Greetings Ladies & Gentlemen, I claim to know very little about antenna theory. However I have noticed something on a practical level with a new antenna and wonder if any of you might be willing to c
Kim, Your anecdotal report is something that all of us have experienced at one time or another. It's possible that it was a 50 dB F/B. It's also possible that your S-Meter is not calibrated accuratel
When results are unbelievable, the experiment is likely bad. Most assuredly your s-meter is NOT 6dB per S-unit. More likely around 3dB. And not "linear" (oxymoron) either, being probably less than 3d
Author: thompson@mindspring.com (David L. Thompson)
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 00:11:13 -0500
Kim Bottles recently reported on his SteppIR beam. Actually you have the option of getting 1, 2 or 3 elements with a separate 6 meter parasitic element option. The antenna is pricey but an innovative
Stan, W7NI was first with the correct answer in a private reply to me, though Jim Rhodes was JUST 3 minutes behind him. Congratulations, Stan!! Bill, N3RR A "Scotch" S Meter is a stingy one that does
However... back in the 50s when I learned it, the original usage was Scotch meaning "stingy" ("mean" for our British friends). "Bourbon" S-meters must have been invented later by someone who chose to
In this area we tend to use the term "tight" or "tight was" meaning that the purse strings, or purse snaps were so tight that no money would come out. Chris opr VE7HCB List Sponsored by AN Wireless:
Hi Kim, While 50 dB F/B is certainly possible with a 3 element yagi, it would generally only hold up over a very narrow frequency range and a very narrow range of elevation angles (imagine a deep, bu
Hi Kim, It is not possible to get an accurate F/B measurement (or any kind of pattern measurement)from any rig that has the AGC turned on. Also, the signal must be a constant carrier, not SSB. I am n
HUH? IF the S-meter is used as a fixed level indicator in conjunction with a calibrated external step attenuator there is no problem. N4KG (Receiver Design Engineer) If you want to *hear* small diffe
Your rig's internal attenuator is generally quite accurate. Even using 5% resistors, the maximum error is about a dB, and is typically much less. This gives you accurate reference points with step si
The step attenuator on my MP is 6db. Nice if you think of S units in 6 db steps. It's also rather accurate (checked it). It also shows rather quickly that the steps below "S9" are non linear, and "wo
The resistors "die" when the rig transmits with the attenuator still in the antenna lead!! Be careful with that attenuator, whether you build it up from a kit, or buy one: they are for receive use o
MFJ sells a push-button step-attenuator (I designed it) that has 1 dB steps up to 81 dB. It uses surface mount components and 0.5% chip resistors on a groundplane double sided board with BNC connecto
Yes, I should have mentioned that I can place my RF attenuator in an external RX antenna loop through that is on the RX side of my rigs T/R relay. I wouldn't dare trust my ability to to keep the rig
Same here. Hmmm....interesting connection. You may have identified a contributing factor to some of the popular antenna myths. Tom N4KG _______________________________________________________________