[160m] Beverage ground rods

[Tom Rauch]

> Is it imperative to ground a Beverage at each end; in this
case several
> ground rods configured around the feed/terminating ends?
> Going further:
> Should  the different circuits (9:1 Xfmr, preamp)  within
the Beverage feed
> point be grounded separate and not tied to a mutual
ground?
> Is there a spacing requirement for these ground rods?


Hi Mike,

The ground provides a reference point for feeding and
terminating the unbalanced antenna wire. There are two
problems created or made worse with a poor ground:

At the termination end a poor ground is perfectly OK as long
as it isn't reactive and if it is stable in resistance. If
it is grossly unstable in resistance value with soil
moisture or if operating frequency changes the antenna may
not have the highest possible signal-to-noise or
signal-to-QRM from the back direction. Same thing if it has
significant reactance on different frequencies.

At the feedpoint end, a poor ground means the Beverage
antenna will "seek" some other ground source. If the coax
shield has a low impedance path to the ground system at the
Beverage antenna feedpoint, the feedline shield can easily
become a noticeable part of the ground system. Unwanted
signals and noise picked up by the feedline shield and crud
conducted over the feedline shield from your house can get
into the antenna system through the ground connection.

A low resistance ground at the feedpoint is significantly
less important when we use a separate primary and secondary
matching transformer. With a transformer with a floating
primary and secondary, the Beverage will only be connected
to the ground rod at the feedpoint. The feedline shield will
not have a low impedance path to the ground rod, so it will
not be part of the system.

73 Tom