• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Is Mike delusional?

Status
Not open for further replies.
HF S-meter
Many amateur radio and shortwave broadcast receivers feature a signal strength meter (S‑meter).4 In 1981, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 agreed on a technical recommendation for S‑meter calibration of HF and VHF/UHF transceivers.5,6

IARU Region 1 Technical Recommendation R.1 defines S9 for the HF bands to be a receiver input power of -73 dBm. This is a level of 50 µV at the receiver’s antenna input assuming the input impedance of the receiver is 50 Ω.


If Ranger decided for some reason to be the one rogue radio manufacturer that doesn't adhere to this standard, then i would ask what possible reason they would have for doing so.

Like any good detective, you look for motive. Here, there is no clear motive for not adhering to the standard.
TO ME this says that it is more likely that a mistake was made by the person writing up the service manual, or something got lost in the language translation.

Are we really going to hold RCI up as above and beyond the standards set for every other radio receiver?

Do we really believe that they put more effort into writing up their service manuals than they put into the quality control of their radios?

Let's use a little logic and grey matter here folks!

There are typos and mistakes in service literature all the time, and we are supposed to have enough understanding of how this stuff works in order to see past them.

The service manual has a typo in it.
LC
 
HF S-meter
Many amateur radio and shortwave broadcast receivers feature a signal strength meter (S‑meter).4 In 1981, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 agreed on a technical recommendation for S‑meter calibration of HF and VHF/UHF transceivers.5,6

IARU Region 1 Technical Recommendation R.1 defines S9 for the HF bands to be a receiver input power of -73 dBm. This is a level of 50 µV at the receiver’s antenna input assuming the input impedance of the receiver is 50 Ω.


If Ranger decided for some reason to be the one rogue radio manufacturer that doesn't adhere to this standard, then i would ask what possible reason they would have for doing so.

Like any good detective, you look for motive. Here, there is no clear motive for not adhering to the standard.
TO ME this says that it is more likely that a mistake was made by the person writing up the service manual, or something got lost in the language translation.

Are we really going to hold RCI up as above and beyond the standards set for every other radio receiver?

Do we really believe that they put more effort into writing up their service manuals than they put into the quality control of their radios?

Let's use a little logic and grey matter here folks!

There are typos and mistakes in service literature all the time, and we are supposed to have enough understanding of how this stuff works in order to see past them.

The service manual has a typo in it.
LC
Are they all typographic errors or a deliberate deviation from the standard? If it is a deliberate deviation from the standard, should we not follow the service manual procedure?
Out of these, only the HR2600 and President George seem to follow the standard. Most don't.
ATTACH=full]22409[/ATTACH] 1515838680012.png 1515838434921.png 1515838188180.png 1515837976474.png 1515837787455.png 1515837093153.png 1515836661641.png 1515836124443.png 1515835817830.png
 

Attachments

  • 1515838866471.png
    1515838866471.png
    254.7 KB · Views: 4
Are you implying nobody should follow an RCI service manual when servicing an RCI radio? That's exactly what Mike is saying.
View attachment 22403

This is what Mike is saying:

"The problem is many manufacturers don't use the international standard and many techs then use the incorrect levels given in those manuals. Everyone should use the international standard so every s meter in every radio is calibrated the same. Think of length measurement. If everyone used their foot (on the end of your leg foot) as the standard for one foot then no two measurements would be the same because everyone has a different standard. With S meters using a non standardized level makes every radio show a different incoming signal level. I will make another video covering the confusion this causes, what the standard is with a link to the technical documentation and also cover the difference in terminated and unterminated signals."
 
RPC, i would say that there is a lot of copying and pasting going on when it comes to new radio models that are based on the same chassis they have been for over 25 years.

just to make sure it gets into the thread, setting the meter either way would not account for it being "jumpy".

We calibrate the meters at S9 because it sits in the middle of the meter, and the further away from the middle of the meter you get, the less accurate the reading is.

the two different calibration levels we are discussing are 6db apart, meaning that the difference between the two levels equates to a 1 S unit difference.
LC
 
  • Like
Reactions: rabbiporkchop
RPC, i would say that there is a lot of copying and pasting going on when it comes to new radio models that are based on the same chassis they have been for over 25 years.

just to make sure it gets into the thread, setting the meter either way would not account for it being "jumpy".

We calibrate the meters at S9 because it sits in the middle of the meter, and the further away from the middle of the meter you get, the less accurate the reading is.

the two different calibration levels we are discussing are 6db apart, meaning that the difference between the two levels equates to a 1 S unit difference.
LC
By setting S9 at half the recommended voltage, Mike has chosen to blame the manufacturer for how the s-meter behaves on this radio. If the adjustment was made per the service manual, the meter would behave normally. Wouldn't misadjusting the meter also screw up the RF gain and ASQ threshold?
I agree manufacturers should abide by the standard, but until they do, it seems best to follow the service manual to avoid broken s-meters.
 
I bet it is really irritating that mike's math and reason seems to add up
If it added up, he wouldn't be complaining about how this meter spends most of its time pegged after being misadjusted. Factory specs would be a simple fix. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world where manufacturers build radios to Mikes standards.
 
What is it that you are trying to prove?
Export radios and cb radios are not built to the same standards as an Icom 7000.
Mike wants to apply those standards to inferior equipment.
It obviously doesn't work. Until manufacturers decide to build equipment that follow accepted standards, It seems best to follow the service manual to avoid meter problems.
An accurate meter is kind of nice to have in my world. A lot of operators like to know that it's adjusted properly so they dont get their radio blown up by the guy backing in to the parking spot next door with his 6 pill on in the truck stop. Hard to know if the meter is inaccurate/ too sensitive. They are mobiles radios not base stations.
 
It's funny, in my 25+ years as a ham I very seldom pay attention to the "S" meter. If I can hear you is all that matters, signal strength is irrelevant. I find all this talk of meter calibration... funny.
 
  • Like
Reactions: undertaker
Alright guys, I got the perfect solution!
Avoid all the cheap export radios, stick with older Uniden made "type accepted" CB radios that have an analog metering circuit, a little adjust/compensate and BOOM, International standard reached.

Sorry but I couldn't help myself, I just can't stand the black box radios.
Edit: If the meter cannot be calibrated to behave with the international standard, do I really want that kind of radio?
73
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: rabbiporkchop
It's funny, in my 25+ years as a ham I very seldom pay attention to the "S" meter. If I can hear you is all that matters, signal strength is irrelevant. I find all this talk of meter calibration... funny.
You must not be a driver using your meter to determine the direction of travel of a transmitting station or being concerned about an illegal high powered station parking 5 feet from your station. Us drivers got it rough.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • dxBot:
    Tucker442 has left the room.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    LIVE 10:00 AM EST :cool:
  • @ Charles Edwards:
    I'm looking for factory settings 1 through 59 for a AT 5555 n2 or AT500 M2 I only wrote down half the values feel like a idiot I need help will be appreciated