rf 'ground' is a real misunderstood thing. and things like this point out
just how poorly understood it is. there is really no need for a radio to be
'grounded' to prevent rf burns or to have an antenna work properly... the
important thing is to remember that at that point where the rf leaves the
radio on the center conductor of the coax connector the current there must
be exactly balanced by a current going the opposite direction the inside of
the shield of the coax connector. looking at the worst possible case, just
stick a random wire in the coax connector and run the rig off a battery with
a short cable and no other 'ground' wire. current flows out the center
conductor of the connector into the exposed wire and somehow has to get back
to the inside of the connector shell to balance it out... well, the only
place for that current to come from is coupling from the antenna wire back
onto the case of the radio and from there it flows back into the connector.
now, put your hand on a metal part of the radio, or your lip if you are
unlucky, and what happens?? you are much bigger than the case of the radio
and you are fairly conductive, so now you provide a bigger collector for the
current from the antenna so lots of it flows through you to get back to the
radio connector... hence rf burns. how to stop it?? provide a lower
impedance path for the rf to get back to the connector than through you.
that can be a counterpoise wire, a 'ground' wire that collects current from
the soil under the antenna, connect the case of the radio to your car and
the car becomes the collector... OR add an equal sized second wire that
'balances' the current from the wire in the center conductor... the critical
point is that it mut be very nearly identical to the first one so the
current in it is the same... a dipole that is symetric with respect to the
feed point will work, but you have to watch out because the case of the
radio is connected to the coax connector also, which tends to unbalance the
equation since there is no equivalent lump of metal on the center conductor
part of the antenna. to make this job of balancing the currents easier we
normally add a length of coax (to get the antenna farther away from the
radio) then add a balun to help force the currents in the two halves of the
dipoles to be equal so there is no need for current to flow from the radio
back into the inside of the shield. a choke on the outside of the feedline
also can help, but the reason is different... a choke on the coax creates a
very high impedance so that current has a hard time flowing from the case of
the radio or outside of the coax back to the inside of the coax. enough
rambling, just remember, rf ground is a myth, all you need to do is get
those currents equal while preventing the path where they flow from being
through you or something else that could be damaged by them.


"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
. ..



No, I mean ELECTRICALLY balanced. And with the feedline at right angles
to the antenna so that it doesn't pick up anything by induction. It's a
tricky thing to do, yet back in the old days hams used to feed dipoles or
extended double zepp antennas with open wire line and not get much RF in
the shack. I know mine didn't.

Ran a Windom in Texas in 1965 (WA5KBO) with only 150W and burned a hole in
my lip (no joke) with the RF on the metal ring around the microphone! The
Windom was a good performer, but I could not effectively ground the rig.
I was in student housing (College Station) and was not allowed antennas
but improvised!