PCE Instruments PCE-322ALEQ Users guide

SOUND LEVEL METER

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

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1. SAFETY INFORMATION

Read the following safety information carefully before

attempting to operate or service the meter.
Use the meter only as specified in this manual:

⚫ Environment conditions

① Altitude lower than 2000 meters
② Relatively humidity ≤90％RH
③ Operation Ambient 0 ~ 40°C

⚫ Maintenance & Clearing

① Repair or servicing not covered in this manual

should be performed by qualified personnel.

② Periodically wipe the case with a dry cloth. Do not

use solvents or harsh chemicals on this

instrument.

⚫ Safety symbols

Comply with EMC

2. FUNCTIONS DESCRIPTION

This Sound Level Meter is designed for noise project;
quality control; illness prevention and cure and all kinds of
environmental sounds measurement. It is applied to the
sounds measurement at factory; school; office; traffic

access and household, etc.

⚫ This unit confirms to the IEC61672-1 CLASS2 for

Sound Level Meters.

⚫ MAX & MIN measurements
⚫ Over range display
⚫ Under range display

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⚫ A & C Weighting
⚫ FAST & SLOW response
⚫ Analog AC/DC outputs for connection to frequency

analyzer or X-Y shaft recorder

3. SPECIFICATION
Standard applied: IEC61672 -1 CLASS2
Accuracy:±1.4dB
Frequency range:31.5HZ ~ 8KHZ
Dynamic range:50dB
Memory:32700
Level ranges: LO:30dB~80dB
Med:50dB~100dB
Hi:80dB~130dB
Auto:30dB~130dB
Frequency weighting: A/C
Time weighting: FAST ( 125ms ), SLOW ( 1s )
Microphone: 1/2 inch electret condenser microphone

Display: 4 digits LCD display with a resolution of 0.1dB

Display Update: 2 times/sec.
MAX hold: Hold the Maximum reading
MIN hold: Hold the Minimum reading
HOLD: Hold the readings

Alarm function: “OVER” is when input is more than upper

limit of range “UNDER” is when input is

less than lower limit of range.

Analog output: AC/DC outputs from earphone outlet

AC=1Vrms ,DC=10mV/dB

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Data output: USB data traffic

Auto power off: Meter automatically shuts down after

approx. 15 minutes of inactivity.

Power supply: One 9V battery, 006P or NEDA1604 or IEC

6F22.

Power life: About 30hours
Operation temperature and humidity:

0°C~40°C,10％RH~90％RH

Storage temperature and temperature:

-10°C ~+60°C，10％RH~75％RH

Dimension: 280 (L) x 95 (W) x 45 (H) mm
Weight : 329 g
Accessories : Instruction manual, battery, screwdriver,

3.5mm dia. earphone plug, windscreen,

software, USB cable.

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4. NAME AND FUNCTIONS

When you measure at wind velocities of >10m/ s, use the

wind protection on the microphone.

1. Rec

2. Setup

3. Backlight

4. Fast/Slow

5. A / C

6. Max / Min

7. Hold

8. Level

9. Power

10. 9 VDC power supply / mini USB interface / analogue

output / calibration screw

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MAX: Maximum indication
MIN: Minimum indication
OVER: Out of range indication (value too high)
UNDER: Out of range indication (value too low)
FAST: Fast response
SLOW: Slow response
dBA: A-weighting
dBC: C-weighting
88 – 188 : Range selection
Battery indicator: Battery low
FULL: Memory full
REC: Data are recorded

Auto Power On/Off
„Setup“ key activated / deactivated

„REC“ button

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DATALOGGER function

Press “REC” button after it power on, the display will show
“REC” to start Data Recording，press the button again to exit
the record (Note: In order to avoid data error, please don’t
power it off under REC condition, when the REC function is

deleted then it can power off).

Adjusting DATALOGGER response

Press the button continuously before power it on，then

press ,it will be displayed as following: Press ’LEVEL’

button to adjust sample time, press ‘HOLD’ button to hold the

setup.

Data zero function

Press the “REC” button continuously before power it on，
loosen the
button when the display showing’CLR’ after the meter
power on,which indicates that the data in DATALOGGER has
been deleted.

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“SETUP” button

The time chip adjustment

Press‘SETUP’button and then power it on，when‘TIME’
symbol displays then loosen‘SETUP’， the meter will be
under time adjustment mode，at the time the display will show
the date as following:

Press the‘SETUP’button second time, the display showing：

The display showing “minute” adjustment mode, press
‘LEVEL’ to make the adjustment，press ‘HOLD’ to keep the

setup；
Press the‘SETUP’button third time, the display showing：

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The display showing “hour” adjustment mode, press (h­P=P.M,h-A=A.M)

‘LEVEL’ to make the adjustment，press‘HOLD’to keep the
setup；
Press the‘SETUP’button fourth time, the display showing

The display showing “date” adjustment mode, press
‘LEVEL’ to make the adjustment，press ’HOLD’ to keep the
setup；
Press the ‘SETUP’ button fifth time, the display showing：

The display showing “month” adjustment mode, press
‘LEVEL’ to make the adjustment，press ‘HOLD’ to keep the

setup；
Press the ‘SETUP’ button sixth time, the display showing：

The display showing “year” adjustment mode, press
‘LEVEL’ to make the adjustment，press ‘HOLD’ to keep the

setup；

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Only if you need to factory reset the “TIME” should the
following seventh step be used. Press “POWER” to end setup

and restart to verify settings.

Press the ’SETUP’ button seventh time to reset to factory

settings, the display showing:

Press ‘HOLD’ to keep the setup；time and date have returned
to factory setup.

When the battery is exhausted or replaced, if the time can’t

be adjusted then please initialize the time chip first.

USB communications setting:

Turn on the meter, connect the meter with the computer

correctly, choose the software COM3（COM4）,then press

‘SETUP’ , ‘ ‘ disappears from the display to indicate and

disable auto power off, that the USB data is transmitting.

Auto Power ON/OFF

Press ‘SETUP’ , ‘ ‘ disappears from the display to indicate

you have disabled auto power off.

“FAST/SLOW” button:

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Time weighting selection

FAST: Fast sampling measurement, 1 time per 125mS.
SLOW: Slow sampling measurement, 1 time per second.

“MAX/MIN” button:

Maximum and Minimum hold Press this button for one time
to enter MAX/MIN measurement, ‘MAX’ will appear on LCD,
maximum sound level will be captured and held until higher
sound level is captured. Press the button again, ‘MIN’ will
appear on LCD and minimum sound level will be captured
and held until new lower sound level is captured. Press the

button one more time to exit MAX/MIN measurement.

“LEVEL” button: Level range selection

Each time you press “LEVEL” button, the level range will
change between ‘Lo’ level, ‘Med’ level, ‘Hi’ level and ‘Auto’

level in the circular.

Backlight button

8.0．Turn the backlight on/off

8.1．DATALOGGER response setting;

During power on press the backlight button continuously until
‘INT’symbol appears, press‘LEVEL’to set up the data

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memory response, then press‘HOLD’to keep the setting.

“A/C” Frequency weighting select button

A：A-Weighting
C：C-Weighting

“HOLD” button:

Press “HOLD” button, The hold function freezes the
reading in the display.

Power button

Turn the meter power ON/OFF

External DC 9V power supply terminal

For connection with DC 9V power supply.

Aperture size: external diameter: 3.5mm, internal

diameter: 1.35mm

USB interface

USB signal output is a 9600 bps serial interface.

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5. Software

Driver

Download the software via the following website:

https://www.pce-instruments.com/english/download-

win_4.htm

1. Start your computer.

2. Run the file „CP210xVCPInstaller.exe“ in
the directory..\driver\Windows[YOUR

VERSION OF THE OPERATING
SYSTEM]\ with a double click.

3. Hit „Install“.

4. Restart your computer after the installation
is made.

Install the driver first and connect the device afterwards to the

computer using the USB interface.

For USB connection, observe step 8!

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5. The device can be switched on after the
computer has restarted.

6. Connect the device to a USB serial port.

The driver will then be installed automatically
and can then be found in the Device
Manager of your computer.

7. If the driver is installed completely, the

computer will show “CP2101 USB to UART

Bridge Controller (COMX).“ in the device

manager submenu COM and LPT. Note the
COM-connection (COM 3 in the picture
above) This has to be set within the
software.

8. Push “Setup” button to initiate
communication. After the software is

installed, start the application “Sound Level
Meter“.

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Software operation

Symbols

Open file

Save data as .txt-file

Save data as .xls-file

Start real time measurement

End real time measurement
Print measurement data

Information on the software version

Real time measurement

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Start Time

Beginning of the measurement

series

MIN

Lowest measured volume of the

measurement series with the

exact time

MAX

Lowest measured volume of the

measurement series with the

exact time

DataNo.

Amount of measurement points

Sample Rate

Sampling rate

Average

Average sound level of the

measurement series

Graph

Visualization as a graph

Data List

Visualization as a data list

UnDo Zoom

Zoom out

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In order to compare two measurement points you can set

two different cursors. The data can then be analyzed.

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Cursor A

Wert Cursor A

Max. Between A and B

Maximal ermittelter Wert zwischen A

und B

Min. Between A and B

Minimal ermittelter Wert zwischen A

und B

Cursor B

Wert Cursor B

Average. Between A and

B

Gemessener Durchschnittswert

zwischen A und B

Quantity. Between A and

B

Gemessene Messpunkte zwischen

A und B

You can zoom certain part of the graph. Klick with the left

mouse button, hold it and adjust the area that has to be

zoomed. Release the mouse button again and the software

will zoom in.

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Function tabs

The function tabs can perform more actions in addition to

the functions that are described above. They help you to

analyze the data:

Open: open file

Save as: save data in .txt-format

Export To Excel: save data in .xls.-format

Print Graph: print graph

Print Data: print table

Exit: close software

Run: start real time measurement

Stop: end real time measurement

Clear Data: delete data

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Setup: set sampling rate and maximum measurement

value

Read out internal data logger

Manual: Choose communication interface manually

Auto: Choose communication interface automatically

ToolBar: activate / deactivate symbol bar

StatusBar: activate / deactivate status bar

Color Setting: Change the colour of the graph,

background or grid

Contents: Run help function

About: Show information on the software version.

AC/DC signal output earphone outlet

OUTPUT

GROUND

OUTPUT

AC

DC

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AC: Output voltage: 1Vrms corresponding to each range

step.
Output impedance: 100Ω
DC: Output voltage: 10mV/dB
Output impedance: 1kΩ

6. CALIBRATION PROCEDURES

① Make the following switch settings:

Frequency weighting: A-weighting
Time weighting: FAST
Level range: 50 ~100dB

② Insert the microphone housing carefully into the 1/2

inch insertion hole of the calibrator（94dB @ 1kHZ）.

③ Turn on the switch of calibrator and adjust the

calibration screw of the unit 94.0dB is displayed.

NOTE: All products are well calibrated before shipment.

Recommended recalibration cycle: 1 year.

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7. MEASUREMENT PREPARATION

① Remove the battery cover on the back and put in

one 9V battery.

② Recover the back cover.
③ When battery voltage drops below the operating

voltage or battery aging, this symbol will

appear on LCD. Replace the 9V battery.

④ When the AC adapter is used, insert the plug of the

adapter （3.5φ） into the DC 9V connector on the
side panel.

8. OPERATING PROCEDURE

① Power on the meter.
② Press ‘LEVEL’ button to select desired level, base

on ‘UNDER’ or ‘OVER’ do not appear on LCD.

③ Select ‘dBA’ for general noise sound level and ‘dBC’

or measuring sound level of acoustic material.

④ Select ‘FAST’ for instant sound and ‘SLOW’ for

average sound level.

⑤ Select ‘MAX/MIN’ button for measuring maximum

and minimum noise level.

⑥ Hold the instrument comfortable in hand or fix on

tripod and measure sound level at a distance of

1~1.5 meter.

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9. NOTICE

i. Do not store or operate the instrument at high

temperature and high humidity environment.

ii. When not in use for long time, please take out the

battery to avoid battery liquid leakage and cautery

on the instrument.

iii. When using the instrument in the presence of wind,

it is a must to mount the windscreen to not pick up

undesirable signals.

iv. Keep microphone dry and avoid severe vibration.

10. Accessories:

1 x sound level meter PCE-322A
1 x wind protection
1 x screwdriver
1 x AC power adaptor
1 x 9 V battery
1 x downloadable software (PCE instruments downloads)
1 x USB cable
1 x mini tripod
1 x carrying case
1 x user manual

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11. Contact

If you have any questions, suggestions or technical

problems, please do not hesitate to contact us. You will find

the relevant contact information at the end of this user

manual.

12. Disposal

For the disposal of batteries in the EU, the 2006/66/EC

directive of the European Parliament applies. Due to the

contained pollutants, batteries must not be disposed of as

household waste. They must be given to collection points

designed for that purpose.

In order to comply with the EU directive 2012/19/EU we take

our devices back. We either re-use them or give them to a

recycling company which disposes of the devices in line with

law.

For countries outside the EU, batteries and devices should

be disposed of in accordance with your local waste

regulations.
If you have any questions, please contact PCE Instruments.