Subject: [TenTec] Orion - Proper Grounding

[N5bbc at aol.com]

You NEGLECTED to mention pouring a 5# bag of ROCK SALT over the  instillation 
and watering it down for several days with a lawn sprinkler.
 Ben Burnt II
 
 
In a message dated 12/23/2004 11:01:36 AM Central Standard Time,  
tentec-request at contesting.com writes:


Message: 5
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:21:09 -0500
From: "n4lq"  <n4lq at iglou.com>
Subject: [TenTec] Orion - Proper Grounding 
To:  tentec at contesting.com
Message-ID:  <E1ChUm5-00072e-Pu at iglou.com>

Your new Orion is a highly  sophisticated radio. For proper operation you 
will need to provide a  "DIRECT" RF ground. Heavy braided cable and solid 
copper bus bars are  insufficient. 

To create a direct ground, one must first prepare the  surface. We 
recommend removing all vegetation around the area for at least  24". 
Remove the sod and create an indentation in the soil about 2" deep.  Fill 
the indentation with water and let soak overnight. Doing this will  make 
driving the ground rod easier and will help make future weeding  easier.

Next, we need to prepare the Orion. Remove the plastic feet  from the 
cabinet. Using an electric sander, remove all paint from the  bottom of 
the cabinet. Now place the Orion in the indentation you  created.

Now we need to install the ground rod. Drilling a pilot hole  in the top 
of the Orion will make installation go easier. The hole should  be 
approximately the same diameter as the ground rod. Insert the ground  
into the hole and drive it in until the top of the rod is about 2" above  
the Orion's cabinet top. Affix a suitable ground clamp to the top of the  
rod. From the clam, run a heavy braid out to each corner of the Orion  
and weld them to each corner. 

Finally, connect 120 radial wires to  the clamp, making them at least 
120ft long. Bury these slightly below the  ground surface. 

You now have provided a suitable RF ground. We  recommend using N4PY 
software to operate the Orion instead of actually  touching the knobs. 
This will provide even better RF isolation. 

A  suitable microphone connector is still in the development stages. Stay  
tuned for further developments.

R.F.  Burns