[Boatanchors] Grounds, thanks all

[Phil]

Hi Brian,
Don't mean to be argumentative here, but is it a "mind set" if I 
DISCONNECT the leads going from the under-table ground bus bar to the 
ground system, and with the receivers tuned to "no signal", the noise 
level displayed on the "S" meter goes from (now) close to zero to over 
S9 on the lower bands, less on the higher frequencies (and the power 
lines are buried under ground)?

Is it a mindset that when I added three additional rods, the noise level 
fell significantly below what it was before they were added?

The main reason I'm doing this work is to try to quiet the rfi down as 
much as possible.  I do a lot of weak signal LF work here (have done so 
for over 12 years now), and believe me, the grounding that I've done has 
made a huge difference in the received noise levels.  As I don't 
transmit a lot on HF (check into an occasional 40 or 75M net) I don't 
really care so much what it does for that, but I do care about what I 
hear in the headset.

I can walk around with a portable radio and coming within a few feet of 
mine or the other mobile homes in the park the noise level rises 
dramatically, radiated from the wiring in the walls (and no, the noise 
isn't generated from equipment in my home, I've checked that).  If I 
take the portable up on the metal roof the noise level also drops as the 
radio is raised higher.  This whole park is just one huge electrical 
noise field (280+ homes in just a small area, all tied together with the 
same electrical supplies). . .

As I mentioned in a later post, the aluminum wire is a moot point 
anyway, I had to get copper.

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

RADIOS:
Grundigs: Satellit 750 (2011), S-350 (2006)&  G6 (2011).
Icom: R-75 with Two 250Hz CW Filters.
Kenwood: TS130S Transceiver (circa 1980).
Radio Shack: DX-380 digital portable (circa 1990).
Yaesu: VX8R Quad-Band HT (circa 2010).
Zenith: Royal-7000 Transoceanic (circa 1969).

ACCESSORIES:   Homebrewed LF Pre-Amp, MFJ-949E HF Tuner
                Homebrewed 6 Hz Filter.

ANTENNAS: 88' Long Ladder-line fed dipole, Apex at 35 feet.
           Amplified Mini-Whip up 29 feet for LF/MW
Merced, Central California, 37.3N 120.48W  CM97sh


On 3/22/2012 6:48 AM, Brian Clarke wrote:
> Look Phil,
>
> I think you have a specific mindset here, that you absolutely MUST 
> have a ground / Earth system.
>
> It is still not clear to me that you need it for RF purposes at all.
>
> All you continue to describe is a mains safety system.
>
> 73 de Brian, VK2GCE.
>
> On Thursday, March 22, 2012 2:17 PM, Phil said:
>
>
>> I want to thank everyone for all the good suggestions.
>>
>> I once used the braid from RG8 coax for ground connections on a
>> Butternut HF-2V antenna.  When I took the antenna down after about a
>> year's use, the braid was heavily corroded, nearly corroded through in
>> places (it was roof mounted and grounded to the metal roof and gutter).
>> So that was out, and besides the only coax I have are a 15 foot length
>> of RG-213 and a 55 foot length of RG-213, both with connectors and with
>> plans to use on antennas in the future.
>>
>> After reading some of the replies I went down to OSH and I just got
>> back.  It turns out they didn't have any aluminum wire anyway.  I got to
>> talking to a licensed electrician (even had his work outfit on :)in the
>> electrical department who was buying some supplies himself.  He said
>> they did away with the aluminum wire, at least here in California a few
>> years back due to safety concerns. I find that odd as that is what our
>> TV antenna installers always used at the shop where I worked. He
>> suggested stranded/insulated 14Ga wire as that is what he uses for
>> "safety grounds".  I couldn't make him understand the "skin effect" at
>> RF, so didn't try.  But I DID buy a length of 10Ga bare solid copper
>> wire for the grounds.  I wanted the 8 Ga (or even the 6Ga ;-) but the
>> money in my wallet wouldn't stretch that far. It should be much better
>> than the scraps of 18Ga stranded at any rate. . .
>>
>> -- 
>> 73 de Phil,  KO6BB
>> http://ko6bb1.multiply.com/ (OTR Blog)
>> http://www.qsl.net/ko6bb/  (Web Page)
>
>
>