[Elecraft] RST or S - meter readings?

[Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy]

IMHO you are correct. As I understand it R and S were intended to report on 
how well a signal was being received with T being an honest report of 'tone' 
in the case of CW signals. I believe that the matter of signal reports began 
to become 'confused' sometime before I first got on the air in 1946 when 
somebody had proposed that a 50uV signal at the receiver's input should 
result in a S9 reading on the 'S' meter, and that each S unit should 
represent a 6db change in signal level from S9 downwards. This 'standard' 
had been used certainly in Regions 1 and 2 as far as I know by or before 
1946, but most people gave reports based on how well a signal was being 
received not by S meter readings (if you had a S meter!!). As an aside I 
have the manual for an ancient Eddystone 640 receiver which makes note of 
this 'standard'.

Worthy of note is that the input impedance of different types of receiver 
having a 'S' meter varied considerably, some as high as 600 ohms for direct 
connection to open wire feeders, with the result that the signal power level 
required to produce a 'standard' S9 reading was not the same in all cases.

My personal preference is for a real 'S' meter that wiggles calibrated in 
dbm at receiver input, but I do not use the 'S' meter when giving reports 
unless antenna comparisons are being made for example.

73,
Geoff
GM4ESD


Kevin Rock <kevinrock at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Do people really use a meter to give signal reports to people?  I thought 
> RST was to be honest reportage.
>   Kevin.  KD5ONS