Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
? on neon light as static discharge device
Sorry, I disagree with many of the suggestions being made. Putting a
nonlinear device or devices like a zener or a series of diodes across your antenna terminals can produce intermodulation among incoming signals. These will appear at your receiver as hash and spurious signals at various frequencies. When transmitting, they can create harmonics. The advice I do go along with is to put a resistor or RF choke across the terminals if static is a problem. Either will prevent it. You won't be able to tell any difference between carbon, carbon film, and metal film in just about any RF application -- any are just fine. Don't use a wire wound resistor, however. I don't see much sense in letting static build up to several tens of volts, then have a neon bulb ignite to discharge it -- with a loud pop you'll hear in your receiver -- down to a slightly lower level. A resistor or RF choke will keep it at near zero. By all means, have fun impressing your friends with blinking NE-2s, but use something else to drain off the static. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
? on neon light as static discharge device
Back in the good old days of CB, in Chicago, I had a ground plane
antenna which had no DC return path. My Lafayette CB radio started making some very strange noises so I disconnected the PL259 and was surprised to see a spark jumping across the connecter. This continued for hours as the voltage built up and discharged. Pretty impressive display of precipitation static. Roy Lewallen wrote: Sorry, I disagree with many of the suggestions being made. Putting a nonlinear device or devices like a zener or a series of diodes across your antenna terminals can produce intermodulation among incoming signals. These will appear at your receiver as hash and spurious signals at various frequencies. When transmitting, they can create harmonics. The advice I do go along with is to put a resistor or RF choke across the terminals if static is a problem. Either will prevent it. You won't be able to tell any difference between carbon, carbon film, and metal film in just about any RF application -- any are just fine. Don't use a wire wound resistor, however. I don't see much sense in letting static build up to several tens of volts, then have a neon bulb ignite to discharge it -- with a loud pop you'll hear in your receiver -- down to a slightly lower level. A resistor or RF choke will keep it at near zero. By all means, have fun impressing your friends with blinking NE-2s, but use something else to drain off the static. Roy Lewallen, W7EL -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason." "Follow The Money" ;-P |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
? on neon light as static discharge device
I've never written a follow-up to a Lewallen post, but here is
another advantage to using resistors that Roy didn't mention: If you put your resistor(s) at an OUTside grounding point and if you can remember their value(s), you may be able to make a quick test of the integrity of your feedline from INside the shack with an ohm-meter! (But NOT during a storm, of course!-) Roy Lewallen writes: Sorry, I disagree with many of the suggestions being made. Putting a nonlinear device or devices like a zener or a series of diodes across ....[snip].... The advice I do go along with is to put a resistor or RF choke across the terminals if static is a problem. Either will prevent it. You won't ....[snip].... -- --Myron A. Calhoun. Five boxes preserve our freedoms: soap, ballot, witness, jury, and cartridge NRA Life Member & Certified Instructor for Rifle, Pistol, & Home Firearm Safety Also Certified Instructor for the Kansas Concealed-Carry Handgun (CCH) license |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Lightning ? - The Porcupine ! - An ElectroStatic Discharge Device | Shortwave | |||
Using BOTH an attenuator and static discharge resistor | Shortwave | |||
Static Discharge Unit | CB | |||
Static discharge protection questions | Homebrew | |||
Static discharge protection questions | Homebrew |