[TenTec] STANDARDISATION OF S-METER READINGS

[Ron Castro]

Merle:

That's far more accurate that the Orion II S-meters  The difference may be 
caused by a different type of AGC implementation in the version 2 firmware. 
It would be interesting to get numbers from Orion I owners using v. 2 
firmware.  You're right about needing an accurate meter when judging antenna 
performance.  A good S-meter is a valuable tool!

         Ron N6IE
      www.N6IE.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Merle Bone" <merlebone at charter.net>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:38 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] STANDARDISATION OF S-METER READINGS


> The Orion's S-meter calibration certainly isn't anything to "write home 
> about," but it is "representative" of the distant stations signal 
> strength.
> Running V1.373b5 I get the following readings using calibrated signal 
> generator and attenuator on 14.058 MHz:
>
> Sig Level      Preamp On             Preamp Off            "Standard 
> Reading"
>
> 50 microvolts         S9+11              S8.1 
> S9
> -6dB                        S9                    S7 
> S8
> -12dB                      S8.1                 S5.5 
> S7
> -18dB                      S7                    S4.5 
> S6
> -24dB                      S5.8                 S3 
> S5
> -30dB                      S4.5                 S2 
> S4
> -36dB                      S3.1                 S2 
> S3
> -42dB                       S2.1                S1.8 
> S2
> -48dB                       S1.8                S1.8 
> S1
>
> S1.8 is about as low as the S-meter goes on this release of the firmware 
> with the RF gain at 100 and the AGC threshold set for .36 microvolts and 
> the decay set for 200dB/s.  I use the "calibrated measurements" when I am 
> trying to understand antenna performance - particularly "front to 
> back/side" measurements.
> 73, Merle - W0EWM
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