Can someone tell a newbie if there is a chip that counts pulses per minute and puts the number on an LCD display?

I am sure aurdiuno or Picaxe would do it but I have not looked into these chips yet. Perhaps I should.

 

The link is just an example of what you can find using "frequency counter circuit" as a search term - http://www.embedds.com/simple-frequency-counter-circuit/

 

I think I will end up learning picaxe. Will a PIC08 count in pulses per minute or do I need a PIC16 like the one in the link?

I want to make a tachometer for a car, so it need to read a fairly low pulse rate. About 700 pulses per minute at idle.

 

Another alternative - http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM2907.html#Overview

 

I believe the PICAxe can do what you want. But you might post over on their forums to be sure...There is a lot of active help there.

 

You can buy a $12 Shift1 kit from here;
http://www.piclist.com/techref/io/lcd/shift1.htm
and for a couple dollars extra he will supply a pre-programmed "RPM tacho" PIC.

Then you just need an LCD.