Probably an imitation of the decibel scale, abbreviated dB

Yes, in the same way that dBW is decibels relative to 1 Watt. dB is a logarithmic scale, where every 10 dB represents a power of 10 (i.e. 0 dB means multiply by 1, 10 dB is multiply by 10, 20 dB is multiply by 100, 30 dB is multiply by 1000 and so on).

On this scale, every 3 dB represents a factor of 2, so 9 dB is 2³ or a factor of 8. Radio hams in the UK are limited to a maximum output power of 26 dBW, which is 400 W.

__________________
The quarrelsome oarsmen were rowing,
The great violinist was bowing;
But how is the sage
To tell, from the page:
Was it pigs or seeds that were sowing?

From Wikipedia, decibel

Commonly used for sound level measurements and named, IIRC, for Alexander Graham Bell.

__________________
Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

Correct, sorry for any confusion. Its one of those things I use so often that I forget it isn't general knowledge.

__________________
"That's Not Blight. It's New Jersey" - The Wall Street Journal

The attractiveness needed to launch one ship.

I can't remember which, but it's in one of Terry Pratchett's books if I'm not mistaken.

__________________
"God bless thee, my son; I will give thee the greatest jewel I have ...
"The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible."Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Prior to that, it came up in a Poul Anderson story in the 60s or 70s. If memory serves, it was The Star Fox, but I wouldn't swear to it.

Grant Hutchison

Wikipedia has a cite, attributing it to W.A.H. Rushton, who was president of the Society for Psychical Research in 1970. ?

Reading that link, I found out that Google supports unit conversions in smoots

Only if you run into a doctor who trained in Boston.

__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

ToSeeked, I see

That's tricky. I think Boston is quite some distance from here...

__________________
The quarrelsome oarsmen were rowing,
The great violinist was bowing;
But how is the sage
To tell, from the page:
Was it pigs or seeds that were sowing?