[Elecraft] K2 grounding

[Jeff Kinzli]

Thanks Don, and everyone who replied.

I don't plan to use a KAT2, and I like Don's explaination. Much appreciated.

Cheers, 73,

-J

On 1/22/07, Don Wilhelm <w3fpr at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Jeff,
>
> If you are using a tuner in your antenna line, ground that instead of the K2
> 0 the K2 will be grounded by the coax connection.
>
> Grounding the case of ham equipment can be for one of 2 reasons - first
> concern is an AC safety ground, but that is not required with DC powered
> equipment, that safety ground should be accomplished in any power supply
> that is connected to the AC mains.  The second reason is to establish a good
> RF ground.  The tuner is the best place in the shack to place this RF ground
> point, and not necessarily the transceiver - actually the best place to
> establish the RF ground is at the antenna feedpoint (at the antenna itself).
>
> For any who attempt to solve any form of lightning protection - the shack is
> definitely NOT the proper place to do that - extensive buried ground rods
> and interconnecting wires to dissipate the charge is the only real way to
> handle lightning surges - couple that with surge protectors on the incoming
> antenna lines.  Attempting to make a 'lightning protection' ground in the
> shack is an exercise in futility and can present a danger to occupants of
> the shack should lightning strike nearby.
>
> In short, the K2 does not really need to be grounded.
> If you want to add a ground, there is a hole in the top cover labeled GND
> which you could use to ground the enclosure.  If you add the KAT2, that hole
> will have a ground post installed as part of the KAT2 assembly.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> > Having just finished my first K2 (#5945) I'm looking for
> > best-practices on grounding it properly in the shack.
> >
> > This is going to be used at home, rarely, if ever, portable.
> >
> > At first, I'm going to use a 12V battery to power it, and will get a
> > Samlex PS in the near future for when I do the KPA100 in a few weeks.
> >
> > Anyhow, since the K2 doesn't have a ground lug I'm wondering how is
> > the best way to ground this. I'm using a balanced antenna (vertical
> > dipole) at the moment.
> >
> > I've looked through the manual and the list archives but don't find
> > too much in terms of details of this subject. If anyone is willing to
> > spell it out for me, that'd be great :)
> >
> > On my old TS830 I just had a ground lug on the rear, that went via a
> > short wire to earth ground, however there doesn't seem to be such a
> > provision on the K2 in it's stock form.
> >
> > Thanks for any ideas.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.4/644 - Release Date: 1/22/2007
> 7:30 AM
>
>