Grounding a Yaesu FT-101B

[K2WWC]

Hey all...Just bought a 101B right here off of Eham.  Tech right now but will be General class in short order.  Before I ask my question, I did spend quite a bit of time searching to see if it was answered before.  Anyhow, I know that the stock AC line cord is 2 conductor.  After looking over some diagrams and other research, it appears as though there is chassis ground at that connector.  What I can't seem to get consensus on is which pin is chassis ground.  Now, if I were to install a brand new, heavy gauge cord like 12/3 would this serve as grounding the radio?

I live in apartment and if necessary, I suppose I could drive a rod near a window but I'm really pushing my luck here.  Even resorting to a stealthy end fed antenna.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

73

Ray

[AC5UP]

Most transceivers of that era had a chassis ground lug with a wingnut on the back panel. Should be marked with a ground symbol.

The ground wire of an AC outlet is usually not a good choice as an RF ground. If a ground rod isn't possible, you'd be better off using a balanced antenna like a dipole or loop and letting the radio float above ground. Remember that in AC wiring neutral (white) and ground (green) are tied together at the breaker box so there is a path to ground through the power plug.

How Yaesu handles that relative to the chassis is a question for the user's guide, but if the power plug is polarized consider the issue addressed.

[N4CR]

Hey all...Just bought a 101B right here off of Eham.  Tech right now but will be General class in short order.  Before I ask my question, I did spend quite a bit of time searching to see if it was answered before.  Anyhow, I know that the stock AC line cord is 2 conductor.  After looking over some diagrams and other research, it appears as though there is chassis ground at that connector.  What I can't seem to get consensus on is which pin is chassis ground.  Now, if I were to install a brand new, heavy gauge cord like 12/3 would this serve as grounding the radio?

I don't think there's any point in replacing the cord. That radio runs from a transformer that provides full isolation. There should be no safety issues with an isolation transformer.

If you use a balanced antenna like a half wave center fed dipole, you should not need any ground to get the antenna to perform normally.

There are three kinds of grounds.

1. Safety, and that's handled by the isolation transformer.
2. RF ground and you won't necessarily need one with a balanced antenna. If you don't have a balanced antenna, the RF ground is generally placed at the feed point.
3. Lightning. And that one needs to be outside using a single point ground entrance panel.