[kwlug-disc] Grounding for antenna

[R. Brent Clements]

At the house end of the cable is the most convenient.  You are just
ensuring that the shield is held at ground potential.  Before the
pre-amp would usually be pretty far from ground (and literally the
ground).

Brent

On Sun, Jun 15, 2014 at 11:40 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
> Thanks.
>
> For the coax grounding block, do you insert it right after the antenna
> (before the pre-amp), or do you do it after the pre-amp? Or is it all the
> same?
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 11:27 PM, Paul Gallaway <paul at gallaway.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Pretty sure I got the rod from Home Depot and the post/fence hammer
>> was one I borrowed from work. A sledge hammer would probably work also
>> but you'd have to go slow to prevent bending it. In this area it could
>> range from very easy to very difficult to do depending on the soil
>> type in your yard. The water hose/jet method should work well with
>> stuff you probably already own, too.
>> ~pAul.
>>
>> all good things, all in good time...
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Paul G,
>> >
>> > Thank you for the info.
>> >
>> > Do you recall where you got the grounding rod from?
>> >
>> > And where you rented the fence pounder from?
>> >
>> > Email from other thread below, in case someone browses by thread.
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 8:56 AM, Paul Gallaway <paul at gallaway.ca> wrote:
>> > My antenna was clamped to the mast with metal clamp which in turn is
>> > clamped
>> > to the tripod with more metal bits effectively bonding the
>> > three (same as your antenna to mast, mast to mast). The tripod bolted to
>> > wood frame of my roof so no direct path to earth other than the wire (or
>> > through my roof...). A heavy gauge copper wire is clamped to the mast
>> > using
>> > a grounding clamp [1], and then run to a grounding rod [2]. I seem to
>> > recall
>> > a separate screw tie the RG6 shielding (from the coax block [3]) to my
>> > mast
>> > clamp which allows for different gauge wires on the same block. My
>> > ground
>> > rod was a 10' (8'?) copper clad rod pounded into the ground - it will go
>> > faster with a post hammer. The length to ground from the antenna should
>> > be
>> > as short as possible - in my case I had to run 20ft of cable, in your
>> > case
>> > you can probably do it just about on top of your mast and use a very
>> > short
>> > wire.
>> >
>> > Save and Replay uses a 4 foot rod so maybe the 8-10 ft rods are
>> > overkill. They are also advocating 14 gauge wire for grounding which
>> > doesn't sound heavy enough to me (seems optimistic that any wire might
>> > carry
>> > "100's of thousands of volts" from lightning). The fence your antenna is
>> > strapped to will likely absorb a fair amount of the
>> > lightning strike as well which isn't a bad thing (where your house is
>> > the alternative). Sayal and Research Electronics (Orion?) may carry
>> > some of this stuff but you probably need to go hardware store for the
>> > grounding rod. Actually, I think 2 years ago Research Electronics did
>> > not have it so I found myself at the HD down the street anyway.
>> >
>> > [1] Something like this on your mast:
>> >
>> > http://www.homedepot.ca/product/1-2-in-1-in-ground-clamp-bronze-bag-of-1/910033
>> >
>> > [2] Something like this on the rod:
>> >
>> > http://www.homedepot.ca/product/ground-rod-clamp-bronze-5-8-in-3-4-in/910156
>> >
>> > [3]Something like this for the coax:
>> > http://overtheair.saveandreplay.com/HD_Antenna_Grounding.asp
>> > Seems HD also has the coax blocks so I would assume your favourite,
>> > near-by hardware/DIY store would likely have all the stuff above as
>> > well:
>> > http://www.homedepot.ca/product/grounding-block-dual-rg6-rg59/964991
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Khalid M. Baheyeldin
>> > 2bits.com, Inc.
>> > Fast Reliable Drupal
>> > Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
>> > Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
>> > Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
>> > For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
>> > wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
>> >
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>> >
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> 2bits.com, Inc.
> Fast Reliable Drupal
> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
> For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
> wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
>
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