An electronic counter which can indicate the time intervals between successive pulses is applied to the measurement of the speed of incident shock wave by platinum film gauges, piezoelectric gauges and schlieren methods. A universal digital recorder is also assembled to compile such rapid transient phenomena as the pressure charge in a shock tube and the variation of infrared spectra obtained by rapid scanning. That, is, the intensities of the selected spectral region are digitalized at a definite interval and stored in predetermined number of addresses by a trigger which indicates the start of each scan. The cycle of this operation is repeated by the multiple trigger singnals until all memories are filled with the spectral intensities. The universal digital recorder is also available to count and record the change in the number of discrete pulses produced by an ion detector during the scanning of a Q- pole mass filter.