[Elecraft] [K3] Using K3 for relative noise survey

[Dave Sublette]

Don’t forget to look for noise in vertical and horizontal polarity.

Dave,

   K4TO
> On Aug 1, 2017, at 9:33 AM, Rick Miller - N1RM <n1rm at arrl.net> wrote:
> 
> I currently live in a townhouse and have made an offer on a few acres in a
> more rural area. I would like to measure the relative noise levels between
> the two locations to reduce the probability of surprises or disappointments
> should I close the deal.  I have gotten access to a very good battery
> powered spectrum analyzer and plan to use a tripod-mounted 6 foot whip and a
> 20 dB LNA to measure the noise levels at each location.
> 
> While setting this up, I though it would be interesting to try to also use
> the K3 to measure noise with the same antenna (but without the LNA).  I've
> written a Python script to control the K3 as it steps through each band and
> records S meter levels.
> 
> I'm looking for recommendations on K3 settings for this purpose.  Specific
> questions I have are:
> 
> 1. Is the high resolution S meter command (SMH) the best way to measure
> received signal strength with a computer?
> 
> 2. What settings for attenuator, pre-amp, and AGC will give me the most
> useful readings? Right now I'm using Off, On, and Off respectively for those
> settings.
> 
> 3. What Mode and Bandwidth settings should I use?  Right now I'm using CW
> and 200 Hz.  I'm pretty sure I should be using a wider bandwidth and will
> try that tonight.
> 
> 4. Is this a dumb idea?
> 
> My first run through very late last night showed almost no variation across
> any of the bands.  I did see differences between bands.  Right now I pause
> for 1 second after setting band, mode, and bandwidth, and then another
> second after each frequency change (stepping in 10 KHz increments) for
> things to settle.
> I don't know the dynamics of the S-meter processing, so maybe I should be
> waiting longer.
> 
> Thanks for reading this.
> 
> Rick
> N1RM
> 
> 
> 
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