Give us a Choice with the S Meter

KY6LA_Howard

@Rudy

Do you really believe that when the IC-7610 Reads its Fictitious S0 at the antenna input when it is shorted then it is actually reading by IARU definition -127dBm (0.1microvolts @50 ohms @500Hz BW)?

KY6LA_Howard

Here is the WOODBOX SMeter on my 6700

Looks cute.. I already posted a link but here it is again

https://www.dropbox.com/s/223si9ks962n1av/Smart%20S-meter_V1.6.zip?dl=0 

it will do almost what you want like the swinging needles except give you the fictitious readings so many hams wish they had.

Rex K0KP

@Howard

Geez already, all readings are approximations, best guesses, estimations, and all are relative!  And yes quantum physics does work here, we are trying to measure electrons, those elusive little critters that have been proven to be able to be in more than one location at the same time - bi location.  They can also become entangled, traverse time, transfer information faster than the speed of light, and so forth.  Check out "Measurement in Science" a hard read concerning the philosophy of measurements.  The fact is our collective understanding of the universe is so lacking that we don't even know what we don't know.  We can't, except to measure something relative to something.  I posit the relative analog S Meter reading is just as valid as any other relative measurement made digitally.  But because it is relative doesn't make it not useful.  I posit that all measurements are fictitious, some might be a little closer to the truth than others.  If there even is real truth and real reality.  Do we even know what those two things are? 

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/measurement-science/

Neal Pollack, N6YFM

WOW, lots of passion on this thread :-)
I never knew the idea of an S-Meter was so important to so many people.
To me, it is far more important to be able to make the QSO, or hear the weak
DX on SSB, than to stare at a meter all day   [which by nature of how many different
manufacturers are doing it differently, is a "Meaningless Index of Performance" meter.]

SO, if I go "key down" broadcasting a carrier, and 10 different people in different locations are receiving me
with different model/brand rigs, different antennas, in different locations, each one will report a different reading.   Even if they were all lined up in the same field with their different rigs and antennas, they might
well each read different.   So what use is that?    If they heard me at all, I am in their log book.  If not, I really
don't care what the reading was :-)    And if they did log me, again, I really don't care what the reading was :-)

And furthermore, as some previous poster pointed out, if you happen to work a contest, all the logged entries look like 59 to me, I have rarely seen different, since people are moving so fast to log contacts they don't seem interesting in staring at a meter long enough to analyze, should this be a 55 or a 57 or a 54???

Are we perhaps getting all tangled up in measurebating, when it might be far more fun to make contacts?

Cheers

James Del Principe

Neal, my 45th anniversary RS Camaro has a cluster of gauges on the console for engine temperature, oil pressure, Transmission temperature and voltmeter. I could not possibly go for a spin or to the grocery store without that essential data.  Same for the 'S' meter.    HI HI       73, Jim

Rick Hadley - W0FG

I find signal reports absolutely meaningless unless I'm engaged in a real ragchew and one of us want to compare signals with different antennas or amp on/amp off and in that case, it's extremely 'techy' to be able to quote -dBM figures.  For logging I usually use the default of 59/599 as it makes no difference for award purposes, and years from now I'm not going to care that I landed the KH1 at S1 or S9, once the QSL has been received.

Robert Lonn

Howard, I downloaded the software and set it up, however it does not look correct on my screen like yours, the image and check boxes are messes up and oversize??? Any ideas?? I run Windows 10.

Robert

Bill -VA3WTB

Robert, must be a resolution problem,,but I'm not sure how to fix that. Can you change the resolution to something then change it back,,it may correct it? Perhaps un install the meter and re installing it? it must have not installed correctly.

KY6LA_Howard

Resolution or scaling issue in your windows screen setup.

Robert Lonn

SSDR software and other programs look perfect on my LG Monitor and on my Laptop,, so I dont think I need to change anything,, but might try that on my laptop... This is the first ever program that has done this in some 3 years... The S meter is neat, but not something I must have...  I may uninstall the program and try a few things... But appreciate the feedback.

Robert

James Del Principe

All good points, Rick.   The meter is reasonably good for relative measurements, not so much for absolute values. Just think that even if it were 100% accurate, it would only be valid for that moment in time subject to propagation, antennas at each end, power levels, etc.     Jim

Michael, K7HIL

HCampbell WB4IVF