Members d'Arsonval Posted November 25, 2010 Members Share Posted November 25, 2010 For quite sometime, I've wanted to find a place to expose some ofthe things I've built over the years. Recently, I've been able to sortthrough a "ton" of photos, and get them somewhat organized on-line. The URL below may be subject matter this forum will find of interest. Titled, "Building A VU Meter", it may even be the worlds largest. http://www.pbase.com/visual_first/building_a_vu_meter If you're an Audio Aficionado, you may need to pop some popcornbefore you begin checking it out. Have Fun. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fatusstratus Posted November 25, 2010 Members Share Posted November 25, 2010 Some people like to say "VU" stands for "Virtually Useless" in favor of Peak Program response (faster response so transients are more clearly represented, not just "avg program level") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike42 Posted November 25, 2010 Members Share Posted November 25, 2010 That is Astounding! But, I gotta ask; what was this thing for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d'Arsonval Posted November 25, 2010 Author Members Share Posted November 25, 2010 00100011100001111100000111110000111111000011100000011110001111111110000111100001111001111000 Does one "hear" in analog, or do we hear in digital? Do we see in "pixels", or do we see at a certain frequency? fatusstratus, I "hear 'Ya. VU does stand for Virtually Useless. mike42, Thank You!As far as "what was this thing for?" It was a challenge of one's personal skill and knowledge. Nothing more.It's Art! And it actually works too.(Nothing more.) Happy Thanksgiving, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 25, 2010 Members Share Posted November 25, 2010 Since responce Velocity of a mechanical meter is affected by inertia, the meter would be completely useless. It would miss most of the peaks because the needle and armature are way too heavy to respond quickly to transient peaks. You could use it as a Multimeter or something that doesnt need to ride peaks, but you should really see an optimologist if you need something that big to be seen. If you needed big, then a digital VU with large LED banks would blow away a mechanical meter for accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AMZ-FX Posted November 25, 2010 Moderators Share Posted November 25, 2010 Since responce Velocity of a mechanical meter is affected by inertia, the meter would be completely useless. Not accurate if you wanted to use it in a studio for serious recording... but that doesn't appear to be the purpose of the project. It is a display unit. Art. @John: Excellent job! Well documented and quite interesting. Thanks for posting the pictures. regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted November 25, 2010 Moderators Share Posted November 25, 2010 Amazing! Beautiful work, John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted November 25, 2010 Members Share Posted November 25, 2010 I only looked at a few pics. If its only artwork, then I stand corrected. My point was a large needle wouldnt respond quickly due to the weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d'Arsonval Posted November 27, 2010 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2010 WRGKMC, I tend to forget the linear thinking at times with the "electronic minded". Presenting a process, or steps in building a model of a Panel Mount VU Meter to say,a woodworking group, or a pack of machinists would have seemed even more dangerous.They would have told me all about the discrepancies in the poor exterior finish,or highlighted the lathe chuck marks still visible on the hardware fasteners. So, I exposed it to this crowd instead. And wonders never seize. LOL "It's too Big!" They exclaim. I still have yet to read from the wisdom of the crowd on some other forumswhere the "spec" is... regarding the chosen color of a VU Meter face by early generation manufacturers. I gave up looking. I couldn't find it. In the meantime, Thank You for all the kinds words. At some point I will have a video posted showing the meter's actual performancefor the armchair enthusiast, and of course for the driven EGO of its builder. Thank you all again, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Grumpy Posted November 27, 2010 Members Share Posted November 27, 2010 I think it's very cool. Nice work all the way around as far as I can see. My only disappointment is that there is only one - there should be two for stereo. As for the naysayers, well it seemed obvious to me it was intended as a display/artistic piece and not as a practical piece of working gear. I think there may be a limited market for more of these to museums and maybe in corporations. Imagine having a pair of those in the front office of a radio station or recording studio, or for a flashy trade-show display. How about a giant ribbon mike next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fatusstratus Posted November 27, 2010 Members Share Posted November 27, 2010 Does one "hear" in analog, or do we hear in digital?Do we see in "pixels", or do we see at a certain frequency? ooh, good question - I don't know. I suppose neuroscientists might need to answer that one and I don't even know if they are fully sure. I mean our eyes use individual rods and cones, so I guess the raw data acquisition is in pixels though that doesn't address the level detection...I dont know if thats more discrete or continuous but I've also heard there is all kinds of crosstalk which is why some optical illusions work the way they doIt's weird though when you think about it - digital is really a special case of analog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fatusstratus Posted November 27, 2010 Members Share Posted November 27, 2010 but in terms of building and just doing something cool - it looks like you did something very cooland it looks to be quite the clean build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AMZ-FX Posted November 29, 2010 Moderators Share Posted November 29, 2010 I am attaching a very old article about VU meters. Enjoy! This file is a pdf, so when you download it, you will have to rename it to remove the .mp3 file extension. I did this to get around the file size limit for attachments. regards, Jack . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d'Arsonval Posted November 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2010 Man on the Moon? AMAZING! Jack, finding this "Electronics" reprint? Pretty Darn Close! Two very enlightening facts are revealed in your PDF file. 1) The meter face is not a "meter face". It's a Scale Card. 2) The color of the scale card is Cream Yellow. It may seem frivolous to most reading this thread, but you've helpanswer a question that's been unanswerable for me until now. I'll make the adjustments in my photo page to reflect this new information. Excellent job! Thank you. I scrolled back on this thread and noticed I never posted the YouTube URL showing a very primitive "raw video" of the device actually working. Here it is for anyone interested: http://www.youtube.com/user/electricalapparatus Thanks again Jack. And here's to the Holiday season for everyone. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcmurray Posted November 30, 2010 Members Share Posted November 30, 2010 Nice work mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members groutt Posted December 2, 2010 Members Share Posted December 2, 2010 Beautiful work! Really really nice. I love analog meters. Here's my attempt at a demo meter, but it's not even a real analog movement. It's an RC model servo and simple driver circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cantoXIII Posted December 2, 2010 Members Share Posted December 2, 2010 amazing! i love VU meters...for all their flaws and shortcomings they are infinitely more appealing to watch than LED's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cvenzon Posted June 30, 2013 Members Share Posted June 30, 2013 Hi John,I have a project requiring a 16" Analog VU Meter. Can you help?Thanks,Cris VenzonManaging Directorwww.dalemathis.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 30, 2013 Members Share Posted June 30, 2013 Thats a 3 year old post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thedudebro Posted September 28, 2013 Members Share Posted September 28, 2013 Still awesome, even if all it does is swing around randomly when there's noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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