[Elecraft] K3 S Meter behavior

[The Smiths]

Rich,

 

You DO tell the other person how you are "receiving" them.. That's the R part of the report READABILITY... If you have difficultly with copy of their signal you can go from 1 to 5 with that report.  The S meter still tells you how well their signal strength is at your QTH.  

Even if you have a Superdupper rig that can filter every bit of noise out of the signal chain, and you can hear them as if they were sitting right next to you, it doesn't mean that the standard for Signal strength has changed.  The guy on the other end of the radio just wants to know how well he's pushing your meter up and down with his antenna set up (and your antenna as part of that factor).. 

The readability part will let him know if his rig is doing a good job of filtering the noise so he can copy you.  I've had RST reports of 379 because the other person could clearly see that my signal strength was there, but the QRN was keeping him from having clear copy of it. With your method and a loud noise floor I would have most likely got a 419 instead.

 

 

 
> Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:58:27 -0700
> From: rehill at ix.netcom.com
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 S Meter behavior
> 
> I don't really understand, but would be interested in more discussion on 
> this. I think I understand that the apparent power of a signal to your 
> ears/brain may vary even though the actual received power is the same.
> 
> Commercials on TV seems much louder than the shows these days, but I'm 
> hearing that the actual power stays the same.
> 
> We can alter the TX or RX equalization in the K3, I think that means we 
> can use a standard 100 watts, but change the apparent "loudness" we hear 
> by focusing the power in the audio bands that are best heard or for the 
> best intelligibility, and that varies according to age, long proximity 
> to artillery/machines, and other factors. The Heil 4/5 mics give the 
> same effect.
> 
> That seems to mean that a "standard" S7 signal could sound like 
> something else. I wonder how meaningful an S meter reading is. It 
> seems that it is more important to tell the other op how well you are 
> receiving their message (as apposed to their signal strength) and that 
> is the result of more than the meter reading.
> 
> 		 	   		  
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