LCARA HAM Radio: Basics of Station Grounding
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- Welcome to the Lake Cumberland Amateur Radio Association Club's UA-cam Channel.
Today we go over some of the basics of station grounding and what kinds of hardware you will need. Listed below are links to the copper wire, bus bar and grounding rods used in this video.
LCARA is an Amazon Afilliate and using the below links to make purchases does earn LCARA a small commission which helps support our club expenses.
8 awg wire: amzn.to/3jazvEG
Gounding bar: amzn.to/3jeGKeB
Braided ground straps: amzn.to/3dEi5z2
4ft grounding rod: amzn.to/2T5nbLl
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#LCARA #hamradio #grounding
My understanding is that the the NEC requires all grounding systems be tied to the common point ground at the electrical service panel. I believe this is an electrical safety issue as multiple isolated grounding systems can be at different electrical potential. It is fine to drive multiple additional rods to reduce the impedance of your ground system, but they should be tied back to the main panel ground.
The main reason for additional grounding for ham shacks is for abating common mode RF (not line) currents on isolated equipment (such as the radio, tuner, meters, amplifiers). Additionally, while copper tubing is probably okay in certain circumstances, 3/4" + braided should be used to tie everything together, and should be the shortest length possible. :)
Why would you bring the coax into the house before you run it through the grounded surge protector? Seems that if the antenna was hit, travel through the coax into your house and only then grounded the lightning not taking out the rest of your equipment grounded at the same point is a big risk
You're right, it's very dangerous and only gives lightning more opportunity to come indoors. Hams seem to be a bit gullible on this point rather than realize basic physics and electrical theory.
I'm lucky then, I live on the edge of a town with population of about 400 to 500 people and one traffic light ! :)
What is shown and described in this video appears to be a DC grounding system, but given that the described operating position is on the 2nd story, the #8 wire down to the ground rods is likely doing nothing for you as an RF ground. Maybe you could address this in a follow up video.
I used #6 for the main ground runs from the RF grounding block to the new rod and the house main ground and #10 for the station equipment per NEC recommendations. So much larger for the outdoor stuff and one size smaller for the indoor however I know solid is best but insulated braided is fine too.
Nice..........................
Why have that copper comeing out the top out it in from the bottom and it will do away with that slight 90 turn
I'm worried that your second ground rod may not be bonded to the service ground rod. If this is the case, a voltage differential in the ground between the rods may complete a circuit over your radios and damage something
So how would one bond it to the service ground if the ham station is on the other side of the house from said service ground? This is the problem most hams have. They can't do it the perfect way, so they have to compromise. My solution is to ground with copper in and out, and unplug during t-storms.
@@N1IA-4I drove ground rods from one side of the house to the other and linked them all together to the service ground but most people can't afford 6 ground rods, In the absence of perfection we have to sometimes do it half azzed to get by for sure.
Something is better than nothing. I'll run with that and do my best! TY for the vid! Subscribed, hello from Montana! KK7PQL
this helps to answer a nagging question I had since becoming a ham a few months ago. my other question is how do I ground to the equipment my two radios and the power supply dont have anything showing where to hook up the ground wire. would it be correct to just unscrew a random screw and hook it there?
a 1inch or 2inch copper pipe flattend out is a great buss bar and a ground loop will bring the ohmes down 10 or lees the better
Greetings. It’s not clear as I’m looking at this video, it looks like you are putting the lightning arrestor inside. I presume this as you have a flat braided ground strap. I’m not an expert here, but my understanding is these should be outside the shack at a grounded junction box. I am in the process of putting in a junction box myself with multiple antennas. You are otherwise inviting the lightning inside the shack to then transit out that braided ground which I think is also not sufficient for that task. Cheers. Jim KD8MTY
PS Here is the junction box I went with that illustrates this a bit. I have no affiliation with the vendor. ua-cam.com/video/sYG2O926LoU/v-deo.html
At 9:35: Where did you get that ground clamp? Thanks for posting!
I just received my license and am in the process of installing some radio gear, a dipole antenna and a vertical 3 meter/70 cm antenna. I’m pretty concerned about grounding and found this video to be the best I’ve found. My question is, can I run the ground wire from the indoor buss bar to the outdoor ground through the same hole in my wall as I’m running my coax feed line through or will that cause trouble? How do you ground the dipole, just ground the center and end masts? Thank you.
Answer to first question: i see everybody do it. I'm a newbie so I'll defer to the experts.
I have an end fed. Should I connect to house electrical system ground, or my separate ground for radio only and leave house ground separated? Thanks.
@K2ICC - The ARRL has a lot of accurate information, www.arrl.org/grounding - Stay safe and thanks for watching! KY4BDP
If you look at the photos, there is a rather sharp ninety degree angle between the wire and the grounding rod itself. The wire should be placed in-line with the rod.
Hello Mark, I am making some final adjustments to the setup and will arrange the path a little better. Thanks.
“I’m not deep in the middle of a big town. I’m on the edge of a smaller town. 300,000, a little more than 300,000 people.”
Here I thought my town was a “bigger” town with 160,000 people and being the third largest city in the state.
MFJ arrestors? Stick with Polyphaser. That’s what they do best.
ICE arrestors are better for amateur applications. Morgan manufacturing and Array solutions manufacture them. Less expensive than PolyPhaser too.
😲 WHAT A mess
I believe your equipment grounding using a copper wire to a grounding rod is in violation of the national electrical code which requires it to go back to the panel.
It probably is. But what is one to do if the service ground is on the other side of the house? Running a huge long copper wire won't do anything.
rods are done wrong
Thisnis exactly how you dont do your ground system..this is all wring do not do anything like this crap...this is nonsense...looping wnd so much WRONG
I strongly urge all viewers of this video to treat the advice offered as not legal , and/or dangerous.
Care to elaborate?
@@JoeWhite-qt8re These Ham Radio channels make money and offer bad advice , why should I give correct advice for free ?
As long as people want to get their technical information from social media instead of reliable technical sources , , they can accept that there is a risk that goes along with their bad choices.
@Greg White are you a ham?
@@JoeWhite-qt8re Is the answer to that question relevant to the validity of my statement ?
@Greg White look dude, I just asked a question as to about why the content in this video would be/should be considered illegal and or dangerous, to which you replied with some bullshit answer about these ham clubs making money off these videos and giving bad advice if you think these channels are giving wrong or bad information then why don’t you put some videos up showing the “right” way to do things and make yourself some money and stop trolling.
You have zero clue of what your doung ... So many things are just weong here ... period
Station grounding VIOLATES NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE.
NEC 2011 250 (a) FORBIDS grounding radio equipment to another groundcrod and FORBIDS grounding not normally current carrying conductors."
It is ILLEGAL in the US to do this !
It probably is. But what is one to do if the service ground is on the other side of the house? Running a huge long copper wire won't do anything.
@@N1IA-4 you bond the two together. Run a wire from one to another, preferably burying it if possible. Lots of hams do this.
@@Anamericanhomestead It doesn't work that way. In a long run, the resistance of the wire will nullify any benefits. Have you ever heard of any commercial ground/bonding using a long run? No. Because it is required to be right at the service entrance. Lots of hams do a lot of things. But this actually places the two ends at a different potential to the other, increasing the danger when lightning strikes directly or in the vicinity.