Acquiring Data from a Digital Thermometer

[Mirin]

Let me preface this by saying that I know very little of circuitry, signals, etc. I have also Googled/searched the forum for help using keywords that are related to this project but also vague enough that I could not find any useful results.

I have a friend interested in how the temperature of a system changes over a long period of time with a time resolution such that it is impractical for her to record it manually. She has at her disposal a digital thermometer (see attached photo), Mac and/or Windows computers, and a limited amount of money to fund her project (within $100 or so). We are also both lightly experienced with soldering.

Is there any way to input the signal from this simple digital thermometer to a computer, then use the computer to acquire the thermometer readout automatically over time (such as with an Excel macro)? If not, is there another way to accomplish this without purchasing expensive software/hardware made specifically for this purpose?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[russ_watters]

You are better off just buying a logger. I think you can find one within your budget.

 

[mdjensen22]

http://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/usb-501-tc-lcd.aspx

 

[dlgoff]

This little http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=OM-63&Nav=dase01 only cost $79 and has good Accuracy (±0.5°C) and Resolution (±0.01°C).

The OM-63 portable temperature data logger is an easy-to-use, versatile device which can be used for a wide range of logging applications. The OM-63 is capable of sampling as fast as once per second or as slow as every 18 hours. A total of 43,344 temperature measurements can be stored in the data logger memory.

Easy-to-use Windows software is included with the OM-63. The software is a full-featured program that allows you to set up all data logger functions including sampling rate, logging duration, start mode, logging mode, and high and low temperature alarm values. Once data has been logged, the program then allows you to download data from the logger, plot the data and export the data to an ASCII text or Excel file format for further analysis.

 

[Mirin]

I wasn't aware such gadgets were so cheap. Thank you for the input(s)!