Hi Bob.
The problem with using the ground pin on the AC outlet for your station
ground is that it was never intended for RF frequencies, but was rather
intended for electrical safety at power line frequencies--60 Hz, in other
words. At these frequencies, even very long runs of ground wire pose
little problem, but at radio frequencies, grounds should be less than a
quarter wave long to behave like a ground.
By the way, the idea of using coax for a ground and placing capacitors
across the coax at each end is not a new idea. I saw it in a 73 magazine
probably about 20 years ago, or maybe a little more.
John is right about long runs of even solid wire not behaving like a
ground, though. At my first location, I was stuck on the second floor, and
had about a 20 ft. run of solid wire to an 8 ft. ground stake that was
driven into the ground. I couldn't get it to act like a ground at
frequencies above 21 MHz to save my sole. I did get the capacitors to try
the coaxial ground, but ended up moving before I ever got it
installed.Since my station is now in my basement, establishing ground is no
problem at all.
73, de Lou K2LKK
At 06:52 PM 2/13/2005 -0800, you wrote:
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>Thanks, John for those wordes of encurriagement. This stuff would have =
>bin
>a lot easier to learn about 15 years ago and yes, I will eventually get =
>it.
>Are you telling me that the water pipe isn't good enough for a ground? =
>If
>it is plastic of course it is not but most codes still call for copper. =
>I
>am assuming that you are living in an apartment but I could be wrong =
>about
>that. I know that from the third floor the ground would be resident for
>some ham frequencies and act as an antenna but I didn't know that the =
>second
>floor posed problems. What really dumfounds me, and of course, I am new =
>and
>know very little electricity, why isn't that round third wire connection =
>in
>all wall plugs as good as you can get? What good is it anyway if it =
>isn't?
>Again; what would you do if you lived in a high rise building on the say
>60th floor? Would ham radio be completely out of the question? Well, I
>better get back to listening to that tape on the THF6 that I bought from
>Handiham. It's ok but it obviously wasn't made by and actually for a
>totally blind person.
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><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
>Thanks, John for those wordes of = encurriagement. This=20 stuff would
>have bin
>a lot easier to learn about 15 years ago and = yes, I will=20 eventually
>get it.
>Are you telling me that the water pipe isn't good = enough=20 for a
>ground? If
>it is plastic of course it is not but most = codes still=20 call for
>copper. I
>am assuming that you are living in an = apartment but=20 I could be wrong
>about
>that. I know that from the third floor = the=20 ground would be resident for
>some ham frequencies and act as an = antenna but I=20 didn't know that the
>second
>floor posed problems. What really = dumfounds=20 me, and of course, I am
>new and
>know very little electricity, why = isn't that=20 round third wire
>connection in
>all wall plugs as good as you can = get? =20 What good is it anyway if it
>isn't?
>Again; what would you do if you = lived in=20 a high rise building on the say
>60th floor? Would ham radio be=20 completely out of the question? Well, I
>better get back to = listening to=20 that tape on the THF6 that I bought from
>Handiham. It's ok but = it=20 obviously wasn't made by and actually for a
>totally blind=20 person.
>
>------=_NextPart_000_01B7_01C511FD.1AEF5DE0--
Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
Home e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Work e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Work Telephone: (585) 697-5753
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