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Old April 22nd 06, 07:23 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna
 
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Default HF Receiving Antenna & Grounds Question


Robert11 wrote:
Question; The PAR ends in a Balun, from which I have a wire to a ground bar
I pounded into the ground next to it.
From there, the coax starts.
**Anyone have any thoughts or comments regarding having this additional
ground ? **

Should it make a difference ?


You should always isolate the (poor) remote ground of an antenna used
for receiving from the station. There is no code that says it should be
connected to the station.
I isolate the grounds of my Beverage feedpoints from the feedlines,
even though they are thousands of feet from power lines.

The code problem is with grounds at your house, not with the ground at
the antenna. NEC requires all cables entering the house and all grounds
at the house to be bonded to a common point. You should not have a rod
outside for the hamshack ground that is not bonded to the utility
entrance ground. The logic behind this is any surges or lightning hits
will not elevate the two grounds to different potential, and create a
current path flowing through the house.

This is NOT a problem with the ground at the antenna, assuming that
ground is some distance from the house and you have a reasonable length
feedline to the house. What you should NOT do is float the station
without a ground, and you should not have the ground for the station
float independently from the service entrance ground.

If you see a noise change from adding a ground at the house it means
you have a feedline problem, radio problem, or balun or ground quality
problem at the antenna.

You might look at:

http://www.w8ji.com/noise.htm

73 Tom