The levels are displayed in ten discrete steps. This meter is not designed to give an accurate display of the power levels.It is designed to give an approximate visual indication of the audio power output of each channel. For many situations - disco, parties - this is all which is required: the flashing LED's add atmosphere to the situation.
LM3915. This is a monolithic Dot/Bar Display Driver IC made by National Semiconductor. It takes an analog voltage input on pin 5 then drives 10 LED's providing a logarithmic 3dB/step analog display. When measuring power, a 3dB increase means that the power input has doubled. As the power doubles, an additional LED will be lit until the maximum is reached. The display can be bar or moving dot depending on the connection of pin 9 to the positive supply. The LED drive current is regulated which eliminates the need for current limiting resistors.
The supply voltage can be between 3V to 25V. You can download the data sheet from the National Semiconductor website at: http://www.national.com/
The IC is suited to signals with a wide dynamic range such as audio, power, light intensity. In many applications a bargraph meter is faster, more rugged and has higher visibility than an analog (moving coil) or LCD meter.
LM3915. This is a monolithic Dot/Bar Display Driver IC made by National Semiconductor. It takes an analog voltage input on pin 5 then drives 10 LED's providing a logarithmic 3dB/step analog display. When measuring power, a 3dB increase means that the power input has doubled. As the power doubles, an additional LED will be lit until the maximum is reached. The display can be bar or moving dot depending on the connection of pin 9 to the positive supply. The LED drive current is regulated which eliminates the need for current limiting resistors.
The supply voltage can be between 3V to 25V. You can download the data sheet from the National Semiconductor website at: http://www.national.com/
The IC is suited to signals with a wide dynamic range such as audio, power, light intensity. In many applications a bargraph meter is faster, more rugged and has higher visibility than an analog (moving coil) or LCD meter.
PARTS LIST
R1-----10K
R2------1K
R3-----390
R4-----2,7K
P1-----100K TRIMMER POT.
C1-----10mf 25v
D1..D10---LED red
I.C. ----LM3915