[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 seem to be out of date.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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