[R-390] Re: Ham Shack Grounding Help!!!!

[Richard Biddle]

The R390A is notorious for having 60 volts to ground due to the design of
the line filter.  Then there is the trouble of a ground versus a GROUND.
Even in newer homes the ground  of the electrical system is not a really
solid ground.  My home passed all the wiring tests and there ground back to
the service entrance was solid, however, the ground used at the service
entrance was not as good as the RF ground in the shack.  So we have a case
where the radio ground would rise up and bite a little.

The best thing is a massive ground system tied back to the service entrance
ground.   That is not too handy just for shortwave listening use.  In that
case I would make sure that the ac wiring in the house was okay (plug for
electricians)  and then do what I did.  I run my radio though a topaz
isolation transformer and then through a variac.  I use the variac to
soft-start the radio and set the line voltage to 110.  My grounds are all
good on the bench and there is no leak from the radio (grounded chassis
3-wire plug) to the bench test equipment ground or the antenna ground.  I
won't trip the GFI either.

73 de Richard, KB5WLH
Only one R-390A, but lots of other cr^h^h stuff...




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