Wow, very interesting discussion about S-meters, units, K3, etc. It is clear that we all care quite a lot about these S-meters. I greatly prefer operating a rig with one even if it is not accurate. It gives me something to look at during a QSO.
We're at risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water. If the meter is not giving absolute measurements of signal strength it is still useful. If the meter is not linear (constant dB per s-unit) it is still useful. Having something to give a visual indication of signal strength is useful. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. Having a meter that is calibrated at S9 makes the meter more useful. Having it give linear response makes even more better!! Better for whom? Better for me as the rig user. If I know the scale is 6 dB per unit, I can use that to compare antenna performance, and to just get a feel for how many dB of change is required to make a difference. Knowing the actual voltage level at the antenna terminal tells me nothing. Sorry, all I really want is a relative measure. Years ago, I had a Ford Bronco. I put a tach into the vehicle but left the switch set to 4-cyl. That doubled my measurement. So, when the engine ran 2000 RPM, the tach read 4000. It took a day or so to switch my brain, but I got used to the engine idling at 1300 rpm, and shifting at 5000. What I got in exchange was a tach that gave twice the resolution. I got to use more of the tach's range. It performed better for my purposes than if it had been run "correctly". I see the K3's s-meter options to be much the same. It allows the user to adjust the S-meter to work the way they find most useful. Very sweet. - Keith N1AS - - K2 5411.ssb.100 - _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
