[TowerTalk] Grounding Question

[Jim Brown]

On 3/25/2011 6:08 AM, Larry Libsch wrote:
> I must be misunderstanding  something . How do I attach my
> coax shield to the outside common point and also attach it to my radio
> inside the shack?

Since I wrote the grounding chapter for Steve's book, I'll attempt to 
clarify.

One ancient and accepted method of accomplishing this is often called a 
"ground window," where coax cables go through lightning arrestors 
(Polyphaser, ICE, etc.)  that are bonded to a conductive plate (usually 
copper) where they enter the building, and that plate is bonded to the 
ground system.  The coax from the antenna has a PL259 that screws to the 
arrestor on the outside of the wall and a coax jumper with PL259s on 
both ends goes between the arrestor and the radio.

Several brands of arrestors are sold in "feed-through" form, so that the 
plate can be installed in a wall (or an actual window). There's nothing 
magic about the feedthrough arrangement, it's just a mechanically neat 
way to do it.

The MOST critical part of all of this is the bonding together of ALL 
grounds associated with your home and shack -- power service entrance, 
shack, CATV, telco, other lightning arrestors, building structure, all 
ground rods, etc.

73, Jim Brown K9YC