[AMPS] S units

[Radio WC6W]

On Tue, 13 Jul 1999 09:13:55 -0400 "Tom Rauch" <w8ji@contesting.com>
writes:
>About 3-4 dB is more common than about six dB, so your 
>Kenwood looks good.

  If not good, at least typical.

>Now for something to think about. One of the question for getting a 
>license is how many dB is an S unit. No where, in any reference 
>standard I've been able to find, is it listed as six dB. Very few if any

>receivers use six dB, and most never even tried. The most common 
>values "tried for" are around five dB or less.

 My ARRL Handbooks from 1976 thru 1990 mention the 6dB grail in the
discussion under S-Meters but, allude to the poor compliance over the
years.

  Amateur SIngle Sideband (Collins Radio 1962) states that they set the
S-meters in the old  S-Line to read S-9 at 100 uV with AGC onset at 1.5
uV, with some variance depending on the band, so that an S-unit
approximated 3.3 to 4 dB.

>The correct answer for that question would be "what ever it winds 
>up at".

   Seems to be...  sigh.

   If it was worth the effort, one of the new Analog Devices (AD8307; it
memory serves) wide range log IC's could be made into a truly accurate
S-meter circuit.

   But, isn't everyone "S-9+" in the real world no matter what the meter
reads?

73,
  Marv  WC6W










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