K3 S-meter Reading with ATT on and PRE off

[Jay Krishna]

I wanted to ask about the K3 S-meter readings I noticed: 1. S7 with ATT off and PRE on2. S5 with ATT off and PRE off3. S3 with ATT on and PRE off These were for a CW signal on 20M; I read that turning the attenuator on and preamp off provides a better signal by lowering the noise level in the IF stages and beyond. I can hear the signal better too, but wanted to ask if the S meter readings are supposed to change with the settings of ATT & PRE? Thanks! Jay (KD6AMA)    
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[k5oai]

check out SMTR MD in the manual

(Advanced) S-meter mode: When set to NOR, preamp/attenuator on/off will
affect the S-meter. (The default values of SMTR OF and SMTR SC apply to
NOR.) If set to ABS, the S-meter reading will stay fairly constant with different
preamp/attenuator settings, but SMTR OF and SMTR SC must be re-aligned

also page 51 (owners man D10.pdf) for 'S-Meter and RF GAIN Control'
with help about calibration.

Sam K5OAI

[Don Wilhelm-4]

Jay,

Normally, the preamp and attenuator will change the S-meter reading.  If
you do not want that to happen, go into the menu and change to SMTR
ABS.  I suggest (contrary to the manual suggestion) that you calibrate
the S-meter with the preamp and attenuator both off before setting SMTR
ABS, but the choice is yours.  If you calibrate with the preamp on, then
switch to SMTR ABS, a 50 uV signal will read S-7 rather than S-9.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/27/2013 5:10 PM, Jay Krishna wrote:
> I wanted to ask about the K3 S-meter readings I noticed: 1. S7 with ATT off and PRE on2. S5 with ATT off and PRE off3. S3 with ATT on and PRE off These were for a CW signal on 20M; I read that turning the attenuator on and preamp off provides a better signal by lowering the noise level in the IF stages and beyond. I can hear the signal better too, but wanted to ask if the S meter readings are supposed to change with the settings of ATT & PRE? Thanks! Jay (KD6AMA)  
>

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