Most people appear to be fatally attempting to use, in reverse, their
favourite S-meter as a means of calibrating the Standard. No wonder we have
so many different standards around.

The difficulties in making an accurate power meter lie solely in the very
wide range of power levels encountered.

0 to S-9 corresponds to 9 times 6 dB = 54 dB.

S-9 to +40 dB corresponds to 40 dB.

Making a very high total range of 94 dB for a power meter.

That explains why S-9 usually appears just over half way up the scale.

For a range of 94 dB it is not beyond modern technology to make a linear dB
scale out of it. The limitation is manufacturing cost. But who wants to pay
an extra hundred dollars to replace a receiver they are already happy with.

Of course, if you MUST have an accurate S-meter, the cheap way is to obtain
a blank meter scale, a fine-nibbed pen, a bottle of black ink, a signal
generator, and a 0-100 dB switched attenuator. You will proudly end up with
a work of art and a beautifully cramped scale at the bottom end. But when
done it's as accurate as you like!

Hint: There's no need to obtain a new blank scale if the existing scale can
just be turned over to its white side. Such small divergencies can make
restful breaks in between investigations of skin depths at 1 to 10 Hz of the
ocean bottom of transatlantic submarine cables.
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Reg