[Elecraft] grounding K2

[Don Wilhelm]

Scott,

There is no real need to ground the K2 itself.  Ground the antenna 
feedline shield for a better installation.  The K2 would be grounded 
through that coax connection.

I could go on and on about grounding, but in a nutshell, there are 3 
types of grounds to consider:
1) AC Safety Ground - the K2 does not need one - but an AC power supply 
should.   A proper 3 wire household outlet should have this ground 
connected to the mains entry point ground.
2) Lightning Surge ground - your antennas should have adequate 
protection from lightning surges, but that requires an extensive 
grounding system (see the PolyPhaser website for information).  
IMPORTANT - any added ground system or ground rod MUST be connected to 
the Utility Entry point ground rod with a heavy wire - #6 or larger 
(required by NEC and important to protect you and your equipment should 
an AC ground fault occur).
3) RF Ground - this one is a "horse of a different color".  It is 
unlikely that you will achieve an RF ground by making a connection to 
Mother Earth - any wire you run off to a ground rod will be an  odd 
mulitple of a quarter-wave long at some frequencies, and will present a 
high impedance at those frequencies (this is exactly the opposite of an 
RF Ground).  RF will seek its own zero-voltage (or ground point) 
somewhere in the antenna system - for example, that point will be at the 
midpoint of a balanced radiator.  You challenge is to control the RF 
Ground within your antenna system to avoid conducting RF back to the shack.

If you install a KAT2 or KAT100 or KPA100, there is a grounding terminal 
provided on each of those options should you wish to attach a ground 
wire.  For the basic K2, one could add a ground terminal to the hole in 
the top cover (the one that will be used for the KAT2 ground).

73,
Don W3FPR


Scott McDowell wrote:
> Hello
> Has anyone ever felt the need to ground their K2, and if so, where did you
> connect the ground wire to the K2?
> Thanks
> Scott
> N5SM
>
>