I am going to make an upstairs base station. How do you have your
antenna wire coming into your shack? Can I make a plug in by drilling a
metal outlet cover? What would look the best and perform the best? If I
have alot of connection would that degrade the signal?

How do you have your
antenna wire coming into your shack?

About the best method would be to replace a small window with a metal panel.
Earth (ground) the panel well and fit back-to-back chassis-mount connectors.
You can stuff in more connectors than you need, for future use.

Ground the shack internal equipment to the same panel, especially if you
have high antennas/masts or long HF antennas. A good ground can save a lot
of tears if you ever have a lightning strike. Of course, you can never
protect against a direct strike, but you can protect against an indorect
strike.

With this method you will reduce the risk of indirect lightning damage as
well have a connection panel on the inside so you can swap plugs around
easily. You can easily unplug equipment in stormy weather.

Don't forget to add a "drip loop" to all external cables terminated to the
panel, or rain-water could be guided by cables to the face of the panel.

Do not be tempted to use a simple perspex, or other insulated panel. You
could bring static into the shack, or even feed volts out (non-grouded
equipment - mains leakage), which can give you a bit of a shock when working
on antennas and you are well grounded :-(.

beerbarrel wrote:
On 24 Jan 2005 13:02:07 -0800, wrote:

I am going to make an upstairs base station. How do you have your
antenna wire coming into your shack? Can I make a plug in by
drilling a
metal outlet cover? What would look the best and perform the best?
If I
have alot of connection would that degrade the signal?


I have a piece of plexi glass inserted between a partially open
window. It allows me to come inside with all sorts of stuff just by
drilling and mounting connectors. I put some rubber around the edge
of
the plexiglass to seal out weather. Water pipe insulation works well
for this.

But can you close and latch the window this way?

I am so confused about how to properly ground a system. I will have a
two meter and a 440 on the roof of my house. I will run the coax down
to my sofit vents or whatever they are called and run the coax inside
the vents to my shack. Behind the wall where my rquipment will be is a
storage space that I can acess. (This is a finished attic). I will be
using a mobile radio that has two antenna outputs, one for 2 meter and
one for 440.

How do I ground the radio and does it need it? Should the coax itself
be grounded and how? Do I have to purchase one of those surge things
that screws into the coax?

Any advice is appreciated!

I am going to make an upstairs base station. How do you have your
antenna wire coming into your shack? Can I make a plug in by drilling a
metal outlet cover? What would look the best and perform the best? If I
have alot of connection would that degrade the signal?

For a new basement installation, I drilled an approximate 2-inch-diameter
hole through the sill (would have just drilled through both walls if I
had been on a higher floor) and inserted a 2-inch piece of PVC pipe with
a downward-pointing elbow on the outside end; lots of coax cables will
fit through the PVC pipe.

I had a Ufer ground installed when the basement was built, and all my
equipment is grounded to that inside the basement. My tower is also
connected to that Ufer ground and to a ring-ground that goes around the
outside of the basement at foundation level.

--Myron, W0PBV.
--
--Myron A. Calhoun.
Five boxes preserve our freedoms: soap, ballot, witness, jury, and cartridge
PhD EE (retired). "Barbershop" tenor. CDL(PTXS). W0PBV. (785) 539-4448
NRA Life Member and Certified Instructor (Home Firearm Safety, Rifle, Pistol)

Regarding using

... [through-the-wall] PVC pipe with a downward-pointing elbow
on the outside end [for running cables into the house]....

I should add that, after threading coax cables through the pipe, I stuff
either fiberglas or steel wool into any left-over holes between/around
the cables in the pipe to keep critters out and heat in.
--
--Myron A. Calhoun.
Five boxes preserve our freedoms: soap, ballot, witness, jury, and cartridge
PhD EE (retired). "Barbershop" tenor. CDL(PTXS). W0PBV. (785) 539-4448
NRA Life Member and Certified Instructor (Home Firearm Safety, Rifle, Pistol)