If they don't get the grant, they might possibly want to investigate a little system
we use here which I designed for a workshop several years ago. The interface
box plugs into the printer port of a pc or laptop, and will take 0-6v 8-bit analog
data, will run a shaft encoder, strain gauge, and sonic ranger. It costs around $90
(built by Gary Burgess, the technician in our physics department, sold off-line).
Software is available for windows and dos.
--
Mike
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Mike Moloney moloney@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu
Dept of Physics & Applied Optics (812) 877 8302
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN 47803 http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~moloney