On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:44:30 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm,
Grant Erwin quickly quoth:

I'm hearing (no pun intended) that if I want cheap buy the Rat Shack digital SPL
meter. I'll probably do that. And I'm not trying to really outdo a pro tester, I
just want some data when I go object to their not raising my sound wall. I know
a guy who did this a long time ago (he was one of my dad's coworkers) and he
used a handheld meter to get data from his front porch and he said it was very
effective at the time. Thanks to all.

Yeah, grab one off Ebay for less than half the new price, delivered.

I ended up buying that JOAT meter after all. (VOM, humidity, sound,
light, capacitance meter rolled into one rubberized case with nice
padded carrying case for $75 delivered. I haven't had a chance to
check the cal on it but it gives identical wall outlet readings to
my super-duper $5 HF/Chiwanese DVM.) I like it! Mastech S8209.

I keep forgetting to see how the dog barking registers on the meter
above the freeway noise but it cuts through walls and double-paned
windows like a hot knife through butter. The mutt has been fairly
quiet lately. I-5 runs downhill about 1/2 mile away from my house
and the truck traffic can be overwhelming sometimes. Especially when
a convoy of unmuffled jake brakes go by, all farting in unison.

--
The ancient and curious thing called religion, as it shows itself in the
modern world, is often so overladen with excrescences and irrelevancies
that its fundamental nature tends to be obscured.
--H.L. Mencken in "Treatise on the Gods"