 3.0 & 3.1) FreqMeasure: best for 0.1 Hz to 1 kHz www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_FreqCount.html

[@jerzyszczepanski9792]

Hi. Could anybody please post a build of Arduino decibel meter for an Airgun with shown Max last reading. Small size would be preferable, possibly Arduino Nano and Oled screen. Most Android Phone Apps don't work correctly as the phone kills the Microphone sensitivity automatically and sampling isn't fast enough. Thanks in advance. Good Video BTW.

[@mohandass.j1376]

Arduino able to read how much maximum frequency.

[@codewizard5327]

Can I actually use this for 1~1000Hz?

[@learnelectronics]

Yed

[@AlienRelics]

FreqCount: best for 1 kHz to 8 MHz (up to 65 MHz with Teensy 3.0 & 3.1) FreqMeasure: best for 0.1 Hz to 1 kHz www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_FreqCount.html

[@kirknelson156]

could that be adapted to a RPM meter?

[@learnelectronics]

I guess so. But there are easier ways to monitor RPM...a break beam sensor or hall sensor. What application do you have in mind?

[@kirknelson156]

was thinking about a DIY RPM meter for my ATV using an inductive pickup off the spark plug wire, planned on using a couple zener diodes to clamp voltage to under 5volts. that was about as far as my thinking got me.

[@learnelectronics]

Kirk Nelson That would work for sure. The library I used in this sketch will work perfectly. Instead of the inductive pickup, I would use a hall sensor, no zeners needed. If need any help, feel free to ask.

[@kirknelson156]

Thanks I may just do that :)