Damaged meter?

[mra68]

Hi All,

Sorry if this has been covered, I did a few quick searches and didn't see mention of this before.

Has anyone encountered a damaged RadioShack meter? I've got the new style analog meter, and when set at 80 it is acting like it is picking up a reading. This changes depending on the direction and orientation I point the meter. Placing my hand in front of the mic a few inches away causes the needle to drop.

It behaved this way for an afternoon, then seemingly fixed itself. It's now acting this way again for 2 days and I can't figure out what's wrong. I've changed to a brand new battery, tried leaving it unplugged for a while, no change. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Alex

[tonyvdb]

mra68 wrote:

It behaved this way for an afternoon, then seemingly fixed itself. It's now acting this way again for 2 days and I can't figure out what's wrong. I've changed to a brand new battery, tried leaving it unplugged for a while, no change. Any ideas?

That is not normal for sure, It sounds like its got a bad pot on the db setting dial. Have you tried turning the dial back and forth several times fast to clean it. What happens if you lightly touch the dial when you see this happening does the needle jump around?

[mra68]

Thanks for the reply. I'm inclined to not think it's a bad pot due to the fact that it always affects the 80db and below range; at 90 it will show some energy but only a little. I will try to move the dial fast when I get home.

Touching the dial has no effect. The strangest part to me is that the direction I point it, and whether it's pointing slightly up or down can affect the behavior. It's almost like the mic is damaged/super sensitive.

[tonyvdb]

Do you still have the receipt? I would take it back. 80db shouldn't show any level unless there is a far bit of room noise. do you have a ceiling fan or something moving air around as air movement can cause some noise.

[mra68]

It's about 2 years old. No, no ambient noise going on. It's almost like it's picking up some RF noise or something. I guess I'll just have to get another....