Grant, on an earlier thread on this general topic Wayne said that SMTR OF and SC may need further tweaking when switching to Abs after first aligning in Nor mode with Pre on. My experience mimics yours. With a 50uv signal and the S meter at S9, Nor OF setting is 30 and Abs setting is at 23. So that's quite a tweak.
I prefer Abs, having gotten used to the idea with my Omni VII. I'm not sure why it is recommended that the alignment first occur in Nor mode unless what you and I are seeing is abnormal. It is almost as if the settings are independent except for SC which is 14 in both cases. So, no insight, just a similar experience. Gary W7TEA K3 #1001 So, the S-Meter calibration instructions in the manual indicate that PRE should be on. When calibration is done, that means that a 50uV signal reads S-9 with PRE on .. but about S-7 with PRE off. And then if the mode is changed from Normal to Absolute, a 50uV signal reads S-7 with or without the preamp. Just wondering (maybe I need to RTFM and specs again), why that would be the case, vs. 50uV being S-9 without the preamp. I have always just ignored the instruction manual, and calibrated to S-9 with the preamp off. So a 50uV signal reads S-9 (with or without preamp engaged if the mode is Absolute). Am I screwing something up? Or does it just not matter all that much since (1) it doesn't impact anything other than the bar graph, (2) an S-meter reading is not all that terribly important anyway (I don't run a lab), (3) it's all relative, (4) the P3 is in my future, and (5) all DX or contest exchanges are 5-9 by definition :-) To set the record straight on a related topic -- I posted about an issue with gain calibration using the updated K3UtilityOSX a couple of days ago. Turned out it was apparently nothing more than cockpit error and fat-fingers on my part, which is typical. Dave Fleming and Elecraft support (Gary Surrency) were both very helpful and got me set on the path of truth and light ... Anyone have any insight on the S-meter cal thing? Thanks ... Grant/NQ5T K3 #2091 with most all the extras. -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/K3-Question-about-S-Meter-Calibration-tp3955588p3955838.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ 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
