[Antennas] static discharge from antenna

Wed, 09 Oct 2002 06:57:57 -0400

Right On!!!  I use an MFJ 912 balun and it has a center tap for ground.
It works beautifully!!

Deacon Dave, W1MCE
Manager, Textron Antenna Range, retired.

Cletus W Whitaker wrote:
> 
> de WB2CPN South Central Pennsylvania     2002.10.09
> 
> You may want to inspect the tuner to see if there is any way to ground the
> center tap of the coil(s) which connect to the ladder line.  What kind of tuner
> are you using?  I must assume it has a balanced output to the ladder line.  There
> should be a DC path from the ladder line to a good ground, but hardly any
> inductance at all will cause a voltage build up on the ladder line when the
> antenna receives a charge from space.  You can put a small arc gap between the
> wires of the ladder line and a good ground.  Overall, it's dangerous.  I've used
> a similiar antenna 180' long and 20' high, and I haven't had static build up.  But
> I am feeding the ladder line with a 1:1 balun which has a grounded center tap.
> You coud try a current balun between the tuner and the ladder line if the tuner
> will handle an unbalanced output.   Good Luck                 73  Clete
> 
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