Sometimes we're just too picky about that "S-Meter". Many years ago (almost before my time) a number of receivers had no meter but instead calibrated the gain control in S-units (or the S-unit's ancestor, the "R-unit"). If you wanted to see how strong the signal was, set the gain for a comfortable volume and check the position of the knob. Of course 99% of us reported signal strength "by ear" and didn't need a "calibrated" knob, Hi!
I'm not entirely sure today's rigs are an improvement, at least in the area of receiver gain control. They are, however, much more "automatic" and with that comes limitations. I'm a heavy user of the ATTEN, Preamp and RF gain control in any receiver. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- Helpful comments, Jim. I ride the RF gain control on the K3 to very good effect. The only problem, as you point out, is that the S-meter won't read signal strength at the antenna with the RF gain wound back. I have my K3 s-meter set in absolute mode, so using ATT or PRE does not influence the s-meter reading, but using RF gain does. On my TenTec Eagle, the S-meter reads independently of ATT, PRE AND RF gain control. I find this very helpful, given that rely on the RF gain control adjustment to give me comfortable listening. I can then look at the s-meter and give a meaningful report without having to wind up the RF gain. Is there a way of implementing this on the K3? Is there any reason why this hasn't been implemented in absolute mode? Would be great if it could be. 73, John VK7JB ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
