zeno wrote:

Walking around using an old RatShack portable short wave...

Impoving my RF ground and making sure it was totally independent from the
A.C. safety ground at the house main has helped also. My primary RF
ground cable goes through a hole in the floor at the station and
immediately to a copper pipe driven in under the house.

I did the same thing -- a 10 ft copper clad steel rod driven through a hole
in the concrete of my basement floor. The floor is about 5 feet below
ground level. I found out later that this was not a great idea because
the floor shields the ground below from moisture -- measuring the ground
rod to my waterpipe later showed a dc resistance of almost 50 ohms -- it
would have made a better dummy load. I have since put 4 10 foot copper
clad steel ground rods outside and bonded them together using silver
solder. This works much better.

A chum of mine, noting my problematic results, decided to go sideways
through his basement concrete intothe back yard where the soil would
be moist. The end result was partially flooding his basement after the first rain!
He wasn't home at the time!

I should note that the ground rods only provide the safety ground, however
they serve as the base for a number of other ground wires spread around
the yard in a sort of helter-skelter radial system. This provides a
pretty good RF ground.

Moral: The best intentions often have unintended consequences!

Irv VE6BP
--
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Diagnosed Type II Diabetes March 5 2001
Beating it with diet and exercise!
297/215/210 (to be revised lower)
58"/43"(!)/44" (already lower too!)
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Irv Finkleman,
Grampa/Ex-Navy/Old Fart/Ham Radio VE6BP
Calgary, Alberta, Canada