| Author |
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Orion
| | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 2:59 pm: | 
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HHHow can I ground this base setup: Imax2000 going to a Galaxy 99 being run through a KLV-550. Can I attach a wire to the PL-259's outer plug part(the thumb screw part)and have a wire go from there to a cold water pipe in my house? Would the antenna/base setup be grounded then? |
Rippedradio
| | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 6:46 pm: |
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orion, i would personally ground the imax outside with a ground strap and a groung rod, then i would run another groung strap from a ground rod outside into the house and make a ground block then ground the chassis of the amp and the radio to the grounging block! just my two cents on proper grounding!! 73's chris |
Tech808
| | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 7:16 pm: |
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Orion,
You can run 18 Gauge wire from a screw in the back of radio and another from a screw on the back of the case on Amp to ground.
For the Antenna use at least an 8' if not 10' ground rod, and solid Copper wire to Mast or Tower.
Lon
Tech808
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Sandbagger106
| | Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 7:19 pm: |
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Huge subject grounding......there is a difference between RF and antenna grounding, but I think you are after RF grounding. Cold water pipe will be better than nothing but if you can sink a copper pipe just 5 feet in the ground (that's where 95% of all grounding occurs)and attach it with the shortest length of wire, (solid or braid like on the outside of coax)things would be better. If your ground wire is too long it may radiate RF and that would be not so good, so keep it as short as you can. Bring the grd. wire into the shack and connect it to a main ground bar, nothing fancy and then attach smaller wires to it(grd.bar) from your equipment. If your equip. has no grd. lug just go under a screw on the side of the rig. One more thing, just make sure that any pipe you use as a grd. is indeed a water pipe and not a gas line. Hope this helps a little and does not confuse you. sb106 |
Orion
| | Posted on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 11:47 am: |
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Thanks for the responses guys! It's a 2 story house: antenna is in the center of roof(only possible mounting area), cable feeds through the "Dumb Waiter" shaft(old house!)to the basement where the radio shack is in the center of the house. Access to grounding to outside sources is limited because everything is in the center of the building. I've got a 4 foot copper grounding rod but to drill through the cement floor down there would be a task... And Lord knows what kind of OLD utility line I may end up striking once I start hammering away  |
Rippedradio
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 9:12 am: |
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orion, most homes also have a ground rod installed by the electric box, my old house it was in the basement right next to the electric box, they poured the concreet right around it! just another thought! 73's chris |
Simon
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 9:53 am: |
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Actually a 12" square plate of stainless works as a better ground than a 8ft stake - it has about 10 times the surface area. Unfortunately it also has about the same ratio cost.
Mind you the best base grounding I ever did was for a Water Rescue Group. Its ground consisted of a 1" strap attached to the boat sliprails that lead 50ft into a saltwater lake (some 1000 sq miles in area) that in turn lead out to the Pacific Ocean. |
Bigbob
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 4:41 pm: |
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PUT some snap together chokes on the coax as high as you can,preferably at the base of the antenna,4or5 for tvi,next get a lightning arrestor from copper,put it inline at the first junction from antenna,run 8 gauge wire from it to the nearest ground,and run it low to the floor,no sense hooking to a water pipe if it's 30 feet long,unless it is the only thing handy.And put some of those chokes on the coax before and after the klv,that will help for those long runs of wire and/or water pipe |
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