What does decibel mean?
The decibel is indeed a logarithmic unit of measurement. It is used in many areas of science and engineering. It is used to determine the gain of a sound or electrical current. A decibel is 1/10th of a Bel, which was named after Alexander Graham Bell. The Bel is too big of a measurement to measure small changes, so it is common to use the decibel, or dB. When using the dB it needs to be accompanied by a reference of what you are comparing it to or it is useless. The easy thing to remember about the dB is that a 2X increase in a sound or electrical network is equal to 3dB — 10dB = 10X; 20dB = 100X; and 30dB = 1000X increase in signal strength or sound pressure level. As a HAM radio operator I deal with the dB daily, as well as being a musician/audiophile. The signal strength meters on communications receivers are calibrated using dB system as well: S1-S9, which each S-unit is equal to 6dB, and then after S-9 you have a scale that is in dB to indicate a reading up to S9+60dB, which is t
