[TenTec] RE: Power Supply & Equip. grounding

[ac5e at comcast.net]

You definitely do not want a hole in the basement floor. Nor do you want RF in the shack. But that does not mean you need an RF ground in the shack. 

Where RF is concerned, any RF in the shack should be confined to the insides of the various boxes that make up your station; i.e. the tranceiver, amplifier,tuner, as well as the assorted jumpers, switches, etc.. All the boxes are designed to keep RF confined, the cableing should be. 

Unless you have one tremendous leak from one of those boxes or an interconnecting cable, RF in the shack is coming from outside the shack. And almost invariably any RF in the shack is coming back down the outside of one or more transmission lines. And the best and most appropriate place for to stop that is between the shack and the antennas, preferably as close to the antennas as it is feasable to put them. 

By preference, I put an effective ground system with a lightning arrestor for each coax at the base of each tower. There is a current balun between each arrestor and the coax entrance panel to the shack. The combination of solidly grounded arrestor and current balun keeps RF well away from the shack. No RF in the shack, no need for an RF ground in the shack. Nor for an "artificial antenna," a counterpoise, or any of the other dodges people use as a substitutute for an effective RF ground. 


73  Pete Allen  AC5E




> the best ground wire is short and large conductor or braid ...my nephew has
> his ground wire of about 3 feet from the back of his radio to an 8 foot
> ground rod driven into the ground under his basement floor ...he encouraged
> me to do the same ...but i am not sure i want a hole in my basement floor HI
> jack
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Michael Melland, W9WIS" <w9wis at charter.net>
> To: <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 7:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] RE: Power Supply & Equip. grounding
> 
> 
> > >HOWEVER, if the station ground is connected to the house/station
> electrical
> > service at the breaker panel, there will be no >potential difference
> between
> > grounds and therefore no ground loop.
> >
> >
> > Agreed..... but then I'd have a 50 foot long ground wire <grin>..... my
> > power panel is 50 ft from the shack on the other end of the house.  I
> > suppose I could run a circular heavey wire under ground around the house
> and

> > then attach my station ground to it.  It seems that perhaps the perfect
> > electrical ground scheme and the perfect rf ground system are often not
> the
> > same ?
> >
> > Mike, W9WIS
> >
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