[ARC5] Fall Project: 160 Mtr AN/ARC-5 Set

[David Stinson]

I envy you "metal" guys a little.
I have neither the skills nor the tools to work metal.
I can do passably with wood.
When using wood, a good grounding network on the base
and supporting beams is required for proper operation.
If you're working with an SCR-183 for instance, you'll
never get it to stop FMing from RF feedback without
a proper ground plane under the rig (thanks to Mike Hanz
for figuring out this problem for me.  I thought simple 
wire straps would be enough, but nope).
Here's a photo of the grounding network for this rig:

http://home.netcom.com/~arc5/160ARC5/grounding.jpgg

The panel at the top was done by Mike Hanz 
and is re-cycled from an earlier project, 
with the extra holes filled in and sanded.
The extra width extending beyond the TN-6
will mount the "RADIO MASTER POWER" switch
and microphone mount on one side and
the rig nomenclature/info panel on the other.

The ground straps are aluminum "duct" tape with 
folded-over strips at each intersection which are 
held down with another piece of the tape, making
electrical connection.  Tested all the areas with an
ohm-meter to make sure there wasn't more then a 
couple of ohms from place to place.  Screws through
the paint and scraping where needed connect the 
ground plane to the equipment and negative power buss.
Yes- the surface of the display board appears "rumpled"
from the tape, but you know what?  Nobody cares!
They're looking at the gear, not the wood.
I must have talked to two hundred people at HamCom
and, while everyone wanted to talk about the gear, 
nobody mentioned the display boards.

I put the USPS boxes in the background to prevent 
the clutter distracting from the rig, and so you 
won't see just what a mess I can make of a work space.

73 Dave AB5S