The calibration of the meter is referenced in a calibrated standard test
chamber using calibrated standard referencing equipment. Using it in a
normal room or stage setting will be very different. I will give you an
equivalent, according to the effects of the acoustics of the environment.
The sound source that you are using is bouncing around off of objects in the
area, and is not necessarily accurate in itself to begin with.

If you read the instruction booklet that came with the meter, you will see
that it is fairly complex in many aspects, yet it can be simple to use as a
fixed reference for a particular circumstance. As for its response, it
should have the options to follow a specific weighted curves.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
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WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
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"Hank2" wrote in message
. com...
I have recently bought a Radio Shack Digital Sound Level Meter. It has a
facility for taking "average" readings over periods up to 200 seconds. I
tried an experiment where I performed an "average" over a set period during
which, for half of the time I turned the noise source off. Instead of
indicating and average equal to 3db below the source power, a drop of around
8db showed up. Obviously it was not averaging power.

Other tests where I varied the sound source power during the averaging
period, showed that the meter was not indicating average db readings either.

If the "average" indicated is not of power, nor of dbs, just what is it?

An explanation would be much appreciated.

Hank