Guess the ICE instructions are wrong then.

From their manual:

"The best location is close to the station, indoors, and close to the station's bulkhead grounding system."

I have three brand new ICE arrestors and was wondering if it was ok to mount them just inside the house near the ground bulkhead? I was contemplating putting them in a NEMA enclosure outside right at the ground rods....but I live in a rowhome and space is somewhat limited. They would be less then two feet from the first ground rod.

Thanks!
Vince
N3VMC

"The R5 doesn't need a balun; it has it's own matching section in the black box at the base."

Thats not the point but thanks for your 2 cents. I know it has an choke balun and a 4:1 balun but that dosent stop RF from coming off the feeline....thats why I added the other one at the feedpoint.

The choke balun on the R5 dosent isolate jack.

Cushcraft R5 mounted right above me on a flat roof....little shack RF now that I have a nice 1:1 iso balun on the line.

Before that not that much RF...I run mainly digital modes (50w or less) and QSO worldwide with it.

Vince
N3VMC

Ugh.....this is really annoying to say the least.

Yesterday I installed a good 1:1 iso balun at the feedpoint of my R5 to eliminitate the stray RF in my shack. Last night the RFI on 12 was so bad I turned the rig of.....now...today 12 and 20 are nasty.

Earlier today I shut off the main breaker and powered my ICOM with the 12v setup I use for camping. The noise was still there at 20+db. So I took an AM radio around the house....thinking I might find something.

Unfortunately I did....and its a nasty signal. I found a good EMR source behind my entertainment center.....about 4 feet off the floor. The only thing in that are is some 75 ohm coax running up the wall into my master bedroom and a phone line for the Tivo.

With the power off the RFI is screaming up and down the 75 ohm coax....but when I checked in the basement where the coax came in....there is nothing.

I havent talked to me neighbor on what might be on the other side of that wall....but then again how do I know whatever is over there is causing the interference in the first place?

Before I put this R5 up I had an Alpha Delta DX-EE that worked pretty well running above the roof at about 10 feet. I never had any RFI issues with it....and up until a few days ago....before I installed the balun...I didnt have any issues with the R5. Could the balun be contributing to this problem?

I made a short video of my ICOM display with audio of the signal. You can see it very clearly on 12 and a little bit on 20.

Any ideas?

here is the link to the vid...its about 45 seconds long.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cerberus314/2642829418/

73
Vince
N3VMC

Hey walt!

Im having the same issue here so you guys must of read my mind!

I turned everything off in my house and cut the main breaker. I powered up my ICOM Pro-III with the 12V supply I use for camping...and the noise was still there. Funny though it wasnt there a few days ago....and yesterday 12 meters was bad. Im using an older Cushcraft R5.

I took my AM radio around while the power was off to sweep the house for any interference....and sure enough I found a nice blob of EMR in my living room along the party wall with my neighbor. It is a constant hum....sounds like an AC motor....right beind my entertainment center. I didnt find any other noise in the house.

Vince
N3VMC

"Some people are pretty poor typists. "

Oh well!

"Put the feedline choke at least ten feet from the antenna. "

Which would be inside the room where I am sitting now.

"How close does the ground wire pass to the shack? How does the coax run from the antenna to the shack? Is this all on the same side of the house with the shack right on the wall nearest the grounding conductor? "

The ground wire runs right out of the wall down to the rod....about 15 feet. The coax comes off the roof and in the same wall...both runs (VHF/UHF-HF)

it is all on the same side of the house

As far as bonding the rods together....it is impossible to bury the connecting line....For the last 10+ feet or so after you make a 90 degree turns it is all concrete...stairs & a landing. If you guys checked the photos youll see the back of the house is an L shape...I labeled where the rods are in the photos.

Im going with a good 1:1 balun at the feedpoint and I will disconnect the HF rig from the ground setup....hopefully this will solve the stray RF in the shack.

I already ordered the best 1:1 from balundesigns.com (1115ud) so hopefully that works. Sure I could have built one but I have a kitchen remodel to worry about and I dont have the time.

Inside ground rod:

I cant find it in the NEC either (I have an electrician friend with a current copy) or any of my books. When I had my panel upgraded the electrician was going to install the rod inside the house right under the panel....I had him do it outside...force of habit I guess.

Id love to know how I am going to "bond" two rods at least 20 feet from each other.

Ok now I hae a headache and ive opened a can of worms:

1- The 2nd ground rod is not bonded to main panel ground....so how to I combine the two together?

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w126/n3vmc/ground_points.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w126/n3vmc/ground_points1.jpg

The first image shows the house before I purchased it back in 2006.....the panel ground is on the right and the 2nd ground is on the left...down the back steps. The 2nd image shows where the 2nd ground is today....it is an 8' rod driven through the concrete.

Id like to put the radios just inside that lower door which would be ideal considering the proximity to the ground. Now with all this other headache im thinking im better off leaving it up here and figuring out the grounding issue.

Hey Tom & All!

Yeah this house has the older K&T wiring....This row was built before the surrounding areas were up...we dont have a garage...instead we have a larger backyard and two back doors....one leading to the basement....one to my kitchen. My shack is also my middle bedroom...which double as my office etc....it is wired with a 20A line directly to the panel....That was done long before I moved in which made it a lot easier. Most of the rooms have upgraded power....and the K&T wiring only powers the room lights.

The R5 is grounded with 8 gauge down to the ground rod below my window. This is where all of my shack equipment is grounded also....at the rod. Id have to take a few photos to show you guys what I mean but ill check out the RF chokes first before I do anything drastic....IE move everything down into the basement.

I have no problem with driving a new ground rod through the basement floor...it would be pretty much right where the radios would be.

I hear you on the moisture issue.....its not that bad down there to an extent but I do run a dehumidifier sometimes when its really bad out....(90+ right now)...

Cushcraft R5.

I love to chew the fat on PSK.....sometimes the band allows it and sometimes it dosent.

Digital modes are my favorite and I try my best to talk as long as the other op wants to! Its pretty rude to just call CQ and want a quick and dirty QSO.

73
Vince
N3VMC
070 Club #745
EPC #4129
DMC #1328