Voltmeter Peak Hold

Controls: Options >> Voltmeter >> Pk Hold
Macro: VoltHold

The Voltmeter has continuous peak hold: It always retains the maximum values for each of its modes since the last Reset. When the Peak Hold (Pk Hold) button is active, the maximum value for the current mode is shown instead of the instantaneous value. In other words, the "Hold" action is always present, and the button just allows you to see the held values. You can toggle between Peak and instantaneous at any time, with no effect on the held value.

Since all the held values are separate, you can change modes to see the maximum of another mode. For example, you can view separate Pos and Neg peaks, or switch between RMS, Peak-Peak, and dB views of the overall maximum.

Peak Hold is useful for setting levels when there are infrequent brief peaks in the signal, such as speech or music. For example, if the signal drives a power amplifier that clips above a known level, you can use Peak Hold to insure that the peaks are below that level.

Since the Voltmeter functions also work with file data, you can use Peak Hold to find the greatest peak in an existing data file. If it is a .DQA file from a calibrated system, the meter readings will likewise be calibrated. But even with an uncalibrated system or file, such as a .WAV file, you can still find the peak relative to the full-scale range of that file.

Macro Notes:

VoltHold=1 activates Hold mode, VoltHold=0 exits, and VoltHold=x toggles.

See also Voltmeter, Voltmeter Channel