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Mono VU Meter


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By: kurt

A VU meter is used to display the loudness of an audio signal. This open source VU meter lights up ten LEDs to show how loud a mono audio signal is. Two of these can be made to show the loudness of each channel in a stereo signal.

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Bill of Materials

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Steps

26. Connect terminals for 9V battery

Connect a pair of alligator clips to the ground and +9V wires. I used a set of black clips for ground so I could remember which clip was which polarity. You could also use a 9V clip instead of alligator clips for this step. (Connect the red wire to the right-hand rail and the black wire to the left-hand rail.)

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27. Connect 9V battery

Connect the ground alligator clip to the (-) side of the 9V battery, and the +9V alligator clip to the (+) side of the battery. If you are using a 9V battery clip, simply snap it onto your 9V battery.

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28. Adjust potentiometer

At this point, all of the LEDs may or may not light up. Plug the Y-splitter in to your PC and play some music. Adjust the trimpot with a small flathead screwdriver so that the loudest parts of songs just barely light up all the LEDs.

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29. Enjoy your new VU meter!

Enjoy your new VU meter and show it off to all your friends! Check out http://youtu.be/LT-YHW8Z-L8 to see my VU meter at work.

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Revisions


7 - updated description
6 -
5 - added youtube link. updated line numbers.
4 - changed LED part
3 - added description to project image
2 - added file descriptions
1 - Initial project release
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