Skip to main content

Sensitive Audio Power Meter Circuit Diagram


As a follow-up to the simple audio power  meter described in [1], the author has developed a more sensitive version. In practice,  you  rarely  use  more  than  1 watt  of  audio  power in a normal living-room environment.  The only time most people use more is at a  party when they want to show how loud their  stereo system is, in which case peaks of more  than 10 W are not uncommon. With this circuit, the dual LED starts to light up  green at around 0.1 watt into 8 ohms (0.2 watt  into 4 ohms). Naturally, this depends on the  specific type of LED that is used.
 
Circuit diagram:
Sensitive Audio Power Meter-Circuit-Diagram
Sensitive Audio Power Meter Circuit Diagram
 
Here it is  essential to use a low current type. The capacitor is first charged via D1 and then discharged via the green LED. This voltage-doubler effect  increases the sensitivity of the circuit. Above a level of 1 watt, the transistor limits the current through the green LED and the red LED con ducts enough to produce an orange hue.The red colour predominates above 5 watts. Of course, you can also use two separate ‘normal’ LEDs. However, this arrangement cannot generate an orange hue. For any testing that may be necessary, you should use  generator with a DC-coupled output. If there is a capacitor in the output path, it can cause misleading results.
Reference: Simple Audio Power Meter, Elektor July & August 2008. 
http://streampowers.blogspot.com/2012/06/sensitive-audio-power-meter.html 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PID instruction in Allen Bradley PLC Closed Loop Control

PID instruction in Allen Bradley PLC [Proportional/Integral/Derivative] Closed Loop Control For   Processor SLC 5/02SLC 5/03SLC 5/04SLC 5/05    MicroLogix 1200 and MicroLogix 1500 (A special PID file replaces the old integer file control block.) Description of PID in PLC   This output instruction is used to control physical properties such as temperature, pressure, liquid level, or flow rate of process loops. The PID instruction normally controls a closed loop using inputs from an analog input module and providing an output to an analog output module as a response to effectively hold a process variable at a desired set point. The PID equation controls the process by sending an output signal to the actuator. The greater the error between the setpoint and the process variable input, the greater the output signal, and vice versa. An additional value (feed forward or bias) can be added to the control output as an offset. The result of the PID calculation (control vari...

NE566 Function Generator Circuit Diagram

The NE566 Function Generator is a Voltage-Controlled Oscillator of exceptional linearity with buf fered square wave and triangle wave outputs. The frequency of oscillation is determined by an external resistor and capacitor and the voltage applied to the control terminal. The Oscillator CAN be programmed over a ten-to-one frequency range by proper selection of an external resistance and modulated over a ten-to-one range by the control voltage, with exceptional linearity.  FMAX = 1 MHz     WIDE 1000:1 Continuous Sweep Possible  NE566 Function Generator Circuit Diagram Pdf Datasheet  Sourced by : Circuitsstream

Long Loopstick Antenna Circuit Diagram

Circuit Diagram  Description Wound on a 3 foot length of PVC pipe, the long loopstick antenna was an experiment to try to improve AM radio reception without using a long wire or ground. It works fairly well and greatly improved reception of a weak station 130 miles away. A longer rod antenna will probably work better if space allows. The number of turns of wire needed for the loopstick can be worked out from the single layer, air core inductance formula: Inductance = (radius^2 * turns^2) / ((9*radius)+(10*length)) where dimensions are in inches and inductance is in microhenrys. The inductance should be about 230 microhenrys to operate with a standard AM radio tuning capacitor (33-330 pF). The 3 foot PVC pipe is wound with approximately 500 evenly spaced turns of #24 copper wire which forms an inductor of about 170 microhenrys, but I ended up with a little more (213uH) because the winding spacing wasn't exactly even. A secondary coil of about 50 turns is wound along the length of th...