An optical detector on a spirit tube can work. I have done some preliminary experiments with a spirit level tube, light source and photo detector. One can pick up the bubble though my initial test setup was crude to say the least. I wonder if a capacitance probe against the glass of a spirit tube would pick up the difference when the bubble went past or was under the probe? The advantage to that would be that ambient light wouldn't interfere with the detector. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK OSU Information Technology Division Network Operations Group -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist