cheap-o decibel meters

[metalmeltr]

As far as cheep one go check radio shack, my friend just did a science experiment about how resonant sound boards are and she told me she got the meter from radio shack

[Technician1002]

Radio Shack meters have less features for more money.
Cheap, yes. Inexpensive, no.

Here is their two offerings.
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index. ... meter&sr=1
You can download the PDF manual for each. They are 45 and 50 bucks each.
You can only buy them in stores. Not all stores such as the ones in the mall carry the full product line.

The manual does not indicate any calibration certification that meters at about 1/2 the price include.

The PDF manual for the analog one is here;
http://www.radioshack.com/graphics/uc/r ... _PM_EN.pdf
and the digital one is here;
http://www.radioshack.com/graphics/uc/r ... _PM_EN.pdf
There is no mention of accuracy traceable to any standard. These are consumer level indicators only.

The less expensive ones elsewhere conform to these standards;
Conformed to the IEC 651 Type 2 and ANSI S1.4 Type 2 set standard

Basic info on the standards are here;
http://www.npww.com/help/iec-ansi.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-weighting