Jim, I will agree with you wholeheartedly, except for the RF Ground part ---
In reality, RF ground has only to do with a zero impedance reference for RF at the frequency of operation. It can actually be up in the air (example - at the midpoint of a dipole, normally the dipole feedpoint), or at the other extreme it can be close to a physical groundpoint (like in the shack at a tuner groundpoint). It has been said that balanced antennas need no RF ground - I am just saying it differently - that the RF 'ground' is built into a balanced antenna - or at the feedpoint in the case of a properly fed vertical, etc. Let this not be construed to imply that a hamshack does not need a good RF ground - in fact, every hamshack DOES need an effective ground point for RF ground, AC safety ground, and lightning protection, AND they should all be connected together at the hamshack common grounding point. Additionally, the best station ground type is the single point ground - where each piece of equipment has a ground wire going to this common point (like a grounded entry panel through which all wiring to the shack enters). If a bus-bar type ground is used, it should be a very low impedance - as short as possible and physically large conductors. A really GOOD lightning protection ground at the shack will by its nature provide a good high current RF ground too, because to be effective it must shunt all frequencies to ground - but few hamshacks have the luxury of a protection system that effective. 73, Don W3FPR ----- Original Message ----- > > >The way I like to look at is that there are at least > >four different 'grounds' that you have to worry about, and you need to > >provide for them separately. > > It's OK to think of them as fulfilling four different functions. But from a safety > (and building code) perspective, ALL of these functional grounds MUST be > bonded together. And HOW they are bonded together can make a huge > difference when something goes wrong (like lightning). > > Jim Brown K9YC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
