
2 The decibel scale
2.1 Decibels and the logarithmic scale
The range of powers, voltages and currents encountered in radio en-
gineering is too wide to be expressed on linear scale. Consequently,
a logarithmic scale based on the decibel (dB, one tenth of a bel) is
used. The decibel does not specify a magnitude of a power, voltage
or current but a ratio between two values of them. Gains and losses
in circuits or radio paths are expressed in decibels.
The ratio between two powers is given by:
Gain or loss, dB = 10 log
10
P
1
P
2
where P
1
and P
2
are the two powers.
As the power in a circuit varies with the square of the voltage or
current, the logarithm of the