Hello to all,
I am setting up my hamshack and I am really confused about the proper grounding and lightning protection setup.  I currently have a fold over mast and have attached to it a vhf antenna, scanner antenna and a dipole antenna at the moment.  For the proper lightning protection I was thinking about running all of the coax wires and ladderline for the dipole into a external enclosure box that will be attached to the outside of the house.  Inside of this enclosure box I would like to install a piece of copper plate and attach a copper piece of angle iron and attach bulkheads connectors to this and then attach a ground rod, this enclosure would serve as my single point ground.  From this enclosure I would like to come off it into a feed-through panel in my window as I do not want to drill holes in the wall or floor.  Now my question is would this setup work and be a good grounding system?  And what is the best way to ground the equipment, use a bus bar and than attach this to the single point ground?  I am very confused and need some guidance as I would like to get my shack setup. 

Thanks,
Joey
KI4HNN

I know that subject has been beaten to death but I really need some help getting my equipment setup. 

I was wondering if anyone could offer a suggestion as i am trying to get my equipment setup but just don't have all the details that I need.  I currently have a fold-over mast buried into the ground 4feet that I would like to install a HF dipole antenna on, a vhf/uhf antenna and a scanner antenna on at the current moment.  I would like to add to this later and install a small tower.  What I have in mind is the following and would like to get your opion on this.  At the base of the tower i would like to install a box on a pole and run all my coax wire into this making this my single point ground for my feedlines.  inside of here I would like to install a copper piece of angle, drill holes in it and attach bulkhead adapters.  The angle will be bolted to a piece of copper strip about 2 inches wide and about say 1 to 2 feet long.  This would be then attached to a ground rod via a heavy guage wire.  Would this be ok for lighting protection?  From this box and single point ground location I would then like to run coax from this to a window feedthough panel.  The window feedthrough panel will have bulkhead adapters on it to attach the coax from the grounding box and then short jumpers will connect to the station equipment. To ground the station equipment will be grounded to the outside of the room via a feedthrough insulator attached to a ground rod.  My question is does this setup sound like a good idea, i would like to keep things simple if possible.  I do have one other question, i would I go about grounding 450ohm feedline through the grounding panel?  In the event of a lighting storm, i always  lower my dipole anyway but just wondering? If possible any pictures would be great!! I am more of a visual learner. 


Thanks,

Joey

KI4HNN

I have been given a Superstar 3900 Turbo ZX that has been modified to transmit on the cb band.  I would like to put the radio back to like it was.  I have tried to find some info on how the conversion was done but I have not been able to.  Also is the radio even legal to use on the amature bands i k ow it is not legal for cb?  Just wondering on this.  I hate to trash it but I would like to stay legal, It may be better just to use a legal radio like the Icom 706 or something similar, but since it was given to me I just wanted to see what my options are as I don,t want to violate the rules.  Any have any info on this radio?  I do know it is on the ban list as far as using on the cb band which i am not interested in.

Thanks,
Joey

I was thinking of building a feed through panel out of wood or plexiglass to pass my antenna connections through a window as I don't want to run the cables under the house and drill holes in the floor. I have been looking at the MFJ-4603 panel, but I have a question. Where can I find the antenna connections or bulkhead connectors that are used in that panel such as the binding posts for the ladder line antenna and f connector? I see plenty of places online that sell the uhf bulkhead connectors but not the others. Would anyone know where I can purchase these online? I like the look of the panel but feel that the price is a little steep based on what is there. Where could I get the connectors that are used on that panel online?

Thanks,
Joey

I have a fold over mast that is buried directly into the ground about 4 feet and currently have a scantenna ST2 scanner antenna a homebrew 2 meter antenna and a dipole antenna.  My question is what is the best way to ground the mast?  I was thinking about installing a 8 foot ground rod at the base of the mast and running a large wire from the mast to the ground rod. Would that be sufficient grounding for the mast?  Now for the antennas am I correct in saying that clamping the antenna to the mast be enough of a ground to the mast or do I need to run separate copper wires down to the ground rod and attach them there?  Now for the feed line what is the best way to ground them and god forbid keep the lightning from coming into the house?  I was thinking about adding a lightning arrestor to each antenna coax line coming from the tower or do they make a arrestor with multiple inputs in one?  Also am I correct in saying my ground rod at the mast should be connected to the main power supply ground rod as well.  Any Ideas or suggestions.

Thanks,
Joey
KI4HNN 

I have a foldover mast that is about 25feet tall and currently have 3 antennas attached to it.  I have a scantenna ST2 for my scanner equipment, a VHF antenna for my 2 meter rig and a HF all bander dipole antenna as well.  The mast is buried directly into the ground 5feet.  After doing some reading online about lightning protection it seems that I am in need of a better grounding system that needs to be implemented.  I thought about building a box and make my antenna connections  in the box with a series of bulkhead connectors that would be directly grounded via a  8 foot ground rod.  This way I could also just disconnect the antennas in the event of a approaching storm. Am I correct to say that If i mount everything in a plastic enclosure box and tie everything directly to a ground rod if the lightning where to hit it would just go to ground and not come into my shack.  I always disconnect my coax from my equipment if I know storms are going to be in the area. 

Any ideas?

Hello,
I have question that I would like to ask and gets everyone's opinions on. I am looking at purchasing a UPS for my computer and radio equipment. I have 1 Pro-197 base radio, 2 BC895XLT radios and 2 ham radios (IC706 and a FT7800 hooked to a Pyramid PS-52KX power supply) I would like to supply power to these radios in the event of a power outage. I was thinking about getting a 810watt UPS to hook it all to so when the power does go out I don't have to fiddle with hooking everything up to a battery, this way it switches over instantly and I can run everything off the existing transformers as well. In the event of a power failure the computer would be cut off and just the radios would be running. I have been looking at other solution's as well but buying the other equipment I would actually spend more than I can purchase a nice size UPS for. Anyone else using a UPS for backup power? I know that it is not ideal but would work to keep my radios going in the event of a outage for a while anyway. Thought about buying a Super PWRGate, but by the time I purchase that and batterys I have close to $200.00 plus in it, and it states that I cannot use a regular automotive battery with it. (Battery would be outdoors of course). Just wanted to get some thoughts and maybe suggestions. Mostly the radios would be in receive mode, if needed for extended periods of time I can power the Ham equipment from my battery in my truck.

Thanks,
Joey

Hello,
I was looking at trying to build a homemade OSJ146/440 antenna. I have a question. Can you use threaded rod to use as the main elements or does it have to be solid aluminum?  I was planning on using a piece of steel angleiron I have at home to mount the thing to.  Just wanted to see if any one else has done this and if it would work?  

What do you think, will it work?

Thanks,
Joseph

Thanks for replying.  I have checked for a good ground and I have scraped away the paint and primer from the underneath where the mount goes the best i could.  The roof has like two layers of metal to go through.  I may not have enought scraped off.  I did manage to take a multimeter and check to see if I continuity between the mount and the chassis of the truck and yes I do.  I even tried to a add a ground wire from the mount to the chassis to see maybe if it would help the swr but no effect.  Larson says the swr should be under 2.0 so I guess it's ok.  Im not going to worry about it as long as the swrs don't go over 2.0 I think Im good to go.  Any other Ideas?

Thanks,
Joey

Thanks for the link,
This has made the wheels start spinning in my head for a solution I do have some extra stuff just laying around I could use.  

Thanks again,
Joey

I have a question.  I have a Larson NMO 2/70 antenna mounted in the middle of my roof on a 92 Chevrolet pickup.  Tonight I borrowed my friends MFJ antenna analyzer to check the antenna, well the meter reads the following.  144-145mhz 1.6swr and 145-148 1.5swr and a flat 1.5swr on uhf.  I have tried to get the swr down a tad but I have been unable to.  I thought maybe the mount was not getting a good ground but it is and and I have checked it twice.  I know it is grounded because I can connect my multimeter between the plug shell and chassis and get continuity. I don't know what else to do?  Has any one else had this problem with this antenna?  I was thinking of cutting maybe a little off the end in hopes the swr would come down any one done this?  Also I assume that a swr of 1.5 wont hurt the rig?  I know 2 or more is bad.  Any Ideas?

Thanks,
Joey  

Bill,
Thanks for replying.  Currently I don't have any grounding yet, purhaps this is my problem.  I have a 8 foot ground rod that I just got and I am going to bury that next to where I have my coax and cables coming into the house at and then attach my equipment and tuner to that and see if that makes a difference.  I should have run the ground line the day I put in my coax from under the house but I didn't have any wire at the time.  I now have the wire and ground rod so that is my next move and go from there.  Sounds like a good weekend project.  I think that is what my problem is, rf feeding back from a lack of ground.  I will try making my ground connections and let you know how it turns out!!

Thanks again,
Joey

Allen,
You might be right.  The radio works great when you select dummy load and loads right up, I think I do have reflected power coming back.  The part I don't understand is if I move the switch to bypass the tuner the radio doesn't do.  Also when trying to adjust the swr by using the tuner, if you allow the swr to be somewhat high it seems to not do, but as soon as the swr are lowered it starts to do it.  I may need to adjust how I have my dipole hung and go from there.  Kind of puzzling.

Thanks,
Joey

Thanks for replying.  Is this normal for this to be taking place or not?  This is my first HF rig and I am fairly new to the HF world.  

Thanks,
Joey

Hello,
I have a 857D that I am using at home right now as my base station radio.  I have the radio hooked to a dipole antenna feed with twin lead and then hooked to a MFJ-969 tuner.  When I try to transmit on the 60 meter band the relay clicks on and off if the power level is set to 20.  This is with the tuner tuned for lowest swr which is 1:1.  If I reduce the power out it works fine.  If I go over more than 20 on the power level the relay just click on and off.  Now if I tune to say 3.900mhz and tune for lowest swr and then try transmitting on USB at power 20 it works fine, relay does not click on or off.  I can basically set the power out anywhere else on the hf band and it is ok.  Also if you transmit on the 60meter band and set the MFJ-969 to untuned bypass the swr is high but the radio relay does not click on and off when the power level is set to 20 or above.  Any ideas or suggestions on what may be causing this?

Thanks,
Joey