Article | October 01, 1999An Inexpensive Sound Level Meter Craig A. Champlin Author Affiliations & Notes Craig A. Champlin Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Texas at Austin © 1999 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Article Information Articles Article | October 01, 1999 An Inexpensive Sound Level Meter SIG 6 Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders: Research and Diagnostics, October 1999, Vol. 3, 5. doi:10.1044/hhd3.1.5 SIG 6 Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders: Research and Diagnostics, October 1999, Vol. 3, 5. doi:10.1044/hhd3.1.5 View Article Figures Tables PDF PDF Supplemental Data Supplements Multimedia Share Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest Tools Get Citation Citation Champlin, C. A. (1999). An Inexpensive Sound Level Meter. Perspect Hear Hear Dis: Res Diag, 3(1), 5. doi: 10.1044/hhd3.1.5. Download citation file: RIS (Zotero) EndNote BibTex Medlars ProCite RefWorks Reference Manager © 2018 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association × Alerts User Alerts You are adding an alert for: An Inexpensive Sound Level Meter You will receive an email whenever this article is corrected, updated, or cited in the literature. You can manage this and all other alerts in My Account The alert will be sent to: Confirm × Sign In or Create a free account to receive alerts. × Likely, you have encountered applications where the measurement of sound-pressure level does not demand rigorous, scientific precision. Possible examples include showing students how to make sound measurements, assessing the noise level in a third-grade classroom or monitoring your lawnmower’s sonic output during operation. Such situations call for a sound level meter (SLM) that is rugged, easy to operate, portable, and preferably inexpensive. We have found that Radio Shack’s Digital Sound level Meter (catalog number: 33-2055) meets these criteria. At under $60, this SLM is priced about two orders of magnitude below the sophisticated SLMs found in the laboratory. The unit is small and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. It weighs about 165 grams (less than 6 ounces), which includes the 9-volt battery. Two types of readout are provided. The digital display is very easy to read. Additionally, the bar graph is useful when describing how sound levels fluctuate over time. The meter’s operating range is 50–126 dB SPL. This range and the 1-dB resolution are adequate for most applications. The meter is equipped with ‘A’ and ‘C’ frequency weighting functions. The ‘Fast’ or ‘Slow’ time weighting functions permit the bargraph to be updated of at intervals of 0.2 or 0.5 seconds, respectively. First Page Preview × View Large Subscribe to view more For full access to this article, log in to an existing user account, become a SIG affiliate, or purchase a short-term subscription. Become a SIG Affiliate Join a SIG Pay Per View Entire SIG 6 Perspectives on Hearing and Hearing Disorders: Research and Diagnostics content & archive 24-hour access $25.00 Buy Now This Issue 24-hour access $17.00 Buy Now This Article 24-hour access $10.00 Buy Now Sign In or Create an Account Please sign in using your ASHA.org login. If you do not have an ASHA login, you may register with us for free by creating a new account. Sign In or Create an Account We've Changed Our Publication Model... The 19 individual SIG Perspectives publications have been relaunched as the new, all-in-one Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. Learn more > Related Articles Related Topics