Decibels in Ham Radio: The Essential Breakdown!

[@KS0JD]

That just added about 10db to everyone's understanding of decibels. Thanks for the video Ape! 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Jeff 👍

[@Andrew-yx7sf]

This was a nice straightforward explanation.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Andrew, glad you liked it 🍻

[@je845]

Your absolutely correct, that s**t is confusing. I put in a request months ago for a video on this topic. Thank you for responding, clarification, and parting knowledge. Job very well done!!! KC2VAB 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

lol, glad you liked it je 👍

[@dougtaylor7724]

I found this one of your best videos. Raised my understanding about 3 S units over the noise floor here on KZbin. 😂

[@TheSmokinApe]

LOL, glad you liked it Doug. Thanks for watching 👍

[@AD6DMDennis]

Thanks for this explanation. A TheSmokinApe sticker on your hamradio laptop adds 6dB, which is a quadruple power increase.

[@TheSmokinApe]

You damn right!

[@HOAHamRadio]

I think I picked up about 2db of the 10db shared...that's more than I started with. Always enjoy the education!

[@TheSmokinApe]

LOL, thanks for watching Bob 👍

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Very useful for new learners and for the experienced to revise. I found the dBm section particularly useful. Thanks, Ape.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Ace, glad you liked it 👍

[@germanjohn5626]

Nice video, easy to undeerstand for those that want to know, and mindblowing complicated for those who memorized the ham radio test and don't care about the basics.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for watching John 👍

[@Ed-vi6tg]

i thought the presentation was horrible. I recommend reading the ARRL's Amateur Radio Handbook.

[@tamstutz921]

Extremely helpful video. Thanks for putting this together.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Glad it was helpful, thank you for watching 👍

[@paulw1119]

Big thanks for this short, stil thorough, explanation on a confusing topic 👍

[@TheSmokinApe]

Glad you liked it Paul, thank you for watching.

[@t.j.speakman7723]

Thanks APE, I just can't believe an antenna company would try to separate me from my funds. Always great info from you.

[@TheSmokinApe]

lol, thanks for watching TJ 👍

[@kb5miqbigboy]

Great video!!! That explains it best ive heard!73!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks BigBoy!

[@youtubeaccount931]

This goes in my Epic playlist

[@TheSmokinApe]

Awesome

[@hughpatterson1480]

That was a fantastic explanation of dBi and dBd. Yeah, I get suspicious of antenna manufacturer claims. When I first got into HF and DXing, I would get an antenna that the manufacturer claimed would give me a specific dB gain over other antennas. I'd set the antenna up and get results that were nowhere near the manufacturer's claims. I felt that I had done something wrong. I'd spend hours trying to get tweak the antenna. I wish I would have seen this video back then. Thanks for another clear explanation that didn't require an electrical engineering dictionary to understand! 73...Hugh...KN6KNB

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Hugh, thanks for watching. There are some good folks selling antennas but unfortunately some are pretty terrible.

[@Bill-HRT]

Ape! In all seriousness, when you explain this way, I can make sense of it. Great job. I'm saving this for reference. Thanks. See you out there. 73 de Bill

[@TheSmokinApe]

Howdy Bill, glad you liked it and thank you for watching 👍

[@robertmeyer4744]

That was great Ape ! Not many know the DB came from the telephone BELL . Bell labs . I was comparing 2 UNUN today . 4:1 different core and wraps on some 25FT wire. I folded back to tune 1.1 on 28.074 MHZ . 1 UNUN is FT 240-43 wrap with #14 PTFE wire 15/30 wrap. The outher is T200-2 RED core wrap 8/16 . No noticeable difference on TX and RX. SWR about same swapping UNUN leaving wire same length . No heating on core only had a QT 60-60 watt radio. I did a bunch of 60 watt SSB contacts . 10/11/12 was wide open ! I even herd 10 meter AM on 29 MHZ and tried and no contact . QT 60 does 50 watt PEP on AM. Did not try FM . 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

I like that QT60, thanks for watching Robert 👍

[@mikehartman9809]

Thank you! Great, easy to follow info! Please cover more subjects if you can . Will like and subscribe . 73

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Mike, that’s the plan 👍

[@lifegettingintheway2710]

The bel has an interesting past and what was then is not now in practical use. The story reminds one of the relationship between the ruts in the road caused by draught oxen determining the size of the space shuttle (and railroad tracks). It begins with a twisted pair of 16 gauge wire. Because YT does not permit links you will have to google "The 600 ohm audio standard, where did it go?" It is an interesting story. If you are lucky enough to have a Simpson 260 VOM with a DB scale you will need a 600 ohm loaded reference signal to use it.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks for the info LGITW 👍

[@P.SeanCoady]

In 1928, the Bell system renamed the TU into the decibel, being one tenth of a newly defined unit for the base-10 logarithm of the power ratio. It was named the bel, in honor of the telecommunications pioneer Alexander Graham Bell. The bel is seldom used, as the decibel was the proposed working unit. Wiki. I believe the national bureau of standards has a bell that is a reference to one BELL and one tenth at a prescribed distance is one decibel.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Sean

[@glantch]

Very helpful video - thanks! I have a question: on my portable shortwave radio, the display shows signal strength as dBm or dBi. What do those mean in terms of signal strength on receive?

[@P.SeanCoady]

@@glantch dBi refers to decibels measured against an isotropic reference antenna a antenna that radiates equal in all directions. It is a theoretical antenna since all antennas have some type of pattern here on earth....right DBm is decibel measured against one milliwatt as a reference .

[@godarklight]

The 3db rule is a good one to remember, but so is the 10db being 10x. Also as a 7300 owner our S points are only 3db, makes the noise look artificially lower than it is...

[@TheSmokinApe]

Artificially lows how they get you. Thanks for watching GDL 👍

[@tomwright4450]

Many transceivers conventionally use a scale of 3 dB per S unit (It used to be always 6dB per S Unit)). While it may seem trivial to tell a ham operator that their 1 kW setup only results in a 2 S unit increase, the reality is more nuanced. In practice, those who own an amplifier and conduct A/B comparisons often find that when they ask the receiving ham operator to assess the signal strength, about 90% report a difference of 3 to 4 S units when switching from 100 watts to 1,000 watts. This observation suggests that S units may reflect a more common scale of 3 dB per unit, rather than the traditional assumption of 6 dB. DE NN2X / Tom

[@TheSmokinApe]

I think I did a video for this but I can't remember... either way, I'd be happy to do more "S-meter, truth or dare" videos.

[@James_Bowie]

Can we trust S meters to be 6dB per division? Would be interesting to test/calibrate some on a selection of ICOM, Yaesu, etc, radio models.

[@TheSmokinApe]

I can test a few radios and see how they do?

[@James_Bowie]

@@TheSmokinApe OK, I think that would make an interesting video. 👍

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Ape, Good explanations, however Icom in their infinite wisdom has been using 3 dB per S unit since releasing the IC-7300. Stay safe. 73 WJ3U

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Don, unfortunately there is no “standard” for S-level. The only thing manufacturers seem to agree on is -72dBm or so for s9.

[@DonDegidio]

@@TheSmokinApe Well, every amateur radio manufacturer has been using 6dB per S unit except for Icom when they released the IC-7300. I think it's -73 dBm for S9 on the HF bands. 73 WJ3U

[@DonDegidio]

@@TheSmokinApe I should mention it is industry accepted that one S unit is a 6 dB change in signal strength below an S9 signal level. WJ3U

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@DonDegidio there is nothing saying that radios have to be designed that way, that’s my only point

[@mikesradiorepair]

@@TheSmokinApe My original post got blocked because of reference to a website. I made a separate comment (without the link) to the IARU HF and VHF Managers Handbook that does have a standard for S-meter calibration. And for HF it's -73dBm not -72dBm for S-9. Been around since the 1980's.

[@OGWT]

I was searching for some cat videos.. but this one was pretty good too. 😉😋

[@TheSmokinApe]

It's hard to find a good cat video...

[@bassangler73]

I'm still laughing at the intro Ape...lol.. Good explanation though seriously..I guess after people take their Tech Test, they forget this stuff. But I guess if you're not around it a lot, it goes up in smoke..😂...

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey BA, thanks for watching bro 🍻

[@dougdaniels]

Similar to measuring the strength of an earthquake. A magnitude 6 is 10x that of a magnitude 5, and a magnitude 7 is 100x a magnitude 5.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Exactly like that 👍

[@donausmus4281]

Thanks for the video!! A video well worth archiving! K1DLA

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Don, glad you liked it 🍻

[@hazer72]

You down with dBd? Yeah you know me! 😃

[@TheSmokinApe]

Naughty!

[@BLACKHEAT1028]

OPP...other peoples portables

[@Swamp-Fox]

If I would have known how cool logarithms are, I might have paid better attention in school!

[@TheSmokinApe]

lol, thanks for watching SF 👍

[@temporarilyoffline]

School is in!

[@TheSmokinApe]

You damn right

[@lifegettingintheway2710]

The human ear is logarithmic. That drove a lot of science.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Correct, I think 👍

[@Siskiyous6]

3dB is how they get ya

[@TheSmokinApe]

Every damn time.

[@johnnorth9355]

All I know is that in contests everything seems to be 59 lol. Me ? I can either hear something or I can't. 73 M7BLC

[@TheSmokinApe]

lol, everyone gets a 599!

[@AutieTortie]

Uhm, it's "exponentially" (i.e. relating to exponents), not "expidentially" 😂😂😂

[@TheSmokinApe]

That’s what I said, right?

[@rawcado]

@@TheSmokinApe No, you kept saying expidentially as in expidite and expiditious which means quickly, not as in exponent and exponential which means expounding or expanding a value by orders of powers.