Dag gerboard Position Detector
In sailing regattas it’s handy to have a dag-gerboard that can be raised and lowered vertically. As the winding handle or positioning motor needs to rotate the spindle of the lifting device some 100 to 150 times throughout its full range it would be extremely handy to have a quick idea of its current position. An electronic count of the number of revolutions would be ideal. Thank goodness most sailors now have a 12-V supply available! To get this to work you need to apply white and black markings to the spindle, each covering half of the circumference. Next, mask off two electric eye devices (reflected light sensors) next to one another (approximately 10 mm apart). For secure detection both sensors should be positioned not more than 5 mm from the paint markings. Dag-gerboard Position Detector Circuit Diagram : The markings to be read by the sensor should be displaced laterally, so that the direction of rotation can be recognised in addition to the number of revolutions counted. At...