[Elecraft] Bigger K3 S-meter

[K7TV]

I find the K3 S-meter a wonderful contrast to those other rigs I have had
where I had to mentally compensate for the terrible non-linearity (in dB),
i.e. S9=S9, S8=S8, S7=S7, S5=S6, S1=S5 and nothing below the real S5 even
moves the meter. I haven't even begun to play with the AGC settings in the
K3, but all the recent firmware releases seem to provide good S-meter
readings without this mental translation. 

That said, I have run into a situation where I actually miss the meter on
the old 1000D. That is when I try to turn the beam for maximum signal
strength on a station I don't know the location of. As far as I can see, the
K3 displays signal strength only in whole S-units, whereas I would find it
useful to see changes smaller than that. I even miss the wildly exaggerated
meter swings that you get in the lower part of the scale on a typical bad
S-meter; they are just easier to see at a glance. Perhaps it would be useful
to have a firmware option to just expand the K3 S-meter to something like 1
or 2 dB per tick on the scale. Of course I would have to use the RF gain
control to bring the reading into the smaller range of the expanded scale,
and then restore the normal S-meter scale for giving reports. Maybe I could
achieve this expanded S-meter scale through an alternative AGC setting,
available at the touch of a button?

73,
Erik K7TV



Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> 
> And very few S-meters worked at all in CW mode since the BFO wasn't
> isolated
> from the AGC, so the AGC (and so the S-meter) was Off.
>  
> Over the years contesters have brought some sanity to the S-number: ignore
> the meter and send "5NN". 
>  
> The audio output voltage and dB comparison measurement displays available
> on
> the K3 are far superior to an "S-meter" for serious signal strength
> measurements and comparisons.
>  
> Ron AC7AC
>  
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of w6jd at comcast.net
> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 11:30 AM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bigger K3 S-meter
> 
> 
> I'm not sure that I understand the fascination of larger S meters, I
> totally ignore mine. But back in the days of my ill spent youth, when
> radios glowed in the dark, I owned a Hallicrafters SX-96 which had
> an S meter that must have occupied at least a quarter of the front
> panel, and went to "80 db over 9" if my memory serves me well.
> Man could you give great signal reports.."ur 70 db over 9 but
> pls agn ur name" and S-9 meant that the other station was audible.
>  
> Doug
> W6JD
> 
> 
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