Where are the inexpensive magnetic linear encoders?

In an article in Control Engineering, Steve Feketa of Rockwell claims that magnetic linear encoders are available for $200 for a 1 meter encoder, while optical linear encoders can cost up to $2000 for a 1 meter encoder.

If you’re paying $2000 for an optical linear encoder, you’re either getting a very high resolution encoder, a very rugged encoder, or some golf at the country club for the encoder manufacturer’s sales team.  I can buy a nice optical linear encoder with a 1 meter scale for substantially less than $1000.

But I can’t find any information on inexpensive magnetic (or magnetorestrictive) linear encoders.  I do know of inexpensive optical linear encoders from US Digital and Avago that are under $200 for 34″, but they are hard to mount and the resolution is only 12.7µm.  I found that Heidenhain, Renishaw, Netzer, and Temposonics (magnetorestrictive) all make magnetic linear encoders.   I couldn’t find any pricing, and I’m not going to spend a lot of time trying to get quotations when I’m not ready to buy one.  I suspect that Netzer is the only one that might be close to $200 for a 1 meter length.  OK, New Scale Technology’s Tracker is probably under $200, but its length is only 8mm.

Why am I interested in low cost linear encoders?  Because the current cost of linear restricts their use to when I really need them (I’ve used linear encoders twice in > 10 years of machine building).  Even a low resolution linear encoder is helpful to minimize problems from backlash, and to provide feedback for linear motors.

For the hobbyist, eBay is one solution.  I recently bought two MicroE M2000 linear encoder read heads + electronics on eBay for a very reasonable price.  True, I don’t have the scales, but I’m not sure where I’ll use them, so that’s OK.

Related posts:

1. Why Are Standard Servo Motors So Different?