[TenTec] Grounds & 450 ohm Ladder Line

[Gary Hoffman]

Well..  this is good stuff too.

One small concern is that if you unhook the safety ground, you
are technically in violation of code.  If the house then burns down
due to an electrical fire, your insurance will not cover it.  So, I would
mildly suggest avoiding this.

In my own instance, I added additional grounds all around the house.
These are tied together and tied to the safety ground.

The ground in my ham shack...a separate building ...is nothing short
of massive.  But I still have it tied to the safety ground.  Then I had an
inspector come in and approve the whole darn thing for legal purposes.

For what its worth, I cannot detect any of the symptoms of a ground loop
on this system... but I think that is because it is so extensive that it
just
forces the potentials to zero difference.

73 de Gary, AA2IZ

----- Original Message -----
From: <N0KHQ@aol.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 6:21 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Grounds & 450 ohm Ladder Line


> I generally just monitor the reflector, but there have been two topics
that I
> have been paying close attention to:
>
> 1. Grounds.
>
> There are 4 issues that we as amateurs should be concerned with.
>
> A. Lightning protection
> B. AC Ground
> C. DC Ground
> D. Low loss RF current return path back to the source....sometimes
mistakenly
>
>     called RF Grounding.
>
> All of the above issues should be addressed and treated separately.
>
> A. Lightning Ground-This issue is treated in the traditional manner. If
you
> are using a
>     tower or pushup pole....you will want to install ground rods at the
base
> as
>     illustrated in most publications.
>
> B. AC Ground- Most homes have a grounding rod driven into the ground near
the
>     service entrance. From the grounding rod to the distribution panel is
a
> wire,
>     generally green. This green wire travels throughout your home to every
> receptacle,
>     light switch, lighting fixture, your electric stove and refrigerator.
> This is probably the
>     biggest ground loop known to mankind and undesirable in Ham Radio. For
> Ham
>     Radio, all of your 120vac devices should be plugged into ONE
receptacle.
> The
>     green wire that was installed when your home was built should be
removed.
> In
>     its place a new green wire should be installed and ran outdoors to a
new
> ground
>     rod. Good bye ground loops. If another piece of equipment in your home
> should
>     fail and go to ground....at least your radio equipment will survive.
UPS
> systems
>     are inexpensive in today's market and add a ton of protection to your
> station.
>     ($100-$200)
>
> I will address Items C, D, and 450 ohm Ladder Line tomorrow.
>
> 73
> John / N0KHQ / St. Louis
>
> Always on 17M
> Antennas:
> You can build 'um better than you can buy 'um.
>
>
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