Audacity Forum

I am attempting to use Audacity as a ballistics chronograph. how do you configure the program to start recording the instant the firearm is discharged?

The later versions of 1.3 Audacity have new feature added called Sound Activated Recording. You can turn this on via Edit > Preferences > Smart Recording, just tick the check-box - you can set the sound activation level to trigger the recording.

I have not tried this feature myself - and am therefore unsure if it will respond/activate fast enough for your application. Interested in hearing your feedback on how well it works.

WC

Thanks WC Ill try it at the range tomorrow and let you know.
Regards Lmasters

Howdy WC.
I tried the Audacity software at the range today and it works fine except that I could not get it to start recording on sound activation. If you would like to read more on this subject then
the web page is. Measuring Bullet Velocity with a PC Soundcard http://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0601/0601102.pdf
Regards lmasters

Hi Lmasters,

thanks for the feedback - and for the interesting linked article.

When you say "it worked fine", but you could not get Sound Activation to work - I assume that you just let Audacity run and then fired the firearm - getting your calibration numbers from the Audacity waveforms?

WC