On 10/19/2014 5:04 PM, Bill Turner wrote:
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On Sun, 19 Oct 2014 16:09:27 +0000 (UTC), K7MKS wrote:
Shack location dictates using a 25-30 foot ground level run from a new hams
TS-530S to an exterior ground rod. He was planning on using #12 for the run but
wonders if braid from RG-8 or a larger diameter single wire etc would offer
improvement over a single wire?
REPLY:
Many older rigs like the Yaesu FT101 series only had a two wire power
cord and depended on a separate ground wire. I think some of my old
Hallicrafters equipment was the same. Easily solved by replacing the
power cord with modern 3 wire and tying the chassis to the green wire.
I had one that nearly electrocuted me due to an over generous solder
joint from the factory. The end of a radial on the 40 meter vertical
(tied to a ground rod at the base of the vertical) measured 110 VAC. The
end of the wire had come loose and curled up. I pulled it tight and
knelt down to stick the end in the ground to hold it. When my knees
touched the damp ground, it grabbed me. I fell over and when my knees
broke contact with ground I threw that wire. Had it been grounded
through the outlet it would have popped the breaker, saving me some sore
arms and chest, or possibly worse. The other end of that wire tied to a
ground rod. The ground rod tied to the chassis through the coax
shield. The chassis was tied to a ground rod just outside the wall.
Use that green wire, or add one. It's a lot more protection!
73
Roger (K8RI)
.
You don't need to run a wire from your rig to earth ground at all. All
you need is to connect your rig to the "third wire" ground in your AC
plug, which it probably already is, and to ground your antenna system
for lightning protection.
Installing a ground wire for your rig is an old wives' tale that will
seemingly not die. You don't need it and in fact, it may actually
cause harm by providing a path for a nearby lighting strike. Lightning
does not want to go through your rig - it wants to go to ground. Why
provide a secondary path for it through your expensive rig?
One last thought: If "grounding" your rig actually improves
transmission or reception, you don't have a grounding problem, you
have an antenna problem. Earth is lossy at RF. RF energy is expensive
to generate, so why waste any of it by running it through dirt? Keep
your RF up in the air where it belongs.
A balun or unun is your friend.
Does a flashlight need to be "grounded" to put out a beam of light?
Neither does your rig.
73, Bill W6WRT
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73
Roger (K8RI)
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