Topband: One Way Propagation.

[Don Kirk]

 Hi Roger,

Signal report comparisons with the modern radios that often have preamps
that you can switch in or out really clouds the picture as well as the fact
most stations on topband use RX antennas.  Assuming that all manufacturers
have S meters that are calibrated identical to each other (which is not the
case), the big question is if the S meter calibration was done with the
preamp on or off, and if the person that is giving you a signal report has
the preamp on or off.  As an example the Elecraft S meter uses the common
standard of S9 = 50 uV but the calibration is done with Preamp 1 on.  And
when a station is using an RX antenna everything goes out the window since
RX antennas often have very negative gain, and then if an external preamp
is being used that adds another variable.  And if just using a TX antenna
for receive there is a lot of difference in each stations antenna effective
gain (due to ground losses, etc.) that adds another variable.

A signal report of S2 or S6 tells me nothing on how well I am being heard
since I need to know what your noise floor is too (unless you are telling
me how many S units above your noise floor I am ????).  What helps me the
most is to understand how many dB above your noise floor I am, and that is
why you will see that when I spot a station on DX Summit, I say how many dB
the station is peaking and that means how many dB above my noise floor the
station is peaking (I think this is similar to what you see for signal
reports on the RBN).

Just FYI,
Don (wd8dsb)

On Sun, Jan 17, 2021 at 8:04 AM Roger Kennedy <roger at wessexproductions.co.uk>
wrote:

>
> Well personally I always give Signal Strength reports from my S Meter . .
> .
>
> So it doesn't matter whether my Noise Level is S2 or S6 . . . I'm telling
> you how strong your signal is at my QTH.
>
> Roger G3YRO
>
>
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