[Skimmertalk] Miniwhip Antenna questions

[John Ackermann N8UR]

The Miniwhip articles that were referenced a couple of messages ago are 
worth looking at -- they give a pretty good description of how the thing 
works.  The big problem, particularly at lower frequencies, is keeping 
out local noise.

K4ZOA's suggestion was to have the antenna in electrical contact with 
the mast, and ground the mast at its base.  Then ideally bury the coax 
away from the mast, and about 20 feet away put in a mongo ferrite bead 
collection (also buried) and continue the buried run into the shack, 
where you might add a bunch more ferrites.  It's all about keeping the 
coax from picking up crud.

Lacking a metallic mast, you can use the coax as the ground connection, 
but you want it to go to earth right below the antenna, rather than 
finding ground at the far end.

John
----

On 02/09/2018 04:25 PM, N4ZR wrote:
> 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
> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
> at<http://reversebeacon.net>, now
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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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>>
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