The one thing you do NOT want to do with grounds is "daisy chain".   That creates different potentials (voltages) at each device.  

You want to pick a single point and connect all the devices to that point.  Now you can make that a nice copper ground plane, a fitting on your homebrew grounding lead,  or even a piece of equipment, like your tuner (with the ground lead attaching there too).  

good luck with the rfi.

Bill

Heil

Tyler!
We can't in good conscience even recommend you replying to any further posts for fear you will start a fire!  :-)

Bill.

-  This study for NASA exposed human subjects to Halon 1301 for 24 hours without significant ill effects.  Halon 1301 is the fire fighting system installed on the space shuttle. http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/231

- Halon & Halotron I interefere with the chemical reaction of an open flame and do not react the same way within the human body.

- Anaesthetic effect is NOT due to oxygen deprivation.  If that were the case, surgeons before the time of the Greeks would have merely clamped off the jugular arteries to some degree and be able to operate with the patient partially awake.  Chemical anaesthetics would never have been developed after the Civil War.   Anaesthetics are generally thought to work at the nerve and subcellular level and involve complex chemical interactions not involving circulatory oxygen levels.   Despite decades of use, modern medicine often has a poor understanding of their exact method of action.

- Regarding why simply breathing Halotron I or Halon does NOT cause suffocation:   The action of these fire inhibitors is believed to result from the chemicals binding with free hydrogen, H-, and hydroxyl, OH+ groups, preventing continued combustion.    In the human body oxygen, O2, binds to the Hemoglobin molecule at the Iron, Fe++ site.   Basic high school chemistry shows that the valences are opposite and unequal between the two processes, therefore the clean fire fighting agents cannot suffocate one by chemical reaction.

- I stated "Halotron I is not inherently toxic".   Perhaps I should have more correctly said "Halotron I is not immediately deadly".    Per the product literature, Halotron I requires four (4) hours of exposure at +3% concentration to reach LC50 (lethal concentration at which 50% may die), due to heart arrythmia effects.   A five minute exposure to fight a fire amounts to only 2% of the time required to reach lethal exposure.  Sounds reasonable to me.

- The FAA has never banned Halon fire extinguishers.  You can check the AD's (Airworthiness Directives) for yourself.  I'm sorry your trusted IA mislead you.:   http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAD.nsf/MainFrame?OpenFrameSet    

- Aviation Halon fire extinguishers are are still commercially available from companies like H3R Aviation, Safecraft and carried by Aircraft Spruce and Supply:   http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/safecraftext.php      

- The Specific Weight of air at standard atmospheric conditions is:  7.492 10^-2 lb/ft^3 at 70F

- Check out the Halotron I product information:   http://www.halotron-inc.com/halotron1.php

- I apologize if my previous bluntness offended anyone.

Jim,
Have you got bonding straps(grounds) from the trunk lid to the chassis?

Bill

If I understand correctly, you are going to be putting a lot of weight /moment arm on this pole, so you want it to be very strong.

- The extended strap mentioned above is good.   You definitely want to get your first attach point as close to the roof as possible.   Consider also using perhaps 2 brackets at the top point and at the bottom point as well as one or more down the middle of the mast.

- The strongest mounting will still be if you drill all the way thru the brick facing and thru the block wall.  Use long bolts and a long wood piece on the inside block wall to help distribute the load.  Even better if you can also have a wood piece outside as well.  You would need a long masonry drill bit.  They are common here in the US hardware stores.  If you don't want to buy one, you might be able to rent one with a masonry drill at a tool rental store.

good luck!   Bill

The amount of b.s. that gets shoveled here is astounding, and frustrating.

Halotron I contains HFC-123 and is a replacement for Halon 1121 and BFC (Brominated Fluorcarbon).

Halotron I is not inherently toxic, depending on concentration levels.  Some anaesthetic effects may be experienced as low as 2% concentration.  Heart irregularities may be experienced at +3%.  Note that this is with extended inhalation, NOT momentary exposure.

Breathing Halotron I does NOT displace oxygen in the environment, neither will breathing it result in cutting off oxygen to the brain (and Halon 1211/1301 didn't cause this either).

Both types of Halon were used, safely, for decades in both civilian and military applications in manned environments, including submarine, surface and aircraft installations.

When fighting a electrical fire the first order of priority should be to:
1. Remove electrical power at the switchboard or breaker panel.
2. Apply fire fighting compounds, e.g.  Halotron, Halon, CO2 to knockdown flames.
3. Exit the space closing all doors & windows.
4. Evacuate the building and direct firefighters.

Concentration Example:
A 10'x10'x8' Room contains 60lbs of of air, absolute weight.   A 5 lb bottle of Halotron I discharged will result in the an 7.7% (5lb Halotron/65lb total gas=7.7%)concentration of Halotron I which IS a hazardous level.  Only a dunce would stand around in this smoke, fuming room.  Get out.

On the whole, I think it makes eminent sense to have a Halotron fire extinguisher!

Bill

Winding a choke into the coax would force radiation to come mostly from the antenna, possibly changing the polarization and take off angles somewhat.  Nontheless, most of your signal is being radiated by the antenna anyhow.

It might improve the problem at the baby monitor, so give it a shot, but I wouldn't bet a cup of coffee on it.   Be sure to put the coil close to the antenna.

It may be worth your while to shop for a higher quality monitor that operates on a different band.   Buy it as a present for your neighbor.   After all, whats it worth to be able to operate freely as an ham?

Difficult getting opinions here?  Gee, thats the one thing we have lots of.  *shrug*

Take them them to whichever hamfest occurs first.  That way, if they get the bug they can attend the second one looking at gear, attending forums, etc.

B.

I've never had a problem with coax in over 20 years.  

But, you know your squirrels best.   Ask around among the local hams.

GUL

I think "most" of us use mobil rigs as base stations at home for all the reasons you stated.

- Put Anderson Power Pole connectors on the power cable.  Of course you need a 12v power supply.

- If you want to set the radio on the desk or shelf vice using the mounting bracket, get some stick on rubber feet at the hardware store.

That should do it.  You can snatch the radio and run.

73, bill

Shoot us your questions.  You'll get answers.  Some may even be helpful!  

b.

I would follow the installation instructions exactly!  

They do not say to install a ground, so don't.  Besides, you will have at least three feet of mounting pipe in the ground, and sixteen radials in all directions.   That trumps any single eight foot copper ground stake on any day.

enjoy your new toys!

bill

Dittoes!