[Elecraft] S-Meter Calibration

Mon Feb 11 16:21:01 2002

Wow Jonathan! Looks like John thought you meant it! I took it as an =
excellent joke, that unfortunately is all too often true. I LOVE to give =
an honest 569 to a 2TT watts wid my K2 after receiving a 599, but that's =
more about antennas than power.=20

Anyhow, I suspect most reports, and figure I'll just write 'em down the =
way they say 'em, and send 'em the way I hear them. Now, if we all did =
it right, then John would be bang on, and your post would still leave me =
ROFLMAO.

Dan / WG4S / K2 #2456

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2002 2:54 PM
To: Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] S-Meter Calibration

On Mon, 11 Feb 2002, Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD wrote:

> Signal Strength
>=20
> 1--Faint signals, barely perceptible.
> 2--Very weak signals.
> 3--Weak signals.
> 4--Fair signals.
> 5--Fairly good signals.
> 6--Good signals.
> 7--Moderately strong signals.
> 8--Strong signals.
> 9--Extremely strong signals.

That pretty much goes in line with what my S-meter on the TS2000 =
reports.

As for giving reports, you're not getting a 599 from me unless you were =
Q5
copy with an S9 smeter indication with BEUTIFUL audio.

If your audio sounds like you just left Billy-Bobs CB shop with a new
Overkill Inkorpuratid MEGA Butt-Kicking power-mic, I'm going to tell you
that your audio sounds like $#!+ and that you should fix it before
bothering to TX again.

>=20
> On phone, be sure to indicate how many dB the S-meter swings above the =
"9"
> mark, and whether the meter is "Scotch" (S) or "Very Scotch" (VS).

I haven't heard the S and VS but, I am personally guilty of giving the =
dB
units above S9 and quite honestly, if I'm S9+40dB on someones meter, I
want to know it.  In ragchew mode, if we all have +40db on each other,
that is a good indication that we can turn the burner down and we will =
do
so.

So, in short, the RST report that *I* want is that of:

Readability

1--Unreadable
2--Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable.
3--Readable with considerable difficulty.
4--Readable with practically no difficulty.
5--Perfectly readable.

Signal Report

1--|
2--|
3--|
4--|
5--|
6--|
7--|
8--| AS INDICATED on the Smeter.
9--|
+10|
+20|
+30|
+40|
+50|
+60|

I want an HONEST report.  If you can barely hear me, I want to know it.  =

This bullcrap of giving an amateur the report that you *think* he wants =
to
receive is just that, bullcrap.  This does NOTHING but give a false =
sense
of confidence to that operator.  Then, a situation comes along where he
NEEDS to have reliable communications during an emergency and he DOESN'T
because every single op he's QSO'd with was "nice" to him and didn't =
give
him any indication that he perhaps needed to do some antenna work, fix
some noisy audio, etc.

What a load of horse dung.  Give an HONEST report and tell the other OP
that an HONEST report is what you want from them.

When I get a "5/9+20dB/wonderful audio" report from Bob Heil, K9EID (and
it happens consistantly folks) I can take him at his word.  He's not
trying to make me feel good.  I am 20dB over S9 on his receiver and have
"wonderful audio" coming out of a 100w crown amplifier into JBL studio
monitors.

Do your fellow amateurs a favor.  Give them HONEST reports.  If you're
giving them the "smeter" style reports that I mentioned above, let them
know.

> If readability or signal strength varies, always use the highest =
numbers.

In anything other than FM or CW, this is valid.  SSB and AM will both =
have
varying S-meter indications depending on the modulating signal. =20

> Be sure to say "thanks" for "FB" reports such as 589 or 599.

Be sure to say "thanks" for *any* report that you get.  If an operator
gives you a bad report, it's not to hurt your feelings.  It is so you =
know
that perhaps you need to work on your antennas, your audio, perhaps =
crank
up the wick a bit, etc.  If nothing else, thank them for their honesty.

73 de John kc4kgu

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