[Heath] Weak S-Meter on HR-20 Rcvr

[Glen Zook]

Are the "S" meters in the other equipment set for S-9 = 50-microvolts?  A goodly number of "modern" equipment have their "S" meters calibrated for a much lower signal strength for S-9 and are not well calibrated for the "dB over" readings.

All of my "S" meters are set for S-9 = 50-microvolts and not that many signals reach 20 dB over on my meters.  In fact, there are a lot of signals that don't even reach S-9!

I will check my HR-20 and see what I get for "S" meter readings.  If I remember correctly, there are not that many signals that do go over S-9 and most register well below S-9.

You really need a signal generator with a well calibrated attenuator to verify the sensitivity of your receiver.

 Glen, K9STH 
Website: http://k9sth.net

      From: Alexander N. Gerli <ac1wye at gmail.com>
 To: heathkit at mailman.qth.net; heath at puck.nether.net; heathkit at yahoogroups.com 
 Sent: Sunday, August 7, 2016 2:02 PM
 Subject: [Heath] Weak S-Meter on HR-20 Rcvr
   
Hello, Folks! My little HR-20 Rcvr works really well after a good realignment, BUT the S-Meter is very stingy. Sigs that are +20dB on a properly set-up rig are maybe S7 on the HR-20. Sigs less than S9 on my other rigs, barely flicker the S-Meter. I thought that the S-Meter amp tube was soft, but it's OK after subsritution, so I'm not sure where to start looking. I suspect that some of these older components have changed out-of-tolerance, but where's a good place to start measuring? The HR-20's S-Meter zero pot was dirty but now zeroes perfectly after cleaning, and the Antenna tuning cap is peaked before reading.

  
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