"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message hlink.net...
"David Harper" wrote in message
om...
I was wondering what's an accurate estimate for scanner sensitivity?
I've got a Uniden BC180, and the owner's manual doesn't list that
information. I was wondering what a good value would be to use in
order to do some path loss calculations. I've heard 1.0 uv is a good
conservative estimate. Is this too low?


The 1 uv is fine for the calculations. You may even be able to go as low as
.5 uv . The lower the number the more sensitive the receiver . Not sure
what you mean about the margin to make out audio. For FM singnals .5 uv
should give you good audio with a trace of noise and at 1 uv it should be
almost full quietning (for FM that is all the hissing noise should dissapear
out of the audio ) .

I just did some reading based on what you said. The sensitivity is
actually based on a minimum S/N ratio... and if I understand
correctly: if an audio signal comes in with a strength of 1.0uV and
the receiver sensitivity is 1.0uV, it will be understandable?

Thanks again!
Dave