At 04:07 PM 6/13/00 -0700, Colin Lamb wrote:
>Where does one draw the line on s-meter calibration? It would not be
>difficult to compensate for all the adjustments and gain variations of the
>receiver and convert actual microvolts at the antenna input to a defined
>s-meter reading. But that reading will not mean much if the antenna is not
>standardized. A stacked 6 over 6 will be more generous than a dipole.
>
>Perhaps the best use of the s-meter is to allow the user to estimate changes
>in actual db.
Colin, I pretty much agree with you there. Absolute measurements are simply
not required. However accurate delta's are. I write down the absolutes for
my chart because they are there and handy. It's just as easy for me to read
the numbers in dBm as it is in relative dB, so why not?
For me, knowing the actual numbers is what floats my boat. For you, large
meter wiggles do it. The difference between you and the idiot op, is that
you know what those wiggles mean. A very big difference, I think.
The radio I used for the IF in my old EME station had about 1 dB per
S-unit. That was real handy for that particular application. On EME, 9 dB
out of the noise is truly an S9 signal!!
73,
Larry - W7IUV
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