Bullet counter for Star/Magma

[6bg6ga]

There has been some talk about adding a counter to the Star/Magma sizers lately. Some have talked mechanical counters and some electronic counters. I gave it a whole 5 minutes of thought on which way I wanted mine and came up with what I feel is an easy cost effective way of doing it. It may not appeal to everyone but it works for me. The counter is an ebay item that sells for less than $10 and a cheap $1.50 micro switch and home made bracket.

Upon the down stroke and bullet being expelled the counter counts. I can also add a switch to zero the counter and another switch to adjust the count in case I need to take away from the tally.

[ph4570]

That is slick. If I had a need for the count that is the way I would go.

[Mal Paso]

Very Cool! IWO!

[6bg6ga]

Thanks,

I plan on an enclosure for the micro switch assembly as well as a box in which to mount the counter panel. In addition to the panel I will have an on/off switch a plus switch, minus switch, and a zeroing switch.

[cheese1566]

Can we get more info on the counting unit?
vendor/seller name

Looks like a neat project for my Star and progressive presses.

[finishman2000]

is it just a 12v counter with a switch? seems like more than 4 wires...2 for power and 2 for the switch? can you please post the wiring diagram used. thx

[6bg6ga]

Its a very simple counter that I am running off a 9 volt battery. The counter has a blk/ground terminal, Red/plus voltage terminal, Blue counter up(goes thru the switch to the positive battery terminal, Green (momentary contact to adjust the count down also goes to positive battery terminal thru a switch)

Last is a separate red and blk wire that when a contact is made zero's the display.

Very simple to wire up and make operational.

[old_haidouk]

Now if we could only mount an audible alarm when a preset number is reached that'd be great. I could use it on my Dillon too.

[6bg6ga]

One should be able to visually monitor the counter. No need to add to the complexity. KISS principal keep it simple stupid

[6bg6ga]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/250938320351...84.m1439.l2649


I was thinking about a group buy but here is the meter if your interested. Runs fine off a 9 volt battery.

[finishman2000]

thanks, just placed order for one.

[slim400]

Very slick I wonder if you would mind posting the item numbers and in exactly wiring diagram for those of us that know just about enough to get ourselves into real trouble trying to wire or something like that while it doesn't look too difficult I would assume your zero switch is nothing more than a interruption in the power supply usage are running it off a 9 volt battery the only thing that I would see different wood may be 5 or 6 digit counter for those of us that really sell a few bullets and would like to have a counter again very slick I am impressed the only thing that I would see the would be different would be 120 V to a 9 volt power supply if you don't want to post if you would please e-mail me or send me a PM I would greatly appreciate it

Thank you very much
slim400

[6bg6ga]

How to wire it up

Pins 3 and 4 on two pin connector are reset to zero and will be wired to a mom contact switch only.

Pins 8 and 9 will go to the battery 9 is red or positive.

Pin 8 is negative to the battery.

A switch (on/off) can be wired into the positive lead to turn the unit on or off.

Pin 7 will go to one side of the micro switch and the plus/red lead will go to the other side of the micro switch.

Pin 6 is a negative or minus count to take away from the count on the counter.

If you want a 120volt to 12 vdc wall wort then places like Radio Snack have them. I would suggest checking the polarity of the wart wiring as most are positive center terminal and polarity is important when wiring up this counter. You wire it incorrect and you will have a non- working blown up counter.

The microswitch is anything in the line that will work easily and there is no need for a HD industrial switch here as the standard switch will probably run 500K or better without a problem.

The in plus means it counts up. Micro switch here

The in minus-- means it counts down. Mom contact switch here

If used it will go to a mom contact switch in order to adjust the count.

Places like Radio Snack have a 9 volt battery connector if needed. I believe the counter will run on 6vdc to 12vdc without a problem. Current draw in minimal but a on off switch is a good idea as to not run down the battery when not in use.

[NPBullets]

Very nicely done!

[bobthenailer]

Very nicely done !! the only problem i see is you have to run a previously sized & lubed bullet through the sizer every 3 to 15 bullets depending on how much you are sizing it down to and the bullet alloy, to keep some lube on the sizing die so your final count will be off somewhat .

I guess im old school ! i just weigh my batch of bullets on a calibrated baby scale take the weight in lbs X 7000 and devide that number by bullet weight [ 10 lbs of bullets X 7000= 70,000 devided by 200 gr bullet = 350 bullets] .

[VHoward]

I guess I don't understand the need to count them unless you are in business to sell them. I just cast a large pile of bullets, then size until the pile is gone.

[Silver-Silver]

the only problem i see is you have to run a previously sized & lubed bullet through the sizer every 3 to 15 bullets depending on how much you are sizing it down to and the bullet alloy, to keep some lube on the sizing die so your final count will be off somewhat .

I have the same counter on my Star, and there is a feature for a pushbutton to decrease the count as well as increase the count. The micro switch gets hooked up to the increase and I have a push button to decrease the count when I feed another round back through to lube up the die.

When I first got the sizer, I knew I wanted the counter. Bought everything and got it setup how I wanted, now over a year later, I rarely care about it. It is a cool feature to customize your stuff, but not really necessary. Luckily it is a relatively cheap modification.

[6bg6ga]

I posted the thread because there had been some comment about doing a counter on a sizer. If you are interested in a counter then there it is. Its a no brainier because I figured out a bracket, mounting position and so forth. If you want it then there it is and if not then don't use it and don't comment of the necessity of a counter. Not going to get into an argument over the merits of weighing them or counting them. Personally I would like to gaze at the counter occasionally to see an approximate number of bullets that have been sized.

[finishman2000]

i would like to know how far a stick of lube goes for each boolit and then i would know when to change it before running it out and getting that air pocket which sucks. and maybe i will be selling some. i am looking forward to getting it done and thanks for the details.

[Frozone]

Can anyone get me a good clear pix of the back circuitry? The pix provided just isn't quite clear enough - I may try to photoshop it to see what I find.

There is more to this then just what they show in the diagram.

The DPDT switch jack in the upper right is likely an Up/Down select.
And the relay that is not in place is likely an alarm.

Someone asked for a 'warn on count reached' function - well it looks possible.