Comments on: VU Meter made with an LM3915

By: Solenoidclock

Solenoidclock — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:33:52 +0000

Batteries + Wires /= Hack

By: Stephen Kuhl

Stephen Kuhl — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:53:11 +0000

Yes it is a very old circuit. I even modified this circuit to use as a voltmeter in one of my cars.
Maybe calling it a hack isn’t correct, but it is usefull anyway. Maybe you need another category called “old but fun crap”.

By: DriX

DriX — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:39:16 +0000

Come on, this isn't a hack at all. Prehaps, the LM3915 it's very very old, and i think most of we know how to drive it.

If you'll go this way, you've to get a domain like instructable-a-day.com or ad-a-day.com

Juan Aguilar, i don't know you, but i know that YOU are getting hackaday down and down each day...

Saludos desde Argentina.

By: Roly

Roly — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:21:53 +0000

The LM3914 used as a proportional fan driver with optional temperature display.

http://ozvalveamps.elands.com/techsite/thermofan/thermofan.htm

By: f00 f00

f00 f00 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:13:34 +0000

To be fair the new content has started to improve. Theres been some intersting stuff and some teribly out of place stuff. Lets hope this is just teething, and we’ll level out some where half decent.
This post falls into the out of place category. Its like going up to bunch Head Chefs and saying “Hay check out this egg I boiled!”

By: Orv

Orv — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:55:05 +0000

I suppose I ought to make the obligatory pedantic comment and point out that this is a level meter, but it’s not technically a VU meter. VU meters have a fairly specific dynamic response.

By: Zero

Zero — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:53:41 +0000

Let's all use this one opportunity of a poor article to prove our superior intellect by pointing out the weakness in others.

"the day you think you know everything about anything is the day when you stop learning"

i never would hire anybody with such arrogance.

By: JB

JB — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:38:14 +0000

This can be summed up in one word: LAME. I remember playing with that chip 30 years ago, when I was in high school.

By: mace

mace — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:06:43 +0000

Golly, a LM3915, it has only been around for like FOREVER!

This isn't instructables.com! This isn't I-am-a-electronics-idiot.com

This is hackaday! posts some gorram hacks already!

By: strider_mt2k

strider_mt2k — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:23:02 +0000

Unbunch your panties and man up for five minutes will ya?

Save the drama for rendezvous with rama.

By: MacGyver

MacGyver — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:15:19 +0000

Not only is this not a hack, but the design for such a beast is available at the end of the chip’s datasheet itself! The guy even entered it into the Robot contest on Instructables… hell, I’m going to copy some circuit verbatim from the datasheet and enter it into contests to win prizes against those who put some real blood, sweat, and tears into a custom design.

By: quasi

quasi — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:35:19 +0000

Too right guys…. I’ve already been to Engadget and Gizmodo, I don’t need to read the same articles a third time. How about showing us some hacks ?

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:29:49 +0000

You could also try pulling one out of an old tape deck- I picked up one for $5 which had a functional VU meter inside (7666p based), along with a bunch of other cool motors and things. Here is a quick write-up:

http://www.cibomahto.com/?s=vu+

By: rastapopulous

rastapopulous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:18:33 +0000

Yeah…I googled the part number…it returned “The LM3916 is a monolithic integrated circuit that senses analog voltage levels and drives ten LEDs, LCDs or vacuum fluorescent displays, providing an electronic version of the popular VU meter.” ….

By: aonomus

aonomus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:55:31 +0000

A hack implies using something for an unintended use, the LM3914/5/6 was *designed* for this exact purpose. If we want slashdot or engadjet, we’d go there, filter a little more please