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Sparkomatic
| | Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2003 - 12:34 pm: | 
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I know that drilling holes when mounting an antenna is required to get that excellent ground but if someone grounded the case of an amplifier via several grounding braid straps to the body of the vehicle wouldn't this achieve the same effect. |
Sparkomatic
| | Posted on Monday, October 27, 2003 - 8:39 pm: |
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I thought this was a good question, but I guess it isn't worth replying to. |
Tech808
| | Posted on Monday, October 27, 2003 - 9:01 pm: |
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Sparkomatic,
Grounding all equipment is recommended.
Grounding to the Body of vehicle is NOT recommended as most bodies do not have good ground contact anymore. Go direct to Frame or Engine.
Same thing in our shack Antennas are grounded separate to their Own Ground rods, and all equipment is grounded separate to it's own ground rod.
Lon
Tech808 |
Kc0gxz
| | Posted on Monday, October 27, 2003 - 11:58 pm: |
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Sparkomatic
Sorry I missed your post.
Actually your antenna IS grounded via coax shield to your radio. And the radio of course is grounded to your battery.
Here's the way I look at magetic mounted antennas---Hope for the best but expect the worst.
Now, this is not to say that magnet-mount antennas don't work. The Wilson 1000 is probably the best ever designed. One reason being is because of its long whip. The more whip you have in the air, the more RF saturation you're going to have.
I think what Lon is saying is that many of todays cars do not have good body grounds. Your battery is more than likely grounded to the vehicles frame. With a volt/ohm meter, check and see if the body and roof are also grounded. On some vehicles they are not.
For a mag-mount antenna to work its best, all body parts should be grounded.
And that of course is more important when using a thru-hole (non-mag) mount. The roof HAS to be grounded in order for the antenna to properly work. The thru-hole mount is the best way to go.
One more thing. Using a linear amplifier with a mag mount type antenna IS NOT RECOMENDED. Strange things have been known to happen.
Jeff, kc0gxz.
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