On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 20:44:51 -0600, Warren Bowery
wrote:

Anyone have an idea as to how much loss would occur using one of the 4"
bulkhead connectors at 2 meters? I ran LMR 400 cable from my Arrow J-pole
straight through the wall to my 2 meter radio for low loss. However, when
a storm approaches, I currently connect the PL to a shorted SO-239 to short
the antenna to ground (I grounded the antenna to a ground rod tied to our
service ground.) I would rather not invite lightning into my home at all
and just disconnect the antenna where it enters the house when it storms,
but I don't want to lose a lot of signal in the process.


Put a metal or plastic cover of the outside end of the bulkhead
connector. Use a slip on PL259 equivelant, or just a pl250. Put in
at least 2 ground rods about 8 feet apart and tie them together with
some good heavy bare copper wire. #2 or #4. Solder a chassis
connector to this (SO-239) with both sides grounded to the copper.
How your do this is open to variation.

At any rate, when a storm approaches, or you are not using the rig,
just go outside, disconnect the coax from the bulk head connector and
connect it to the grounded connector.

You can get really fancy if you have the tools and create a grounding
switch that will swing the coax from the bulk head connector to the
crounded connector. I've seen it done with a couple of metal plates
and either 5 or 6 cables. Bit of an over kill in this case, but it's
the same general idea.

Good Luck,

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
My HF dipole is easier to deal with at least - I just throw the ladder line
out the window!
You can do the same with coax, but it's a good idea to cap it to keep
the water out:-))



Thanks...

Warren


"Tam/WB2TT" wrote in
:

A few years ago I bought 4 of these things at cablexperts to go through
a garage wall. Don't know if they have any longer than 6".

Tam/WB2TT