Joe, The real answer is - it all depends...
It all depends on the equipment that is connected to the power source. It all depends on how the power supply itself is grounded It all depends on how the entire group of equipment (your ham station) is grounded. There is no one answer - it all depends on the particular situation where the power supply is employed. "Sneak" current paths can (and do) exist, and the real answer depends on where these sneak paths occur. If grounding the negative side of your supply reduces the 'sneak paths', then grounding is the right thing to do, but if it makes them worse, floating is the better answer. Analysis with your particular equipment mix is impossible from this distance, so just try both scenarios and pick the one that works best for you. Be aware that your answer to that question will likely be different than the answer from another installation. It all depends ... 73, Don W3FPR Joe Planisky wrote: > Hi folks, > > The recent discussions about bonding equipment together to reduce > noise has prompted me to ask a question I've been mulling over for a > few days now. > > Should the negative side of a power supply be connected to the supply > chassis (and thus to the "green wire" AC ground), or should it be left > floating? I have heard arguments both for and against floating the > negative terminal, mostly from the fields of industrial control and > precision sensing. The gist seems to be that the negative side of > power supplies are usually connected to chassis or structure ground > except in cases of very sensitive analog sensing where it is sometimes > left floating to help reduce noise. I've heard stories of hum in > repeater systems being cured by floating the negative side of the > supply. > > Does whether or not the negative side of the supply is floating affect > the idea of bonding the rig and PS cases to a common point? > > 73 > -- > Joe KB8AP > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
