[Elecraft] K3 S-meter question

[drewko]

This is typical of HF receivers from years past-- meter indicates
increasing AGC as you reduce the RF gain; only stronger signals will
flicker above the meter's reduced sensitivity indication.

Supposedly this could be changed in a SDR radio. Some have requested
that the meter not respond in this traditional fashion, but instead
always measure the signal levels "at the antenna terminals" regardless
of the RF Gain setting.

Your meter reading may also be affected by attenuator and preamp
settings (ATT and PRE), but there is a config option in the K3 to
ignore their effects. However, this 'absolute' setting is still
subject to the RF Gaiin control effect that you noted.

73,
Drew
AF2Z


On Fri, 04 Apr 2014 21:24:15 -0700, you wrote:

>I’ve just completed building my K3/10 (S/N 8115)!!! The PA3 and sub-receiver are sitting here but not built/installed yet. Everything seems to work fine - completed the TX gain calibration successfully, and the filter setup too, of course. However, I’m puzzled by the how the S-meter is behaving. It seems to be inversely proportional to the RF gain. With the RF gain all the way CCW, all segments of the S-meter are lit. With the RF gain at 12 o’clock, half of the segments are lit. Changing bands has no apparent effect on the S-meter reading, and it’s rare that any but the strongest stations has any effect on the meter. And, with the RF gain fully CW, a few segments are lit (depending upon the noise level in the band). This seems backwards to me, but this is my first HF rig, so maybe it’s supposed to behave this way? Maybe I have some config setting messed up?
>
>Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this!
>
>Thanks!
>
>73
>
>Arlen Fletcher, AA7F