I think the sensor from the mouse will work. It is the disc that I have to change out. If I can elongate the motor shaft to accommodate the disk, I can have all the pulses I need. It will create the problem of having to figure out how many per one rev of the antenna. Not too much room in the housing accept under the motor. I have also thought about using the hall sensors that are inside a CD drive motor. For me, finding a way to get sensor information from the motor is the easy part. Selecting a PIC and LCD display will be the hard part..
Keep the ideas coming!!!

Bob