hi,

i'm noticing a discrepancy between the s-meter readings of these three
radios. all three radios are connected to the same antenna for the test
and signals can be heard equally well on all three, but the kenwood
r-5000 always has the highest signal levels, by quite a bit - followed
by the palstar and then the drake. the palstar and the drake are the
closest. when i turn the pre-amp on the drake closes in on the palstar,
but still a little low. are s-meter readings standardized - is this a
fair way to test for a radios sensitivity.

In article .com,
"john" wrote:

hi,

i'm noticing a discrepancy between the s-meter readings of these three
radios. all three radios are connected to the same antenna for the test
and signals can be heard equally well on all three, but the kenwood
r-5000 always has the highest signal levels, by quite a bit - followed
by the palstar and then the drake. the palstar and the drake are the
closest. when i turn the pre-amp on the drake closes in on the palstar,
but still a little low. are s-meter readings standardized - is this a
fair way to test for a radios sensitivity.

Yes and no.

Some radios have the same sensitivity and the relative S-meter reading,
which is usually a reading of the AGC circuit would be of a similar
value.

Radios of dissimilar sensitivity would not normally have the same
readings.

An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

David wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

actually the palstar and the drake scales are in Decibels, while the
kenwoods scale is in Db at the top and millivolts at the bottom. also
before anyone asks my rf gain is fully clockwise on both the drake and
kenwood. the palstar doesn't have a rf gain control.

In article m,
"john" wrote:

David wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

actually the palstar and the drake scales are in Decibels, while the
kenwoods scale is in Db at the top and millivolts at the bottom. also
before anyone asks my rf gain is fully clockwise on both the drake and
kenwood. the palstar doesn't have a rf gain control.

No. decibels where 0 dBm = 0.001 Watt or 1 milliwatt. However in a 50
ohm system the equivalent would be 225 millivolts.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article m,
"john" wrote:

David wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

actually the palstar and the drake scales are in Decibels, while the
kenwoods scale is in Db at the top and millivolts at the bottom. also
before anyone asks my rf gain is fully clockwise on both the drake and
kenwood. the palstar doesn't have a rf gain control.

The RF gain control just sets maximum sensitivity of the radio and does
not change the gain of the radio so by turning all the way down you are
at the radios published maximum sensitivity. As you turn it up you are
desensitizing the radio. If you turn the control so it rests at S3 then
you would only be able to hear signals greater then S3. The AGC would
work on signals higher then than S3. The radio will behave exactly the
same for any signal greater than S3.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article m,
says...

David wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

actually the palstar and the drake scales are in Decibels, while the
kenwoods scale is in Db at the top and millivolts at the bottom. also
before anyone asks my rf gain is fully clockwise on both the drake and
kenwood. the palstar doesn't have a rf gain control.



You can't even be sure identical radios will have the same S-Meter
readings, in most cases. The reading is pretty meaningless, except to
compare antennas, or if a preselector is used, to adjust for max
reading.


BDK

BDK wrote:
In article m,
says...

David wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

actually the palstar and the drake scales are in Decibels, while the
kenwoods scale is in Db at the top and millivolts at the bottom. also
before anyone asks my rf gain is fully clockwise on both the drake and
kenwood. the palstar doesn't have a rf gain control.



You can't even be sure identical radios will have the same S-Meter
readings, in most cases. The reading is pretty meaningless, except to
compare antennas, or if a preselector is used, to adjust for max
reading.


BDK

BDK, that makes total sense - especially if you are comparing antennas.
so what your saying is that its a reference point for that given radio
and should only be used as such.
like i said the signals on all three radios sound just about the same -
its not like the kenwoods signal is stronger sounding. in fact i think
my r8 has a slight edge at digging out the weak ones over the r-5000.
the r8 is a great radio.

In article ,
BDK wrote:

In article m,
says...

David wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:17:32 GMT, Telamon
wrote:

In article .com,
"john" wrote:


An exception would be radios that have a signal strength meter in dBm,
which is an absolute scale.

Millivolts?

actually the palstar and the drake scales are in Decibels, while the
kenwoods scale is in Db at the top and millivolts at the bottom. also
before anyone asks my rf gain is fully clockwise on both the drake and
kenwood. the palstar doesn't have a rf gain control.



You can't even be sure identical radios will have the same S-Meter
readings, in most cases. The reading is pretty meaningless, except to
compare antennas, or if a preselector is used, to adjust for max
reading.

Nonsense.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

On 4 Jan 2007 17:54:40 -0800, "john" wrote:

hi,

i'm noticing a discrepancy between the s-meter readings of these three
radios. all three radios are connected to the same antenna for the test
and signals can be heard equally well on all three, but the kenwood
r-5000 always has the highest signal levels, by quite a bit - followed
by the palstar and then the drake. the palstar and the drake are the
closest. when i turn the pre-amp on the drake closes in on the palstar,
but still a little low. are s-meter readings standardized - is this a
fair way to test for a radios sensitivity.

The readings are more or less standardized...

http://www.algonet.se/~k-jarl/ssa/IARU/smeter.html

.... but the meterings can be "off" and in need of recalibration.

bob
k5qwg