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Help needed: electronic metronome for rowing

ManCityPete

May 10, 2012
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May 10, 2012
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Hello all,

I am a rower in traditional fixed seat rowing boats. When we are racing, it is very difficult to maintain a steady stroke rate as sea conditions and race pressure tend to push up stroke rate.

I had an idea for a simple device to help me but I have only basic electronic knowledge and therefore I came looking for help.

What I want is a device which could flash a light at the correct stroke rate. The complication is that I would need to be able to vary that stroke rate. My ideal scenario would therefore to have a small box with some form of display so that I can set the required stroke rate (from 20 to 40 strokes per minute) which then flashes a light on for, say, 0.3 seconds that many times per minute.

There are audio devices which do this but they are usually as part of very expensive timing devices and I need something cheap! And oh yes, it has to be relatively water resistant!

Is this as complicated as I thought?
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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Here http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-an-Electronic-Metronome/ are instructions for a rather simple electronic metronome with audio output. You could replace the speaker by an LED with series resistor or simply put an LED in series with the speaker.
Seal it within a waterproof box (e.g. breakfast box. Or Google). If you want audio, you will need to perforate the box where the speaker sits. To make it waterproof glue some saran wrap (cling film) inside the box over the holes.

Harald
 

nepow

Jul 18, 2011
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Jul 18, 2011
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Here http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-an-Electronic-Metronome/ are instructions for a rather simple electronic metronome with audio output. You could replace the speaker by an LED with series resistor or simply put an LED in series with the speaker.
Seal it within a waterproof box (e.g. breakfast box. Or Google). If you want audio, you will need to perforate the box where the speaker sits. To make it waterproof glue some saran wrap (cling film) inside the box over the holes.

Harald

The circuit already has Led's ... just dish the speaker and say the bottom Led_ job done. Use a high brightness type Led. May be you can get a student studying electronics to put the circuit together for you!
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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There are audio devices which do this but they are usually as part of very expensive timing devices and I need something cheap! And oh yes, it has to be relatively water resistant!

Have you looked on Ebay for mini clip on metronomes? They are about $5 complete with LED and audio... Put it in a ziplock bag to keep the water off and clip it to your shirt or whatever... You might have to spend a bit more money to find one that goes as low as you want but I'm sure they are out there if you look, but most have multiple beats per bar, so you can kick the tempo up and just put more beats per bar...
 
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