Blog by Senior Acoustic Expert Esko Rytkönen
- Joonas
- 24 tuntia sitten
- 1 min käytetty lukemiseen
Looking Back: The Early Years of Acoustics and Noise Measurement (1980s) -- Part 1
Measuring Noise the Hard Way -- Sound Power Measurements, Finland in 1985
"This photo shows me in 1985, measuring the sound power of a woodworking machine using the sound intensity method," says Esko Rytkönen, a noise expert with more than four decades of experience.
On the right is Finland's first sound intensity meter, the Brüel & Kjær 3360. In the middle is the HP 9816 measurement computer, used to store data and calculate results. Below it sits an HP 9122 dual 3.5" floppy disk drive with 360 or 720 kilobytes of storage. Results were printed using the HP 2671G printer on the left.
"The entire system weighed about 30 kilograms, making it cumbersome to move at industrial sites. We used 30-meter-long microphone cables so equipment could remain stationary while measuring around machines."
Today, equivalent measurements use lightweight, handheld instruments with vastly superior performance.
Sound intensity measurement was revolutionary—enabling precise identification of noise sources and accurate sound power determination even in reverberant industrial environments. While the theory dated back to the 1930s, it took decades of technological advancement before practical measurement tools emerged, transforming industrial acoustics and noise management.
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