Need advice on project

[bsl135]

Hello,
I'm an aerospace engineer, new to this forum.  I'm trying to find out the extent of the electronics challange I'm dealing with on a new project. 

Concept:
I want to instrument a test range by laying out multiple microphones (up to 10) in 100 yard increments in order to capture the sonic crack of a supersonic projectile passing over them.  By measuring the exact time of passage, it will be possible to accurately calculate the ballistic coefficient of the projectile.

Specific questions:
what kind of microphones do I need, and how do I interface them with a device?
can I interface with a laptop?
will I need to amplify the signal from the microphone as it traverses the 100's of yards of distance?
is it possible to scope the signal fromt the microphones (to identify echo's, etc)?

If this is not the correct forum for this kind of question, I appologize.  Please refer me to the right forum.

Thanks,
-Bryan

[Ed W]

Hi Bryan,

Thank you for posting to the NI forums.

We have several documents online that address these points.. 

Recommendations When Choosing a Microphone for Sound Measurements

10 Questions to Ask When Selecting Your Portable Sound and Vibration Measurement System

This Knowledge Base entry and tutorial should answer the majority of your questions, but please post back if you have anything further. 

Have a great day!

Ed W.

Applications Engineer

National Instruments

[Kurt_Veggeberg]

GRAS microphones has a range of ICP type microphones that can be used for sonic measurements.     They have published a paper on impulse noise measurements using our products that could give you some very useful information.     We have a range of products that can measure low frequencies.       In addition, we have some information on driving long cables with these type microphones.      Depending on the frequency of interest and cables, you can typically go 300 m. or beyond which would be a good fit for your application.     We also have some notes on using GPS if you need to go further.    

Send me a note if you would like me to send you a copy of some of this material. 

kurt.veggeberg@ni.com     Business Development Manager, Sound and Vibration.