[Skimmertalk] Miniwhip Antenna questions

[N4ZR]

I'm sure you're right, John - I think I have a way to do this with my 
permanent whip. But at the moment my local noise, even on a horizontal 
antenna, is so bad that it swamps everything else.

73, Pete N4ZR
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On 2/9/2018 4:54 PM, John Ackermann N8UR wrote:
> 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
>> spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
>> For spots, please use your favorite
>> "retail" DX cluster.
>>
>> 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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>>>
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>