With a 9V battery producing plus and minus 4.5V a good opamp will have an output of at least 3.5Vp-p so your 2.7Vp-p is not high enough. Maybe your old opamps will work if you use two 9V batteries to make a supply of plus and minus 9V.
yippee!!!!!! I changed u1 & u2 with tl082 op amps. now I see 4.6vpp at the anode of d3. the meter now deflects as it should. however, now the short lite turns on, without shorting the leads. wow!!!! thanks a bunch Audioguru.
I copied parts of the schematic where DC voltages (not AC) would turn on the shorted LED. Measure these voltages and post the measurements with no input capacitor being tested.
hi ag, I think I got the right mix of op amps. when I use lm358 for u1ab, and tlo82 for u2a, everything works. i'am going to start to put in an enclosure. if I have more problems I'll be in touch. for now, I think were done. Audioguru, you da man!!! thanks so much. also thanks to mvs sarma and dr pepper. super!!!