Place rods at a distance from one another by twice the rod’s length. Those 5 foot rods need to be spaced about 12 feet apart. Hardly a day goes by that on some ham radio board or reflector there isn't a question about “station grounding.” Funny part is, the subject's been so discussed, that anyone asking a question must have not been paying attention for the past several (fill in: days, weeks, months, years). One rod near the tower base and the other rod eight feet away. > > 50 feet of any wire will not work as an RF ground for anything other > than a quarter wave at 50 feet! Falling short of that it is to dissipate as much energy as possible. Ground Rods… so easy a pre-teen can do it. So I went to a local hardware store, and they have a rod --- that's 8 freakin' feet long! • All ground rods • Towers near the ... BE BONDED TOGETHER FOR SAFETY. Since well over 90 percent of the effective grounding occurs in the first 5 feet using two 5 foot ground rods instead of a single 10 foot ground rod works much better. Ground Rod Basics (Service panel) ... • Most ham stationground rod systems will have a lower impedance than the feeble power company ground rod near our service panel. Woodbridge, VA. HRO-J … Presented is a method learned from other hams on how to install a ground rod with minimal or no hammering. This photo shows my work inside the box. Salem, NH. The soil at his QTH is so rocky that after 2 feet or so, the ground rod hits rock. Helpful Tip: I use 1/2 inch diameter copper tubing as my ground conductor between rod #1 and the radios. All equipment grounds should run to a single point, which is then connected to your ground rod. Use 1" or two 5/8" pieces of copper tubing between the first tower rod and the tower. What's the minimum gauge > >wire > >that is acceptable for this connection? We will be installing the MFJ-4603 Universal Feedthrough Window Panel once it gets cut and painted in the window just next to the ground rod. Airspy YouLoop LF/MF/HF Möbius Receive Antenna, Simulating the end-fed half-wave (EFHW) dipole antenna. I have an antenna up, but before I transmit, I want to make sure I'm well grounded (RF-wise). Coax will run down the mast, across the roof, down the side, and enter the house within inches of ground level. > The last time I checked the minimum wire size for a ground intended to > protect from lightning is #6. The device is intended for long grounding wires. Use a perimeter ground even if not a complete loop. Stray RF Suppression (or simply RF Grounding) 3. Each has it's own set of requirements, but not all station setups need every kind of ground. He wants to operate HF and has installed a 10-40M Vertical antenna and is now attempting to drive in a ground rod. HAM RADIO OUTLET HRO-J-1 HRO Bronze Ground Clamp 1/2 in. Electrical Safety 2. Anaheim, CA. Using a watering can, even children can sink an 8 foot ground rod into the ground. Now that we are getting settled (well...) in at our new QTH, it's time to start putting up our antennas. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Bonding All Building Grounds Power CATV Telco Shack Tower R O D R O D R O D R O D … Bonding All Building Grounds BREAKER PANEL HAM SHACK TOWER TELCO CABLE TV COLD WATER GROUND ROD RADIALS Grounding is for SAFETY Lightning protection Blow a breaker if a power system short Connections should be big copper and short . This Ask Dave episode focuses on grounding your amateur radio station, a topic of interest to many hams! © 2007-2021 John Scott Huggins and other authors and creators, All Rights Reserved. Plano, TX. Ground Rods… so easy a pre-teen can do it. Presented is a method learned from other hams on how to install a ground rod with minimal or no hammering. 6. Now that we are getting settled (well...) in at our new QTH, it's time to start putting up our antennas. Effects on Signal Reception or TransmissionEven modern RF systems might have installation or design defects. Hi all, I'm setting up my station for the first time after a long break from radio. But the radio connected to the floating ground rod is at a different potential and can now have a huge voltage difference from the rest of the house and destroy the radio equipment. Milwaukee, WI. Tweet. You may then add a coax arrestor at the mast ground rod. Atlanta, GA. Denver, CO. New Castle, DE. KH6AQ Ham Member QRZ Page Running a grounded antenna in an apartment can turn the apartment AC wiring into the counterpoise with the possibility of much RFI. I expanded use of APCC UPS units to all the small radios, TVs, internet router, and computer things. I will have a 20' mast with a long wire antenna running 130+ feet out to the south. The two rods in the ground just below the box, are 5 feet each providing an electrical 10 feet of grounding rod. These defects can A collection of several ground rods spaced several feet apart (and tied together) is already installed near where the coax enters the house, with one rod being less than a foot from the entry point. So ground to NEC, use good common mode RF chokes on your feedlines and you can also wrap non critical ground wires around ferrite cores to keep wall wart and similar noise from traveling through your ground system. Phoenix, AZ. After antennas, station grounding is probably the most discussed subject in amateur radio and it is also the one replete with the most misconceptions. One of the key tenets of grounding your ham radio station is to eliminate ground loops. Using a watering can, even children can sink an 8 foot ground rod into the ground. A protruding antenna My friend is getting back into ham radio after a very long absence. Current Stock Status At These Ham Radio Outlet Locations. HAM RADIO OUTLET HRO-J-1. The goal of a grounding rod is to make contact with the water table. Using a watering can, even children can sink an 8 foot ground rod into the ground. HRO Discount Price: $12.95 * Buy It *After Coupons & Promotions. As you observed, the mast can have its own grounding rod (which you must also bond to the home's AC service ground rod as referenced in that drawing). A good default would be to ground the mast for safety's sake. In this video, the kids are working together to pound in a ground rod that will be just outside the ham shack. I am installing a ham radio and want to properly ground it. Bob heil gives tips on how to properly ground your equipment. All it takes is water and time. Use more short rods spaced closer together if long ones are not acceptable. The first thing to know is that there are three functions served by grounding in ham shacks: 1. IMPORTANT: Effective and safe station grounding is a complex and often controversial subject. A minimum of 3 ground rods in a triangle are required –one will not do it. Lightning not only destroys ham radios, but often starts house fires, thereby jeopardizing the safety of your family. The real answer, however, is to make the J-Pole directly connect to the mast and provide a means to decouple the RF currents. 5. This ground line is not … Ground Rods… so easy a pre-teen can do it. • Lightning transient on power line will seek out the best ground path • Panel/strap/rod system with no bondingallows the path to go through our ham equipment – this is very dangerous Simplistic Grounding Facts. Presented is a method learned from other hams on how to install a ground rod with minimal or no hammering. Problem. - 1 in. There are four 4 inch barrel F to F UHF connectors through the side of the box. All it takes is water and time. Tying the ground system to the utility ground rod is critical. Portland, OR. First and foremost is for the safety of your family, home, and HAM equipment. This grounding system addresses both the electrical ground and RF grounding requirements in Ham radio. In fact, some setups don't use a ground at all! First and foremost, grounding is for the safety of your family, home, and ham equipment. There SHOULD be a coax shield grounding block at ground level BEFORE the arrestor, You'll understand why later in the post. The articles on this page will help clear up som… Antennas, experiments, engineering and other articles of interest to radio folks. > >I have about a 50 foot run from my radio to the outside ground rod. The "ground bus" at the back of the radio bench is yet another piece of tubing, with short braided cables soldered to it for attachment to the radios, amplifiers, and antenna "Trans-Match". Connectors through the side of the key tenets of grounding rod to drive in a ground into. 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