On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 23:38:47 -0500, "WavyDave"
wrote:

ZZZZZZZZZINGGGGG------

(My Head)

Guess I am still at the lowly 'operator' stage.


Lowly only if you have any pretensions about being expert in the field
of power measurement - and come to some other conclusion that is
indefensible. If not, enjoy the hobby for what you seek in it.

Even equipment operators can put these issues to good use (or bad use
in the sense that follows) if you participate in a Shoot-Out and use
an amplifier with other than 50 Ohm output Z feeding an antenna with
other than 50 Ohm input Z. Through hi-grading the 50 Ohm feedline to
select that choice position along it for the Judges' Wattmeter, you
can shave yourself 1 or 2dB advantage over the others through their
ignorance of the Mismatch Error.

Of course, this is almost certainly a common condition and everyone is
in the dark. So are the results, but what the hey, its only a game.

I offer the cutting line at "does it make more than 1dB difference" to
offer a qualitative assessment. Personally, and as a belief, I rarely
care about 3 or 6dB (more or less); hence 1dB is extremely liberal in
their favor (and they rarely even meet that gracious low-ball). It is
only the cut-and-paste theoreticians that demand their solutions are
more accurate than nature can guarantee - and that it does make a
difference. Such is the stuff of CFA and EH claims.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC