RFI
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [RFI] Earth isolation

To: "RFI List" <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] Earth isolation
From: "Jim Brown" <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 22:44:18 -0500
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
On Wed, 8 Sep 2004 22:39:22 +0100, Ian White, G3SEK wrote:

>The cure was to place an RF block in the shack mains 
>feed, using a three-wire filter which includes a ground-line choke. 

What you really did was reduce the current flowing in those unintential 
antennas by adding 
impedance to the return path. That was a band-aid made necessary by the pin 1 
problems 
in the gear. The more fundamental fix would have been to prevent those currents 
from 
flowing into the gear by fixing the pin 1 problems.  

Also, it is NOT a good or safe technique to place high impedances in ground 
leads. 
Lightning wants to see a low impedance path to earth. The peak energy of 
lightning is 
around 1 MHz, and it is a very broad peak (that is, lots of energy both above 
and below 1 
MHz). When you place a choke in the ground lead, you essentially throw away any 
lightning 
protection by defeating the required bond between safety grounds. Not a good 
thing. 
Mother nature has a way of reminding us that such techniques are not a good 
idea. 


Jim Brown  K9YC


_______________________________________________
RFI mailing list
RFI@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>