Topband: One Way Propagation.

[Wes]

I'm not going to smack this tar baby, other than to note that Elecraft is a 
special case with respect to S-meters.  K3(S) have an "Absolute" mode that 
compensates for preamp gain or input attenuation. So the S-meter becomes a 
decent power meter.

I think it's unconscionable that other manufactures, with microprocessor 
controlled radios, haven't incorporated this.  They should be fully capable of 
measuring their own preamp gain and attenuator loss and compensating the meter 
accordingly.  I throw into this criticism the TS-890 that I just acquired.  My 
goodness, they went to the effort to incorporate a decoder for PSK, of all 
things, but can't provide a decently calibrated S-meter.

Wes  N7WS


On 1/17/2021 7:26 AM, Don Kirk wrote:
>   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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