[CQ-Contest] Reciprocity in signal strength

[K9MA]

That's true, but only part of the story. On the HF bands, receiver noise 
is almost always negligible, so absolute signal strength doesn't matter 
much. If your random wire isn't matched, all bets are off. Even modern 
radios have drastically different S-meter calibrations: 3 or 6 dB per 
S-unit. You may also have various lossy components in the received 
signal path. Noise levels also vary enormously, so even at the same 
absolute signal strength, S/N can be very different. And then, of 
course, there's QRM and competition.

73,
Scott K9MA

On 1/22/2023 12:10 AM, Barry Jacobson wrote:
> Hi guys, it seems that in a contest like NAQP where presumably almost
> everyone is running the same 100 W power, you should be able to hear the
> other guy at the same level he hears you. Even if the other guy has a
> $25,000 dollar beam, and you have a simple 10 foot random wire, the
> weakness in your transmission ability will also weaken your received signal
> just as much in the other direction. So if you can hear him, it guarantees
> he can hear you. (Unless one or both of you has separate receive and
> transmit antennas, or the receivers you are using are of very different
> quality.) Does that make any sense?
>
> Barry WA2VIU
>
> --
> Barry Jacobson
> WA2VIU
> bdj at alum.mit.edu
> @bdj_phd
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-- 
Scott  K9MA

k9ma at sdellington.us