Demo of the e-Jones Counter prototype

An electronic version of Jones Counter ideally would need to count forwards and backwards with same counts/revolution as the mechanically geared model. This would make it very easy to check that the count on e-Jones remains in synch with the count on a mechanically geared Jones. By operating both counters in parallel the measurer would be able to detect a failure in either the mechanical Jones (a rare but not unknown occurrence), or in the new e-Jones Counter (important for a new measuring device).

Today I demonstrated a prototype of the e-Jones Counter which meets the above requirements at least over a limited range of about 30 metres with my old push bike turned upside down and the wheel rocked back and forth by hand.

e-Jones Counter zeroed when the Jones Counter read 10000



Move wheel backwards and forwards- no counts lost:



Continue backwards and forwards reaching a maximum of 326 counts:



Turn wheel backwards to reach zero:



Conclusion: The e-Jones Counter prototype tracks perfectly the count on the Jones Counter.

Tomorrow I am going to have my electrically assisted measuring bike fitted with suitable mounting points for the e-Jones Counter. This will involve having a suitable new front wheel built to carry the sensor targets. Once this has been done I can start to package my prototype electronics in a form suitable for handle bar mounting, and test on the road at higher measuring speeds.

The e-Jones Counter with its large LCD display will be capable of providing the following characteristics:

• Easily visible on the handle bars - no more peering at an axle mounted Jones
  
• Since the count is held in the electronics it will be possible to provide an additional readout on the LCD directly in metres or miles (using the working constant) with a resolution of 1 e-Jones count (0.1 metres)
  
• There is room on the LCD to display the intermediate distances in metres, or a count down in metres to the next split location.
  
• The e-Jones counts at the splits could be stored electronically for readout after the measurement into a spreadsheet ready to be used for the measurement report