Bigger K3 S-meter
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For those like me with 50 year old eyes, here are some suggestions for making the K3 S-meter easier to read. Scroll down to the bottom. ;-)
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--- On Thu, 10/30/08, Lee Buller <[hidden email]> wrote:
> With a little programming ... someone could come up with an > S-Meter that would fill the screen of a computer. This could be easily done. Maybe have the size adjustable.. be able to select digital, bargraph or analog even. :) If there's enough interest, I'd be glad to whip it up. It would tie up the K3's serial port. David, W4SMT _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Don Rasmussen
David,
What about using it through Larry's LP-PAN? That way the serial data could be used for other functions at the same time. ------------------------- 73, Greg - AB7R Whidbey Island WA NA-065 On Thu Oct 30 10:15 , David Fleming sent: >--- On Thu, 10/30/08, Lee Buller [hidden email]> wrote: >> With a little programming ... someone could come up with an >> S-Meter that would fill the screen of a computer. > >This could be easily done. Maybe have the size adjustable.. be able to select digital, bargraph or analog even. :) > >If there's enough interest, I'd be glad to whip it up. It would tie up the K3's serial port. > >David, W4SMT > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Post to: [hidden email] >You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Hi Greg,
Well, yes, it could be integrated into PowerSDR, or any other rig control app where the source code is available. But then it would go from being a trivial programming task to a major project... for me anyway. :) David, W4SMT --- On Thu, 10/30/08, Greg - AB7R <[hidden email]> wrote: > From: Greg - AB7R <[hidden email]> > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bigger K3 S-meter > To: [hidden email], "David Fleming" <[hidden email]> > Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 1:28 PM > David, > > What about using it through Larry's LP-PAN? That way > the serial data could be used > for other functions at the same time. > > ------------------------- > 73, > Greg - AB7R > Whidbey Island WA > NA-065 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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MacLoggerDx has an S-meter and has for all rigs :-)
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174 -- Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that! -Lewis Carroll, mathematician and writer (1832-1898) On 30 Oct 2008, at 17:55, David Fleming wrote: > Hi Greg, > > Well, yes, it could be integrated into PowerSDR, or any other rig > control app where the source code is available. But then it would go > from being a trivial programming task to a major project... for me > anyway. :) > > David, W4SMT _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by David Fleming-2
I could fairly easily add a giant S-meter window to KComm since I'm displaying a graphical version of it already, but to be honest this strikes me as a bit of an odd request. My eyesight is pretty poor now, too, but with my specs on, which I need in order to be able to read any of the controls on the radio, focus on the computer screen and the keyboard I can see the original perfectly clearly. If you can't read the meter how can you operate the K3 at all?
Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222 KX3 #110
* G4ILO's Shack - http://www.g4ilo.com * KComm - http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html * KTune - http://www.g4ilo.com/ktune.html |
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In reply to this post by Don Rasmussen
I'm not sure that I understand the fascination of larger S meters, I
totally ignore mine. But back in the days of my ill spent youth, when
radios glowed in the dark, I owned a Hallicrafters SX-96 which had
an S meter that must have occupied at least a quarter of the front
panel, and went to "80 db over 9" if my memory serves me well.
Man could you give great signal reports.."ur 70 db over 9 but
pls agn ur name" and S-9 meant that the other station was audible.
Doug
W6JD
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I find the K3 S-meter a wonderful contrast to those other rigs I have had where I had to mentally compensate for the terrible non-linearity (in dB), i.e. S9=S9, S8=S8, S7=S7, S5=S6, S1=S5 and nothing below the real S5 even moves the meter. I haven't even begun to play with the AGC settings in the K3, but all the recent firmware releases seem to provide good S-meter readings without this mental translation.
That said, I have run into a situation where I actually miss the meter on the old 1000D. That is when I try to turn the beam for maximum signal strength on a station I don't know the location of. As far as I can see, the K3 displays signal strength only in whole S-units, whereas I would find it useful to see changes smaller than that. I even miss the wildly exaggerated meter swings that you get in the lower part of the scale on a typical bad S-meter; they are just easier to see at a glance. Perhaps it would be useful to have a firmware option to just expand the K3 S-meter to something like 1 or 2 dB per tick on the scale. Of course I would have to use the RF gain control to bring the reading into the smaller range of the expanded scale, and then restore the normal S-meter scale for giving reports. Maybe I could achieve this expanded S-meter scale through an alternative AGC setting, available at the touch of a button? 73, Erik K7TV
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In reply to this post by Don Rasmussen
Wasn't there a way or going to be a way to display or send absolute dBm for signal strength. That could just be a program running and getting reports from the K3 over the serial port. Integer dBm would tell you everything you needed to know.
73, Guy. |
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In reply to this post by K7TV
The Elecraft website "Manuals & Downloads" section has an updated set of
schematics which match the currently shipping K3 products. Enjoy! 73, Lyle KK7P _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Guy, K2AV
Are you referring to the K3's ability to display audio output level in mV or "dbV"?
While mere signal reports can reasonably be given by ear, I have measurement in my blood and really appreciate that K3 capability. When I am not in a hurry, it is good for something like looking at filter response. However, it works best with the AGC turned off, which is a bit of a pain, and if I am peaking something I want to see analog movement, not numbers! That said, if the K3 were to acquire a capability to display RF input signal strength as a number, that would surely be very useful for something. If a program on a computer is the only way to see an S-meter showing small fluctuations of a dB or so, I might break down and finally install that program, which I assume is some kind of rig control program. After 45 years of hamming and being a computer engineer and just a casual contester, I have never wanted rig control by computer. PC's just aren't reliable enough, especially with Windows. Oh well, I will probably have to cave in soon just to get a panoramic display... Erik K7TV
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In reply to this post by M0XDF
> MacLoggerDx has an S-meter and has for all rigs :-) As does DXLab Suite (CI-V Commander). I have updated the K3 S-meter definition file for use with the extended mode command responses and AA6YQ has updated the next release of Commander to make use of the extended response modes. > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] > [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of David > Ferrington, M0XDF > Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 2:03 PM > To: [hidden email] > Cc: [hidden email] > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bigger K3 S-meter > > > MacLoggerDx has an S-meter and has for all rigs :-) > 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174 > -- _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by K7TV
I think signal reports are more politics or psychology than science. If someone gives me 599 it's only good manners to send 599 back. It's just the way I was brought up. :) If they send something other than 599 then I realise that they are actually giving me a real report, so I try to give them a real one back. But since signals can often vary from S7 to S9+20 over the period of a QSO I think the idea of giving realistic signal reports is actually unachievable anyway.
Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222 KX3 #110
* G4ILO's Shack - http://www.g4ilo.com * KComm - http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html * KTune - http://www.g4ilo.com/ktune.html |
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Julian,
I tend to use S-meters more for purposes other than for giving signal reports, but when I do give a signal report I prefer to make it an honest one and update it later in the qso. When I get a non-real report of 599 e.g. from a dx, it kind of neutralizes the joy of having made the contact. I think Elecraft and TT (and in the past Collins) deserve credit for providing meaningful S-meter scales. I think the biggest problem today with the existing S-meter standard is that the same standard is applied to each HF/MF band, with an abrupt change for VHF. A separate S9 definition for each band would make more sense because of different average noise levels. Sometimes in the past I have gone by the standard for 40 and down, and deliberately inflated the readings on the higher bands by switching on the preamp consistently for those bands. Of course if one uses a separate receive antenna, one may need to adjust reports for that. Given all possible adjustments, one might want to be able to set a dB offset individually for each band, and I am sure that the K3 could do that, although I would not push for it as a priority. Anyway, since you do external software for the K3, can you confirm that an S-meter displayed on the PC could get signal strength data from the K3 that has a fine enough granularity to show a change of 1 or 2 dB? Thanks, Erik K7TV
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> Anyway, since you do external software for the K3, can you > confirm that an S-meter displayed on the PC could get signal > strength data from the K3 that has a fine enough granularity > to show a change of 1 or 2 dB? No. The SM; (and BG;) reports from the K3 are one S-unit increments from S0 to S9 and 5 dB steps above S9. > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] > [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of K7TV > Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 6:02 PM > To: [hidden email] > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bigger K3 S-meter > > > > Julian, > > I tend to use S-meters more for purposes other than for > giving signal reports, but when I do give a signal report I > prefer to make it an honest one and update it later in the > qso. When I get a non-real report of 599 e.g. from a dx, it > kind of neutralizes the joy of having made the contact. I > think Elecraft and TT (and in the past Collins) deserve > credit for providing meaningful S-meter scales. I think the > biggest problem today with the existing S-meter standard is > that the same standard is applied to each HF/MF band, with an > abrupt change for VHF. A separate S9 definition for each band > would make more sense because of different average noise > levels. Sometimes in the past I have gone by the standard for > 40 and down, and deliberately inflated the readings on the > higher bands by switching on the preamp consistently for > those bands. Of course if one uses a separate receive > antenna, one may need to adjust reports for that. Given all > possible adjustments, one might want to be able to set a dB > offset individually for each band, and I am sure that the K3 > could do that, although I would not push for it as a priority. > > Anyway, since you do external software for the K3, can you > confirm that an S-meter displayed on the PC could get signal > strength data from the K3 that has a fine enough granularity > to show a change of 1 or 2 dB? > > Thanks, > Erik K7TV > > Julian, G4ILO wrote: > > > > > > > > K7TV wrote: > >> > >> Are you referring to the K3's ability to display audio > output level > >> in mV or "dbV"? While mere signal reports can reasonably > be given by > >> ear, I have measurement in my blood and really appreciate that K3 > >> capability. > >> > > I think signal reports are more politics or psychology than > science. > > If someone gives me 599 it's only good manners to send 599 > back. It's > > just the way I was brought up. :) If they send something other than > > 599 then I realise that they are actually giving me a real > report, so > > I try to give them a real one back. But since signals can > often vary > > from S7 to S9+20 over the period of a QSO I think the idea > of giving > > realistic signal reports is actually unachievable anyway. > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/Bigger-K3-S-meter-tp1399030p1400685.html > Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Can this be changed?
/ SM2EKM ------------- Joe Subich, W4TV wrote: > > > No. The SM; (and BG;) reports from the K3 are one S-unit > increments from S0 to S9 and 5 dB steps above S9. > > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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It would break all existing software if it was. As the K3 is capable of displaying a signal strength reading in dBm it would seem feasible to add a new command that would allow software to access this value. But there are probably still higher priority things on the firmware "to do" list.
Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222 KX3 #110
* G4ILO's Shack - http://www.g4ilo.com * KComm - http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html * KTune - http://www.g4ilo.com/ktune.html |
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Yes dBm, I would like that.
/ Jim SM2EKM ----------------- Julian, G4ILO wrote: > > Jan Erik Holm wrote: >> Can this be changed? >> > It would break all existing software if it was. > > As the K3 is capable of displaying a signal strength reading in dBm it would > seem feasible to add a new command that would allow software to access this > value. But there are probably still higher priority things on the firmware > "to do" list. > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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