[Elecraft] grounding K2

[Rick Dettinger]

If I remember correctly, the base K2 came without the ground screw.   
Its been a long time.  I think the ground screw came with the ATU.   
The K1 doesn't have a ground screw, even with the ATU.  I am confused  
about the use of an RF ground with a balanced antenna.  One of the  
advantages of a balanced antenna, verses an antenna that works with a  
ground such as a vertical, is efficiency.  If I use an RF ground with  
a balanced antenna, am I losing efficiency.  Especially if the ground  
is mediocre?  I don't want to put down 60 radials for my center fed  
doublet.  When I used my K1 or K2 with a battery and a balanced   
antenna, I had confidence that most of  the power was getting  
radiated.  Now I have a K3-100 with an Astron 35 M power supply and I  
am wondering if that has changed.  The  35 M schematic shows that the  
13.8v DC terminal is connected to the 120v AC supply system ground.   
This is continuous, overhead and underground, to the substation ground  
mat.  This doesn't sound too bad for a 160  M vertical, however, I  
can't decide what effect this has on my CF doublet.  Am I sending RF  
all over the neighborhood on the power lines?  Is this why a BALUN is  
needed?  Is my antenna efficiency and pattern different than when I  
used battery power?  If I use the doublet and a BALUN, what do I use  
the ground screw for?  It would be redundant to attach it to the AC  
ground as this is done thru the 13.0v supply cable.

73
Rck Dettinger   K7MW


On Apr 16, 2008, at 11:50 AM, Roger Stein wrote:
> Yes, good RF/safety practice, to the ground post on the back of the  
> K2 provided for that purpose.
> Roger
> WA7BOC
> k2 755
> k3 75
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Scott McDowell
> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 11:19 AM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Elecraft] grounding K2
>
>
> 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
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