I am embarking on a project where we want to measure and our AC voltage at a location. I basically want to know how clean it is as far as how high and low it goes over time.
Each project I see like this Soundcard Digital Voltmeter talks about the difficulty of getting DC input into the sound card. Is it possible to feed AC in easily? I imagine it would have to be scaled to a different level, but what I am thinking is that your software could be used for my voltage tracking purposes.
Mind you, I am neither a software nor electrical engineer. I am having to do a lot of self education to even see what needs to be done. I would appreciate any pointers as to how off I might be or where I should begin my reading.
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Since sound audible to humans is an AC signal in the range of around 20Hz to 20kHz, sound cards are designed to measure AC voltages in this range. To measure DC, the DC signal has to be converted to AC first (and a software like socdvm is necessary to decode the recorded signal) or a modification of the sound card is necessary. This is the reason why everyone says that measuring DC causes difficulties.
After safely reducing the 50Hz or 60Hz line voltage to sound card levels (usually below 1V) without distorting it, it could be measured using a sound card. You wouldn't even need special software -- any audio recording software capable of displaying the waveform (or whatever analysis you need) could be used.
The catch is of course: Safely and without distortion (or better: sufficiently low distortion). You would need galvanic isolation and other safety stuff.
Therefore, I don't recommend doing this on your own if you don't know exactly what you are doing. I recommend to find someone who is qualified and eligible to help you with your project on-site or at least check your set-up and safety precautions.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I am embarking on a project where we want to measure and our AC voltage at a location. I basically want to know how clean it is as far as how high and low it goes over time.
Each project I see like this Soundcard Digital Voltmeter talks about the difficulty of getting DC input into the sound card. Is it possible to feed AC in easily? I imagine it would have to be scaled to a different level, but what I am thinking is that your software could be used for my voltage tracking purposes.
Mind you, I am neither a software nor electrical engineer. I am having to do a lot of self education to even see what needs to be done. I would appreciate any pointers as to how off I might be or where I should begin my reading.
Since sound audible to humans is an AC signal in the range of around 20Hz to 20kHz, sound cards are designed to measure AC voltages in this range. To measure DC, the DC signal has to be converted to AC first (and a software like socdvm is necessary to decode the recorded signal) or a modification of the sound card is necessary. This is the reason why everyone says that measuring DC causes difficulties.
After safely reducing the 50Hz or 60Hz line voltage to sound card levels (usually below 1V) without distorting it, it could be measured using a sound card. You wouldn't even need special software -- any audio recording software capable of displaying the waveform (or whatever analysis you need) could be used.
The catch is of course: Safely and without distortion (or better: sufficiently low distortion). You would need galvanic isolation and other safety stuff.
Therefore, I don't recommend doing this on your own if you don't know exactly what you are doing. I recommend to find someone who is qualified and eligible to help you with your project on-site or at least check your set-up and safety precautions.