[Antennas] Ground?

[Philip (KO6BB)]

Tom et al,
Well, first I didn't expect a lot of snide remarks (not referring to this 
message but to others), but guess I should have expected them anymore.

True, my antennas DON'T require a ground to effectively radiate, the 
Butternut HF-2V and homebrewed 20M 1/4 Wave vertical both have ~1200 Sq/ft 
of sheetmetal under them, creating an effective groundplane, and the 
balanced dipole certainly doesn't need it.

HOWEVER, this mobile home park is quite a noisy place, RF wise, I suspect 
mostly carried over the underground powerlines etc (probably even the 
neutral line).  The present ground system is a daisy chain of long and short 
rods and it has a HUGE effect on the noise floor here, from VLF all the way 
through the HF range and even at 2M!

IF I disconnect the ground line from my under-bench copper buss where 
everything (including computer tower) is tied together and ONLY use the 
service ground provided by the Electrical company, the noise floor goes up 
sharply, the radio drives the computer bananas when transmitting, etc 
(computer is totally unaffected when the outdoor ground is intact).  Of 
course, because of my extensive audio work, I have a LOT more peripherals on 
my computer than most folks do, 8 USB devices connected, 2 USB hubs, 2 
monitors,sound equipment, radio cat, etc.  When the ground system is intact 
the radios don't bother any of it.

This isn't meant as a flame, but, if as you say, you've never really used an 
effective ground system, you may just not realize what it's doing or not 
doing?

73 de Phil,  KO6BB
http://ko6bb1.multiply.com/ (My OTR Blog)
http://www.qsl.net/ko6bb/   (Web Page)

DX begins at the noise floor!
RADIO: Yaesu FT-2000.
Antennas:  Butternut HF-2v,  88' Ladder-Line fed dipole.
Merced, Central California, 37.3N 120.48W  CM97sh

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Horton" <k5iid at sbcglobal.net>
To: <antennas at mailman.qth.net>


> Ground? What's a ground?
> Seriously, I have operated for years with a ground and years without a 
> ground. Never have I ever had more than one 8 foot copperclad rod pounded 
> in and then usually not very deep.
> My last QTH was on the second story of a house built in 1910 and a ground 
> would have been 50 feet long. So I didn't bother. I have never really 
> noticed a difference one way or another.
> I can just imagine all the firestorms coming my way now!
> Tom, K5IID