OT: how to log decibel readings over a period of days?

[J Tiers]

If that's all you want/can/need to accomplish, then use the logging app to record the sound levels (you want them A-weighted, or in dBA, to adjust the frequency content to match what you can hear) over a 24-hour period from your location.

Sort of. A weighted is really tuned to the low level sensitivity of the ear. It's commonly used, but there is an assumption inherent that the noiseis relatively low in actual spl.

You hear more lows and highs as the sound level increases, so the A weighted curve does not fit all situations. But it is so widely used that you more or less have to use it too.

I think you need to do several days, because the use of A/C will vary also. You want to find the worst days, not the quietest days. A loud noise that hardly ever happens is often counted less than a somewhat quieter noise that is present more of the time. And a constant noise is more impressive.

Be prepared for the county to discount everything. Had a problem with a landlord not turning on the heat. Had the city guy come out. My thermometer was on the table, reading 60F. The city guy pulls a fairly heavy metal-cased dial thermometer (that would be used to measure liquid temps) out of his inside pocket (under his jacket), and lays it on the table next to mine.

A minute or two later he picks it up, notes that it reads 80F, and says "I see no problem here, your thermometer is wrong.".

Obviously he did not want to find a problem, and very likely your guy will not want to either.

[QSIMDO]

https://www.cirrusresearch.co.uk/blo...d-level-meter/

From here I Googled "data logging sound level meter" and even Amazon came up with models
that down load to your computer over a length of time, at some reasonable prices given the circumstances.

[Glug]

I think that's impractical to get a weeks worth of readings. My benchmark of what I want is my datalogging thermometer.

Why? The amount of data, recorded as MP3, is not a burden on even rather old recorders or computers - around 2 GB per day at 192 Kbps. I bought a 32GB card for my pocket recorder a few years ago. They're cheaper now - about $12.

Something that merely logs dB won't allow you to identify the source.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Why? The amount of data, recorded as MP3, is not a burden on even rather old recorders or computers - around 2 GB per day at 192 Kbps. I bought a 32GB card for my pocket recorder a few years ago. They're cheaper now - about $12.

Something that merely logs dB won't allow you to identify the source.

Hire an attorney. I think the only audio worth recording is a conversation with the school. Nobody is going to care about sound level/dB measurements taken from someone else's device. Especially if it's not NIST traceable, or some other traceable standard.

[boslab]

Steelplant noise was monitored using squirrel data loggers, you can set sampling time from sub second to weeks or even months, multiple channels onto a sd card or pc or both, we used them for plant condition monitoring too (pcm), think I still have one in the shop with a load of thermocouples connected for a furnace I was fixing.
Many other loggers available btw
Mark

[J Tiers]

Hire an attorney. I think the only audio worth recording is a conversation with the school. Nobody is going to care about sound level/dB measurements taken from someone else's device. Especially if it's not NIST traceable, or some other traceable standard.

The OP only needs to get the local authorities interested. He does not want to get legally admissible data (yet).

If his stuff WAS traceable, it would not matter, since he has no certificate of training, and would be discredited instantly as probably having made a simple mistake due to being unqualified.

He may find that the locals do not particularly want to get in conflict with the school district, though... could be an issue.

If this fails, then pay for a sound survey, and get a lawyer. Or just live with it.

[gellfex]

The OP only needs to get the local authorities interested. He does not want to get legally admissible data (yet).

It's not even that, the inspector requested I produce a log, and I'm not around 24/7 but a recorder/logger would be, and would be less arbitrary than my writing down "seems loud, 6:47 pm". He'd be able to see the graph spike himself.

[gellfex]

I think I've got it. Android app Sensor Sense, can create a csv file of data points off of many of the phone's sensors. 2 readings per second, 6kb per minute, so less than 9 megs a day. A retired Moto E will take up duty in the window.

Now I gotta learn how to import the data and graph it in LibreOffice Calc (Excel). That's the fun part, trapping myself into learning something new. That's how I learned CAD in 91, by promising a client drawings I was incapable of doing on a board.

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

I think I've got it. Android app Sensor Sense, can create a csv file of data points off of many of the phone's sensors. 2 readings per second, 6kb per minute, so less than 9 megs a day. A retired Moto E will take up duty in the window.

Now I gotta learn how to import the data and graph it in LibreOffice Calc (Excel). That's the fun part, trapping myself into learning something new. That's how I learned CAD in 91, by promising a client drawings I was incapable of doing on a board.

When the inspector blows you off after providing what he asked, then trap yourself into learning how effective an attorney on your side is. One call from your attorney to the inspector will get the ball rolling close to the speed of light.

[tom37]

to op
1. get the specks for the county noise levels.
2 Call OHSA about worker safety
3 Call EPA about noise polution
4 After week no action repeat
5 if no response have your friend layer call.

Tom W

[Glug]

Any progress?

[gellfex]

Any progress?

It seems my reading were not necessary, there were other fronts in this war. I talked with one of the janitors who said there had been calls to the police, and the councilman was involved. Ridiculous that the county office responsible for noise issues had no clue other authorities were involved. Also, the school had hired a new service contractor for the unit, inexplicably from half the state away, that actually knew something about how to manage this thing. I must say, it has gotten better. The howling may have been some setting gone wrong. If I had to guess, the compressors are on a VFD so they can run continuously at lower RPM rather than cycling at top RPM like your typical window unit. But the system was kicking them into top gear.