Eric Swartz WA6HHQ, co-founder of Elecraft, joins us to guide our understanding of RF receiver performance specifications.  Eric introduces us to common receiver specs such as Sensitivity, Noise Floor, Dynamic Range, Intermod Dynamic Range, Phase Noise, and RMDR.  He tells us what they mean in real-world receiver performance terms, how they are tested, and whether it’s better to have a higher or lower number in each one.  It’s also the final episode before the 2018 Hamvention and George and Jeremy share our plans for our Booth, special offers, and exclusives for show listeners who stop by booth 3104 in Xenia. Show Topic Begins at 1:09:36 Our Website - http://www.hamradioworkbench.com/ Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/hamworkbench Contact us for feedback and ideas - http://hamradioworkbench.com/contact Connect with us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hamradioworkbench/ Hamvention DMR Hotspot - 439.3125 TG 31075 George will be giving a forum presentation - Saturday, May 19 - 2:45 Room 3  - “Quick tips for setting up your workbench, HamRadio Workbench Build Projects” Want to be on the show?  Come to the booth and tell us what’s on your workbench! Project documentation will be indexed and available on this page - http://hamradioworkbench.com/ham-radio-workbench-project-board-index PowerFilm Solar 30Watt Foldable Solar Panel giveaway - http://bit.ly/WorkbenchPodcast We will announce the winners via our company Facebook page on or around June 1. Save $100 on the Digilent Analog Discovery 2 Package by using code “HamRadioWorkbench2018” in your cart prior to checkout - https://store.digilentinc.com/ham-radio-workbench-bundle/ Visit Digilent at booth 3002 QRP ARCI - Four Days in May - http://www.qrparci.org/fdim QRP Labs - https://www.qrp-labs.com/ Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio - https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Projects-Amateur-Radio-Purdum/dp/0071834052 W6DQ QRZ Page - https://www.qrz.com/db/w6dq Sam Zeloff - Garage Chip Fab https://hackaday.com/2017/02/25/the-fab-lab-next-door-diy-semiconductors/ https://hackaday.com/2018/04/24/first-lithographically-produced-home-made-ic-announced/ https://hackaday.com/2018/05/03/more-details-on-that-first-home-made-lithographically-produced-ic/ Amp Hour Interview with Sam - https://theamphour.com/390-an-interview-with-sam-zeloof/ Sam Zeloff Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7E8-0Ou69hwScPW1_fQApA Bletchley Park - https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ Update on George’s Projects on his blog - http://www.kj6vu.com/ Anker Powerline Cables - https://www.anker.com/products/110/Cables USB In-Line Multimeter - https://www.amazon.com/Eversame-Multimeter-Chargers-Capacity-Banks-Black/dp/B01D9Y6ZFW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525531260&sr=8-3&keywords=usb+meter Randy K7AGE YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE Eric 4ZIUG QSO Today Podcast - https://www.qsotoday.com/ Jeremy’s Workbench made from IKEA Algot Shelving - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Db6TKjGUQAAfvQ8.jpg:large IKEA Algot Shelving - https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/22798/ IKEA Bekant Desk - https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S09022804/#/S19022808 RF Receiver Specifications Guide from Eric Swartz WA6HHQ Elecraft Mailing List - http://www.elecraft.com/elist.html Sensitivity - How well can the receiver hear weak signals? Minimum Discernible Signals - noise is generated inside the radio from the amplifier stages and how much amplification is available in the receive chain to bring a signal above the radio’s internal noise floor As sensitivity increases, you can degrade dynamic range To measure, start by injecting weak signals until you observe the signal level out of the speaker roughly double in amplitude (3dB) Lower values are better (bigger negative number), allowing you to detect weaker signals Most HF radios are between -125 to -130 with -135 to -138 being on the higher side of performance Noise Floor The internal noise figure generated by the radio