[TenTec] Orion RF issue

[Gary Hoffman]

Right you are, Ron.

73 de Gary, AA2IZ


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Castro" <ronc at sonic.net>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 3:54 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion RF issue


With lightning, you'll never create a true "no voltage" situation between
any two points, but you can reduce the voltage differential to the point
that it will prevent damage by using heavy, low-resistance bonding. I don't
recall I have ever heard anyone say that station grounds and tower grounds
shouldn't be connected, but if they did, they were wrong.  They should be
bonded to each other and to the electrical ground.  By default, the tower
and station are grounded to each other by virtue of the coax shield, and
under a lightning strike the voltage on that shield would be huge and flow
through the equipment to the station ground unless a big conductor routed
the voltage around the equipment.  The worst news is if the operator offered
an additional path to ground during a strike...SK!

      Ron N6IE
 www.N6IE.com
(Formerly N6AHA)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Hoffman" <ghoffman at spacetech.com>
To: "Carl Moreschi" <n4py at arrl.net>; "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment"
<tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion RF issue


> Aside from the NEC requirement, if the two grounds are Bonded (heavily)
> then
> there is NO voltage difference at all.  Not so ?
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Carl Moreschi" <n4py at arrl.net>
> To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 11:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion RF issue
>
>
> You definitely should not have your tower ground and house ground tied
> together.  Even a nearby lightning strike can cause the two grounds to
> develop very large voltage differences.  Having these tied together is
> setup
> for a disaster.  During lightning season, anytime my shack is not in use,
> I
> disconnect everything to the shack including all grounding.  This
> guarantees
> my shack is isolated from a nearby lightning strike.
>
> Carl Moreschi N4PY
> 121 Little Bell Drive
> Bell Mountain
> Hays, NC 28635
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Menzel" <retire at means.net>
> To: "'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'" <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 11:26 AM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion RF issue
>
>
> I agree with others on this, it seems that the only time I suffered from
> this was with very high swr, significant voltage drop, or the wrong
> antenna.
>
> The Orion must have a solid 25 amp supply, so if it's only say an Astron
> RM25 you need to make sure that the radio is the only thing on that
> supply.
> An RS or RM 35 is a better bet, yet.
>
> I guess that would be my recommendation, as well, but I'm curious about
> your
> tying your shack ground to the tower ground;  I remember well, many
> sources
> stating that under no circumstances should the two be connected.
>
> Anyone else have an opinion on this?
>
> It would seem foolhardy to me to do so, as a strike on the tower would be
> instantly transmitted to the station grounds and could cause significant
> damage...assuming of course that all other precautions had been taken,
> unplugging equipment, etc., but I never unhook my ground system on my
> shack.
>
> Curious.
>
> Larry, N0XB
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of Natan Huffman
> Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 10:16 AM
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] Orion RF issue
>
> Ladies and Gentlemen,
>
>
>
> Today I took delivery of an Orion with version 2.056 firmware and
> integrated, with great ease, the rig into the station.  Unfortunately I am
> having an issue while on 80 meters where my antenna is near the shack and
> only up 50 feet.  The station is grounded well as is the house with each
> having two 15' ground rods and short ground wires < ¼ lamda at 80) .
> These
> grounds are tied into 4 more at the base of the tower about 50' away from
> the shack.  I doubt the problem (white screen when transmitting) is due to
> lack of grounding but rather the presence of a strong RF field generated
> by
> the 80 antenna. Just for fun (done in 4 degree wx) I disconnected the
> large
> bus to the tower base and no change.  I also checked VDC at the plug in
> the
> back providing power and it's fine.
>
>
>
> This problem is not seen on two other transceivers in the shack when used
> on
> 80, which also suggests the problem is RF from the antenna.  Might there
> be
> some remedy so that I don't have a white screen when transmitting?
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
>
>
> Natan W6XR
>
>
>
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