The range of the sound Sensor on DrDAQ

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Zenjin
Newbie
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:31 am

The range of the sound Sensor on DrDAQ

Post by Zenjin »

Hello, everyone,

I'm a new member, and have some questions about DrDAQ and Pico-Log.
I have used DrDAQ(LPT1) for measurement of the solar radio emission with a BS parabola antenna(12GHz) and the detector, for a long time.
This time, I tried to measure sound level in all day. I noticed that it detected sound level:80dB at mid-night and daytime, too.
Of cause I(We) can't hear that. I(We) have been very nervous recently. the big noise go up and down irregularly on DrDAQ(LPT).

Please tell me that the microphone on DrDAQ(LPT) can detect the range (xxx Hz to xxxx Hz) of the frequency sensitivity.

I am planning to buy a new one (DrDAQ(USB)) for confirmation of the noise.
Do you know how much frequency range (xxx Hz to xxxx Hz) can the microphone on DrDAQ(USB) capture?
I would like to know if DrDAQ can catch sounds that are out of the range that people can hear.

Thanks in advance.

Zenjin

Gerry
PICO STAFF
PICO STAFF
Posts: 1145
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:14 am

Re: The range of the sound Sensor on DrDAQ

Post by Gerry »

Hi Zenjin,

The internal microphone in the DrDaq is a low cost, pcb mounting, electret microphone which is intended to be used for detecting and measuring sound pressure levels (which it is very capable of, and is why there is only a specification for SPL and not frequency range). We have no frequency response data for this microphone but, in general, these type of electret micropones are not very good at covering high frequencies as they have a relatively thick diaphragm.

Unfortunately, (especially in this state of lockdown) we're not able to test the frequency response. When I'm next able to pick up a DrDaq I will look at performing a test. However, the DrDaq was designed for experimentation so, if you need the information sooner, you could perform a test yourself using, for instance, an app for your phone (e.g. such as this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... n_GB&gl=US), or if you simply want to see if it can detect frequencies beyond that of human hearing you could try capturing sounds in that range using, for instance, a cheap dog whistle.

Regards,

Gerry
Gerry
Technical Specialist

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