Hi Steve!

Yes, indeed, this whole RFI thing looks to be not just a bitch (pardon the
French) but also a bit more art and trial and error rather than science!
Following is a bit more of an explanation of my present ground wire setup.

Inside the shack is a ground bus (I think that is what it is called, a.k.a.,
a "common point") that has about five terminals.  Attached to each of these
terminals is a length of 14 gauge insolated stranded copper wire that
attaches to equipment either by its ground post (wing nut) or in the case of
my PC and TS-2000's power supply by attaching the ground wire to a chassis
screw (because they have no dedicated grounding post).  The length of each
of these ground wires varies from ~3' to ~7' depending on the distance of
the respective equipment to the bus.  From the bus there is a single ~6" ~10
gauge insolated wire that goes through the wall into my garage and attaches
to an 8' copper ground rod which is sunk into the ground with only ~6" of it
sticking up.  About 6" away from this ground rod is a second ground rod
attached to which is AC grounding for all AC power into the shack.  Then,
both of these ground rods are connected together by heavy copper wire.  This
electrical work was done by a professional electrician.

So, I do not think it is really possible to shorten the lengths of these
separate ground wires, and then attach all of them to a single wire running
to the bus.  These wires are already about as short as they can be.  I do
understand and agree that, in most situations, the distance from the bus and
the ends of separate ground wires is longer; in which case a single wire
*should* bridge that distance.

HTH & 73,
Richard KK6MRH

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2016 6:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How to Stop RFI from Shutting Down My TS-2000's Power Supply?

Richard,

Grounding questions are one of those things in the hobby that  will 
get you a multitude of   contradictory suggestions.

If you try them all, you will probably find one that works for you.

I think all would agree that running multiple ground wires from each 
piece of gear in the shack to a ground rod is a bad idea.   Usual 
practice is to run short pieces of grounding wire from each piece of gear to
a  common grounding point in the shack, with wires being as 
short as possible.   Then a single heavy conductor to the ground rod.

Another problem is the length of the wire (or wires in your case) from the
equipment to the ground rod. If the wrong length, it (they) will radiate
like an antenna.

What is the length from the shack to the ground rod?


Good luck, 73, Steve KW3A

On 1/14/2016 9:08 PM, Richard B. McDonald wrote:
> Hey Steve!
>
> You said it!  This high power stuff is gnarly!  I will try ferrite if 
> it persists.  The antenna is about 40' from the shack.
>
> following is information about my grounding system.  About 10' from 
> the shack, I have two copper 8' ground rods sunk into the ground.  All 
> 120V AC into the shack is grounded to one of them.  Connected to the 
> other ground rod is a terminal; attached to which are about five 
> separate 14 gauge copper wires each of which goes to equipment in the 
> shack (rig, tuner, PC, amp, etc.).  then, both ground rods are 
> connected with a 10 gauge wire.  For the power supply which is 
> shutting down, I just attached yet another ground wire, and I also 
> wrapped its AC power cord in tin foil.  I have not yet tested to see 
> if it still shuts down with these new two grounding/shielding
improvements.
>
>
> 73,
> Richard KK6MRH
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Steve Forst
> Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2016 7:27 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: How to Stop RFI from Shutting Down My TS-2000's Power Supply?
>
> Richard,
>
> Welcome  to the world of high power.   How do you have the radio
> grounded?   How close is the antenna to the operating position?
>
> I would invest in some ferrites.  E-bay is a good source.     I would
> clamp the AC line to the power supply, and the  12 vdc line coming out.
>     Also clamp everything  connected to the radio/amp (coax, power,
> control cables, etc.).    The other school of thought is to only clamp
> things until you find the  one that is the problem.
>
> If your antenna is 5 feet from your operating position, things may be 
> more problematic.  As Ron suggests, antenna/feedline/balun  may be the
> culprit.    Sometimes this stuff is hard to solve, glad you have help on
> site.
>
>
> 73, good luck, Steve KW3A
>
> On 1/14/2016 9:48 AM, Richard B. McDonald wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>>
>>
>> In the process of setting up my Ameritron ALS-1306 amp with my 
>> Kenwood
>> TS-2000 and an MFJ 998 tuner, sometimes RFI shuts down the TS-2000's 
>> power supply.  My Elmer is convinced it is RFI because 1) it seems 
>> only to
> happen
>> on 20M (so far, anyway) and 2) it only happens when we crank-up the 
>> 1306 beyond ~200W.  The 1306 is on a totally different, dedicated power
line:
>> 240V.  The TS-2000's power supply is on the household's 120V.  The 
>> power supply for the TS-2000 is an Astrin SS-30 
>> <https://www.hamcity.com/store/pc/SS-30-p363.htm> .  So, what can I 
>> do to stop this?
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Richard KK6MRH
>>
>