[TowerTalk] Station Ground

Tom Rauch w8ji at contesting.com
Fri Jan 14 19:07:04 EST 2005


If  you depend on the station ground for ANY type of RF
reference, you have a poorly designed system.

Now I admit in some cases, people have no choice but to have
a crummy RF system. For example someone might not have room
or they may not elect to do the work to install a balanced
antenna or a unbalanced antenna with a proper ground.

RF in the shack, even with poorly implimented antennas, is
more a matter of improper feedline and power line
installation than how the stuff on your desk connects
together, assuming the cables are good.

The only good reason for a station ground is to make sure
the system does not have a chassis voltage problem caused by
a component failure (and it might NOT be a line voltage
issue, it could be many kilovolts). Any other problem
should, if possible, be addressed by correcting the actual
problem rather than slapping a band-aid on the real problem.

73 Tom



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