[Skimmertalk] Miniwhip Antenna questions

N4ZR n4zr at comcast.net
Fri Feb 9 16:25:01 EST 2018


Hi All - my Clifton antenna is not grounded, nor is my Miniwhip.  
Perhaps both would profit from that step.  Easy to do with the Clifton 
unit, and the Mini-Whip is going to Liberia.

73, Pete N4ZR
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On 2/9/2018 11:42 AM, W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote:
> Thanks John and Pete for the quick replies.  I was going to try to 
> mount mine away from my other Xmit antennas or as far away.  I will 
> run a ground wire up the mast and ground it to the connector.  I 
> suppose One could use the grounding blocks for RG6/59 as that is what 
> I plan to feed the antenna with.
>
> W0MU
>
>
> On 2/9/2018 9:28 AM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote:
>> I just got one of those yesterday as well.  As I understand the 
>> theory of operation (same as other active voltage probe antennas) the 
>> antenna works against the grounded mounting mast or other conductor 
>> that's tied to a ground rod at the base.  Without that grounded 
>> element, it doesn't hear anything (and I've verified that with my 
>> Clifton Labs version).  The coax shield can serve as the grounded 
>> element, BUT you need to connect it to a ground rod underneath the 
>> antenna.  Otherwise it searches for ground all the way back to the 
>> shack and picks up lots of noise along the way.
>>
>> I may be mounting mine to a wood fence post, and plan to use an F 
>> connector grounding block (commonly used for cable/satellite TV) tied 
>> to a ground rod underneath the antenna.
>>
>> As to height above ground, I've heard different recommendations.  
>> Jack Smith K4ZOA at Clifton Labs believed that 10 feet was plenty 
>> high enough.
>>
>> 73,
>> John
>> ----
>> On Feb 9, 2018, at 10:55 AM, W0MU Mike Fatchett <w0mu at w0mu.com 
>> <mailto:w0mu at w0mu.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     I received my miniwhip yesterday.  I was reading the instructions 
>> which
>>     seem to be out of date.  My miniwhip is enclosed in a pvp case so I
>>     assume that it is intended to be mounted as is.
>>
>>     The instructions also say to mount it as high as possible. I am 
>> curious
>>     as to how high others are placing this?  It also talks about 
>> keeping it
>>     away from metal and grounding it to the mast. What if I just 
>> screwed it
>>     on to the side of the house or used a pvc mast.  Would I want to 
>> run a
>>     ground wire up to the bnc connector at the bottom?
>>
>>     W0MU
>>
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