To get something of an idea of just how loud the proposed St Luke's heliport will be ("St. Luke's project approved," Feb. 26), I suggest that anyone concerned try the following experiment:
1. Download a sound-metering app to your smartphone (you can find a good one by searching for "SPLnFFT" in the Apple App store).
2. Put a heavy metal rock song on your stereo. Or click on the following YouTube link (youtube.com/watch?v=mkFy2Vc100k) for the sound of a helicopter taking off. The stereo might work best. Your computer needs a powerful sound system to get all the way up to 100 decibels. My MacBook Pro only went up to about 80, so I had to use my iMac.
3. Crank up the volume until the sound meter shows 100 decibels.
I tried this on my computer at home, and I was afraid to put the helicopter sound all the way up to 100 decibels. My wife would have come running downstairs demanding to know why on earth I was making all that noise. In fact, 85 decibels was the limit of my comfort zone even for a short duration of less than a minute.
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Keep in mind that the choppy sound a helicopter makes is particularly hard on the ears.
So in my opinion, 100 decibels is not an acceptable noise level for a residential area.
Jody Keppers
Duluth
