10/01/2015
(903)3837047buildaninfrasonicmicrophone
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Detectslowsoundwavesandpressurewavesintherangeof0.1Hzto10Hz.
HOWTOUSETHEANTENNA(seebelowonthispage).
Oneuseofthisantennaistodetectinfrasonicsoundwaves.
Thereisnotechnicalhelpwiththeproject.Seephotosandinstructionsbelowonthispage.
Part#
AF4T0.1H2KBCEB
RadioBand OutputImpedanceDC LowFreq
ELF
1160ohms
HiFreq
__Price
0.01Hz 2800Hz
$125.00
SalestoUSAonly.
UsingtheAntennatodetectinfrasound
Whatisinfrasound?
Infrasoundwavesaresoundwavesthataretoolowforhumanhearingwhichstartsat20Hzonthelowendandends
at20KHzonthehighend.Infrasoundstartsat0.1Hz(infrasoundwavesof1cycleper10seconds)andendsat20
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Hz(soundwavesof20cyclespersecond).
Therearebothnaturalandhumanmadesourcesofinfrasoundwaves.Storms,winds,tornadoes,earthquakes,
volcanoes,andlargemeteorsenteringintheatmospherearesomeexamplesofnaturalsourcesofinfrasound
waves.Rockets,supersonicaircraft(sonicbooms),andthespaceshuttlearesomeexamplesofhumanmade
sourcesofinfrasound.
Howitworks:
Theantennaissensitivedownto0.01Hz(onecycleper100seconds),andupto2.8KHz,(2800cyclespersecond).
Apressuresensorismadefromaballooncutandstretchedoverasmallglassjar.Thismakesanairfilled
diaphragm.Itexpandsandcontractswithchangesinlocalairpressure,exactlyliketheairpressuresensorfound
insideabarometer.Infrasoundwavesaffectthelocalairpressureastheypassby.Theballoondiaphragmexpands
andcontractsveryslightlyalongwiththeinfrasonicpressurewaves.Theantennadetectsthetinymotionofthe
magnetgluedtothediaphragm.
Howtobuildit:
Usea12inchtypepartyballoon.Cuttheinflatepartoffoftheballoon,keepingmorethanhalfoftheballoon'sbig
end.Stretchittightenoughovertheglassjarmouthsothatallthewrinklesareremoved,butdon'toverdoit.There
mustberoomforittoexpandandcontract.
Tapearoundtheballoononthesidesofthejarwithelectricaltapetopreventanylossofsealedairpressure.A
rubberbandwon'tdoit.YouWILLneedtotapeitupgood.
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TapeaNdFeBtypemagnetof1/2inchto1inchdiametermagnetof5000guassorgreater(www.digikey.com)tothe
centeroftheballoondiaphragm.(WetriedasmallerWalmartmagnetshowninthephoto,andlaterchangedittothe
1inchdiameter10800gaussmagnetfromdigikey).
NOTE:www.digikey.comhas10800gaussNdFeB(part#4691000ND)1inchdiameterx1/8thinchthickround
magnetswhichworkverywell.
ThemagnetshouldbepositionedwithitsNORTHpolefacingupsotheoutputvoltagegoestowardnegative("")
whenthediaphragmexpands(airpressuredropping),andgoestowardpositive("+")whentheballooncontracts(air
pressureincreasing).TheNORTHendofacompasspointstowardtheNORTHPOLEofamagnet.
Awoodensupportcanbemadetoholdtheantennaandjarstablesotheydon'tmove.Withthedesignshown,either
theantennaorthejarcanbemovedcloserorfartheraparttocontrolthesensitivitylevel.
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Testing:Allowthe2transistoramplifier(seecircuitbelow)tostabilizefor1minute.Youshouldseeawigglytraceon
yourscope.Openandcloseyourroomdoororanydoorinyourhouseandyoushouldseeastrongresponse.
Shakinga14inchsquarepieceofcardboardboxinyourroom'sdoorwayshouldcauseastrongresponseat2to3
Hz.You'vejustmadeinfrasonicsoundwaves!
Youshouldeasilybeabletoseeyourbuilding'sairconditioningsystem'spressurewavescausedbytheblower
running.Youmaywanttomountyoursensoroutdoorsonyourporchtogetridoftheinterferenceandtomaximize
sensitivitytolongdistancedetection.
Onawindydayyoushouldbeabletoseethepressurechangesduetolocalwindspeedchanges.
NOTE:Thisprojectwilldetecttherelativelyquickchangesinairpressureduetosuddenstorms,winds,andweather
thatproduceinfrasonicwaves.Itwillnotdetecttheextremelyslowchangesthatnormallyoccurduringfairweather.
(TheantennaisnotsensitivetoDCmagneticfieldlevel).
NOTE:Ifyoumountthisoutdoorsyoumaywanttouseahardplasticcupinsteadoftheglassjar,havingthesame
diameter(2.25inches)asthejar.Drilla1/4inchholeinthecupandplaceastackof10to20sheetsof1inch
squarepiecesofpapertocreateaveryslowairleak(about3minutesdecaytime)topreventpressurebuildupdue
totemperaturechanges.
Somepreamplifierdesigns:
Ifyourchartrecorderoroscilloscopeisnotsensitiveenoughonitsown,thenasimplesingle2N3904transistorpre
amplifier(pdffile)canbeeasilybuiltfromafewcommonpartsfromRadioShackstores.Thisamplifierworksfrom
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0.1Hzto10Hz,gainrapidlyrollsoffabove15Hz.Powerdrainislessthan1milliampat9voltsforlongbatterylife.
Orifyouneedsomeextragainasimpletwotransistorpreamplifiercanbeused.Thiscircuitworksverywellandis
verysensitiveandwilldetecta10800gaussmagnet(of1inchdiameter,0.125inchthick)at10feetaway.Ifyour
chartrecorderoroscilloscopeisnotsensitiveenoughonitsown,thenasimpletwo2N3904transistorpreamplifier(
pdffile)canbeeasilybuiltfromafewcommonpartsfromRadioShackstores.Thisamplifierworksfrom0.01Hzto
10Hz,gainrapidlyrollsoffabove15Hz.Powerdrainisabout1milliampat9voltsforlongbatterylife.Connectany
loggingmillivoltmeteroroscilloscopetotheoutputofthispreamplifiertoseeextremelyslowwaveforms.Useadata
loggingmilliampmeterordataloggingPCchartmillivoltmetertorecordwaveforms.Thesamplerateshouldbesetat
30samplespersecondifyouwanttoseewaveformsupto15Hz.Seealsowww.dataq.comfordatalogging
instruments.
The2transistoramplifiershownintheabovepdffileallowsenoughgaintoadditionallydetectgeomagneticstorms.
NOTE:The10uFcapacitoracrosstheantennaterminalsdeterminestheantenna'stunedfrequency.
SEEANTENNATUNINGDATAGRAPHSHERE(pdffile).
Youmaywanttochangethecapacitorvaluetopeakthefrequencyofwhatyou'relisteningfor.
TheWinDaqSoftwarefromDATAQwww.dataq.comwillallowyoutoperformafrequencyscanmeasurementof
receivedinfrasonicwaves.FFTtransformsanalysetherecordinginstantly(youdon'thavetostoptherecordingtodo
this),andfindthefrequencypeaks.Shownaboveourseismographhasaresonantperiodof0.6976Hz.This
resonantperiodissetbyhowlongofaropetheantennaissuspendedby.Theantennaherewassuspendedby
about20inchesofrope.Muchlowerfrequencyperiodscanbeexploredbyusingalongerrope.
VerticalscaleofabovegraphshowslevelsindB,HorizontalscaleisfrequencyinHz.
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TheDATAQsoftwarewillscandownto0.00027Hz.
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