[CochrellGary]

Thanks for the interest. I am still using the applause meter for our BYOB challenges (Bring Your Own Buddies).

Here is what is needed to construct the visual applause meter.
1. A wireless microphone with receiver.
2. A Radio Shack multimeter with a PC interface. The last catalog I got from Radio Shack (2001) listed the part number as 22-805 ($59.99). The part number and price are probably different now. The multimeter comes with the software necessary to display the output from the meter on your computer screen. Output from the meter is fed out to an RS232 cable. The RS232 cable and connector come with the meter.

The output from the wireless microphone receiver is connected to the input of the multimeter. The meter is switched to read AC voltage. Thats all there is to it. Once the software is activated and the output is displayed on the screen, I can slide the display over to the second display screen so the audience can see the output.

Here is what we have found when using the meter. Place the microphone high and center it on the area to be monitored. Realize that the microphone you will probably use is unidirectional. This means that maximum pick up will be directly in front of the microphone. When we are going to judge a BYOB challenge we tell the audience where the microphone is and if they want their "noise" to count, they need to be in front of the microphone. To try and make it as fair as possible I hang the microphone as close to the celing as I can get it and place it so that the audience is at least ten feet away.

One of the biggest problems is the delay in displaying the output. There is about a one to two second delay from the time the applause starts and when it displays on the screen. This is not a big problem because you are just looking for the largest reading. But when you have the manager of the club on a microphone introducing each singer, the output from his mic registers on the meter and sometimes the applause for a singer isn't as loud as the managers mic, well you can see what can happen. The managers mic reading is mistaken for the applause for the singer.

Hope this information helps.

Gary