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#1
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RF Grounding Dilemmas
All
I have just installed a 1/2 wave G5RV dipole at approx. 30 ft above ground. My shack is in the back of the house but on the second floor (effectively in the roof of the house) above the garden but due to the house design i think i would struggle to have a RF ground wire of less than 30-40 feet. Based on above discussions should I : 1) fit a ground rod and run this up to the shack even though its a long way up along various walls 2) buy an articial ground unit such as the MFJ-931 3) forget about it and make do without a ground. I am pretty thoroughly confused. Thanks Andy |
#2
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RF Grounding Dilemmas
Andiroo wrote:
All I have just installed a 1/2 wave G5RV dipole at approx. 30 ft above ground. My shack is in the back of the house but on the second floor (effectively in the roof of the house) above the garden but due to the house design i think i would struggle to have a RF ground wire of less than 30-40 feet. Based on above discussions should I : 1) fit a ground rod and run this up to the shack even though its a long way up along various walls 2) buy an articial ground unit such as the MFJ-931 3) forget about it and make do without a ground. I am pretty thoroughly confused. Thanks Andy Just operate and have fun. Finding a true RF ground is tantamount to searching for the Holy Grail. If your house utilizes metal radiators for heating, you might try running a ground wire to a radiator and see if it helps. Any antenna that requires a tuner for operation is most likely going to have RF in the shack and on your radio. There really isn't much that you can do about it, except juggle the length of the feedline, if you operate mostly on one particular band. Ed, NM2K |
#3
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RF Grounding Dilemmas
Thanks for speedy response. Therefore do i just need a DC earth on the
back of the radio and ATU? Andy |
#4
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RF Grounding Dilemmas
Andiroo wrote:
All I have just installed a 1/2 wave G5RV dipole at approx. 30 ft above ground. My shack is in the back of the house but on the second floor (effectively in the roof of the house) above the garden but due to the house design i think i would struggle to have a RF ground wire of less than 30-40 feet. Based on above discussions should I : 1) fit a ground rod and run this up to the shack even though its a long way up along various walls 2) buy an articial ground unit such as the MFJ-931 3) forget about it and make do without a ground. I am pretty thoroughly confused. Thanks Andy If you use a dipole antenna you don't need a ground. I would use your option 1. If you decide to use a vertical antenna then you can figure your ground conductor as part of the antenna. I did that when I was living in a town house Bill K7NOM |
#5
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RF Grounding Dilemmas
Bill Janssen wrote:
SNIP If you use a dipole antenna you don't need a ground. I would use your option 1. If you decide to use a vertical antenna then you can figure your ground conductor as part of the antenna. I did that when I was living in a town house Bill K7NOM Just think what a ground wire of 30 foot represents in terms of wavelength, whatever it may be it will not be an RF ground! As suggested, the best bet is to go for a balanced antenna such as a dipole or set of dipoles. Use a balun at the antenna and feed with coax straight to your rig/SWR meter. This works well for me in a first floor shack with antennas in the loft. Charlie. -- M0WYM www.radiowymsey.org |
#6
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RF Grounding Dilemmas
Andrio - Your situation is axactly like mine. G5RV, 2nd floor etc. The only
difference is that there is so much rock all around my property hat in most cases I cannnot get an 18" ground rod down either After much experimentaton, here's what I settled on: Antennas: I use an 80 m dipole with 'big ugly balun' and its coax shield is bonded to a 40' large diameter aluminium cable buried in a 18" ditch. I use a 20 m dipole with 'big ugly balun' and its coax shield is bonded to ther 40' aluminium cable buried in the ditch. I use an old 5-band cushcraft vertical with 15 radial wires laid out in a hub-and-spoke pattern - and the coax shield of the vertical is bonded to the same ground as all the other antennas before entering the house. I had been using a G5RV but could never get a good VSWR and typically had RFI around the house. These antennas are ~40' from the shack and work as well as, or better than the G5RV. Also, the G5RV tended to have more noise on receive (probably as a result of it being closer to the house). The RFI in the house problem has diminished. The G5RV was supposed to have the twin-lead portion laid out directly under the antenna (vertical) and I never could accomodate that very well given that the antenna was 28' up and the twin-lead was longer. Grounding: Grounded the radio on the AC ground inside the shack Rig has auto antenna tuner so that's the best I can do. I use a PC in the shack and it is well bonded to the same copper connection plate as the radios - and a single line from that plate to the ground pin on the nearest AC receptacle. I get no interference into the HF radio from PC or vice-versa. I've experimented with a MFJ RF isolator and not seen any improvement. Keep us informed on whjat you decide to do - maybe some suggestions you get could help me optimize this shack as well. 73 Kevin VE9-XYZ "Andiroo" wrote in message oups.com... All I have just installed a 1/2 wave G5RV dipole at approx. 30 ft above ground. My shack is in the back of the house but on the second floor (effectively in the roof of the house) above the garden but due to the house design i think i would struggle to have a RF ground wire of less than 30-40 feet. Based on above discussions should I : 1) fit a ground rod and run this up to the shack even though its a long way up along various walls 2) buy an articial ground unit such as the MFJ-931 3) forget about it and make do without a ground. I am pretty thoroughly confused. Thanks Andy |
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