On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:47:04 -0800, Roy Lewallen
wrote:

[snip]


Of course, you could make a receiver with very nearly true logarithmic
response, by use of one of the excellent, wide dynamic range log amps
which are available these days. But however much you or I might like
one, the vast majority of amateurs couldn't care less about what their S
meter is really indicating, so they wouldn't pay the added cost for it.

Bill Carver, W7AAZ, designed such a beast. "A High-Performance AGC/IF
Subsystem", QST, May 1996.

I actually have one of his boards about half constructed... one I
started in 1996. Gotta get back to that someday.