>>18748794 (pb notable)

"The collective mind that is this platform needs more signal & less noise"

RF anons may find it interesting that Elon referred to SNR (signal to noise ratio), rather than CNR (carrier to noise ratio) and how the difference between the two might further define his message.

Carrier-to-noise ratio-

CNR, is the proportion of how much “raw signal” you have vs. how much noise. This measurement is very easy to get, all you have to do is find a carrier wave and then measure its strength. You can also measure the strength of adjacent frequencies to get the noise level without the carrier wave, although modern meters can measure both on the same frequency.

CNR is important because it gives you a raw measurement of how well things are going to travel over a wire. When you amplify a signal, the carrier goes up by a certain amount (the amplifier’s rated number) and the noise goes up by a generally smaller amount (the amplifier’s noise figure.) Because the carrier will get weaker and weaker as it travels through copper cable, a strong carrier is important and that’s the idea behind a preamplifier.

Signal to noise ratio-

SNR tells you how much more usable signal you have than non-usable signal.

SNR does not generally go up when you amplify because with digital signals you can either decode it or you can’t. Having a stronger signal doesn’t really help you to decode something that isn’t there. The key with SNR is that it is strong at the antenna and that it doesn’t get any weaker once you get to the television. If SNR is going down, that means the signal itself is getting harder and harder to decode and eventually it won’t be usable.