[Elecraft] [Elecraft-K3] Latest on the new home for my K3...

[Dave Cole]

Hi Jim,
Thanks, I was hoping you might chime in with some advice...  It will be 
simple to add a ground to the panel...  I used metal BNC with star 
washers on each.  Also, thanks for the links, I'll go look them over in 
the morning!

73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources

On 4/22/20 8:14 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On 4/22/2020 1:51 PM, Dave Cole wrote:
>> I am trying to reduce the potential for ground loops, so I will not be 
>> using the patch panel as a ground connection point, it will just look 
>> like long coax runs to the equipment.
> 
> Ain't no such thing as a "ground loop," except to the extent that it 
> could couple a magnetic field. In practice, that only happens when 
> there's an error in mains power wiring, or when there's leakage flux 
> from a big power transformer in close proximity. Indeed, with proper 
> bonding for lightning protection and hum/buzz/RFI control, there SHOULD 
> be loops due to multiple bonding paths. That's addressed in this slide 
> deck for talks I've done at Visalia, Pacificon, and to multiple ham 
> clubs, and most of it was incorporated in Ward Silver's ARRL book on the 
> topic, on which we collaborated.
> 
> http://k9yc.com/GroundingAndAudio.pdf
>>
>> I will be installing an entrance panel, and an additional ground rod 
>> later this summer.
>>
>> The entrance panel will be connected via #6 to a set of three 8 foot 
>> ground rods, one at the electrical service, one at my shack, just 
>> outside the house, 15 feet away from the service ground, and a third, 
>> 15 feet further down the house, all connected with #6 as well.
>>
>> All incoming coax will be fed in via the entrance panel.  The entrance 
>> panel is a NEMA4 weatherproof box, 3 by 2, with a 1/4 inch copper 
>> sheet bolted to the raised supports in the rear of the box.
>>
>> The copper plate inside the entrance panel is where the station 
>> outside ground system connects, and where the stations inside ground 
>> system connects via a Polyphasor on each coax cable, and a #8 copper 
>> wire.
>>
>> On the rear of the desk will be a CM Choke I constructed-- RG-400, on 
>> two FT-240/31 cores.
>>
>> At the antenna, is coax, feeding the Entrance panel.  I am conflicted 
>> on grounding the base of the antenna, and possibly adding another set 
>> of Polyphasors there...  More reading is needed on this... 
> 
> The aforementioned link, and Ward's book. BTW -- all the connectors on 
> that beautiful new panel SHOULD be bonded to the panel, and the panel 
> should be bonded to your station ground bus. Elecraft's earliest VHF 
> transverters were built with feedthrough BNCs that were insulated from 
> the shielding enclosure, and the two I bought used are unstable as a 
> result.
> 
> 73, Jim K9YC
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