This easy to read book demystifies one of the most misunderstood issues in amateur radio how correctly ground an amateur radio station. The energy associated with the voltage and current is then safely dissipated in the earth. Arrl handbook, arrl antenna book nec handbook at your library, any recent edition lightning protection for the amateur station ron block, nr2b junjulaug 2002 qst arrl website, available to the public not just members power, grounding, bonding, and audio for. There is no such thing as an rf ground, due to wavelength, inductance, skin effect. Bonding tower to house if close to the house, it must be bonded to house ground if distant from house, it should not be bonded to house ground coax shield will provide inductive connection, so most lightning current will go to tower grounds distant 200 ft cable run from base to house. Here are a list of technical articles on grounding and lightning. Groundinglightning suppression question qrz forums. If in doubt, get help local code additions matter avoidance can cancel your insurance payout be careful120 vac can kill you. Otherwise, current will arc from one path to another with lower electrical potential. Having worked thru that, i developed design then vetted design with licensed electrician. A connection to earth almost never reduces noise or rfi, and it will often make it worse, because the ground wire can act as an antenna.
Heavily plagiarized from ward silver n0ax presentation at dayton this year. Reference books arrls grounding and bonding for the. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading grounding and bonding for the radio amateur. The station ground system the arrl louisiana section. They each have different functions, but they work together to make the buildings electrical wiring safe. Rf bonding bus 12 copper pipe hose clamp clamp securely ground operating position ground rod wire to equipment enclosure transceiver keyer computer antenna switch bond to ac service entrance ground rod threewire grounded power outlets connected. There seems to be a question on grounding andor bonding at least once a week. You can run bigger, but its not required if underground.
A connection to earth almost never reduces noise or rfi, and it will often make it worse, because the ground wire can. Each unit features so239 uhf female connectors on both input and output. Installing and testing a gfci recept acle arrl home. Power, grounding, bonding, and audio for ham radio safety, hum. Lightning the series of electrical processes taking place. The arrl handbook covers the topic in the safety chapter, and there are a number of articles in the arri web sites technology section grounding and bonding. Jun 26, 2020 alpha delta model lt coaxial surge protectors provide lightning surge protection for transceivers on frequencies from dc up to 30 megahertz. Scott wright, k0md, editor of ncj, arrl s premiere contesting journal. Power, grounding, bonding, and audio for ham radio safety. Unexplained noise can creep into station systems where ground systems develop high resistance or noisy connections to ground due to corrosion and. Arrls grounding and bonding for the radio amateur 0659. Antenna discharge units usually are located outside the building. These are slides for my talk at pacificon about transmitting chokes for the 630m band.
Amateur radio station grounding and lightning protection. Its excellent, very informative, an easy read, and probably the best book for hams on the topic right now. Arrl handbook, arrl antenna book grounding and bonding for the radio amateur nec handbook at your library standards and guidelines for communication sites motorola r56 available online lightning protection for the amateur station ron block, nr2b junjulaug 2002 qst arrl website power, grounding, bonding, and audio for amateur. Bonding is the process of connecting to conductive objects together. Arrl technical grounding and bonding for the radio. Grounding every down conductor must connect to a grounding electrode. I did a presentation on grounding and bonding at hamfesters last friday night 20190906 using this book and gave a way a copy. Antenna system bonding and grounding requirements in the. Grounding, bonding, safety, rfi by bill mader, k8te high desert. Arrl handbook, arrl antenna book grounding and bonding for the radio amateur. Build out your ham radio station with effective grounding and bonding techniques. Jan 24, 2021 before you proceed further i strongly suggest you get a copy of arrl grounding and bonding for radio amateurs. John, wa5mlf, won the arrl grounding and bonding book pat, k5ahe, won a baofeng ht steve, wa5fkf, won a baofeng ht 5 2017 service aw ards. Grounding and bonding for the average ham amateur radio.
Electrical power system for safety single point ground at the. Braid should also be used for bonding in highvibration environments, but thats not necessary for most ham shacks, even mobile installations. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Antenna system bonding and grounding requirements in the usa. Grounding and bonding means that conductive parts are connected together and to the earth. This is a complex and controversial forum topic that everyone has an opinion on and loves to debate. Safety grounding wire should be equal or heavier than the hot wire goal is to trip breakerfuse if short to chassis dont rely on the white neutral wire alone for safety ground woven braid is usually ok for this as long as its indoors or temporary, and in good shape i still dont like woven braid. Requirements for a concrete encased electrode, if used, are listed as follows iec 623053, nfpa 702017, and nfpa 780. Connect a 6inch bare copper or green 12 or 14 awg wire to the grounding terminal on the gfci.
Alpha delta f connector coaxial cable surge protectors att3g50f. Grounding design arrl grounding and bonding where to locate or relocate your station identify what to protect xcvrs, tuner, ps, computer, catv, telephone, electrical panel spgp single point ground panel ground rod system think like lightning. The jumpers are all short and direct, keeping the equpment bonded together at rf. Im grounding the chassis to ground with a ground wire. Arrl grounding and bonding for the radio amateur by ward silver, n0ax. Contents preface about arrl chapter 1 introduction 1. Bonding to a conventional ground rod or a copper pipe alternative should be of good electrical quality and above ground, outside connections should be weatherproofed as much as possible. Austin texas six meter bbq six meter bbq austin texas. This time it is about grounding, bonding, and eliminating hum, buzz, and rfi. Grounding for ac safety has several names equipment ground, thirdwire ground, greenwire ground keep ground connections lowresistance purpose is twofold provides a path to ac common point for fault current shorts, leakage stabilizes the ac power voltage during faults or transients, such as lightning ac safety grounding. For lightning protection and bonding earth connections together, use heavy wire or strap to minimize imped. Power system bonding it should be noted that the nec strongly prohibits use of the grounding conductor the green wire to carry load current, and prohibits bonding neutral to the ground conductor at more than one point the service entrance, or the secondary of a distribution transformer.
Grounding and bonding for the radio amateur by ward silver, n0ax, is now available from arrl. Here are a list of technical articles on grounding and. Grounding and bonding for the radio amateur learning the terms if you arent familiar with the how and why of amateur sta tion ground systems, you can read up on the subject. Options for grounding from the 2nd floor qrz forums. Grounding and bonding grounding is the process of connecting a system, equipment, or both to the earth. Grounding, bonding, safety, rfi by bill mader, k8te. They can be easily mounted for the most effective grounding wit. Build your ham radio station with effective grounding and bonding techniques for electrical safety, lightning protection, and rf management. In most cases, copperclad steel grounding rods are driven 10 feet into the ground, and must be located at least 2 feet out. Rf news baton rouge amateur radio club amateur radio, the. Apr 01, 2018 arrl s grounding and bonding for the radio amateur explains why proper station grounding is so important.
Arrl grounding and bonding for the radio amateur is written on the lines of a model code of practice solely for the north american radio amateur, it is not suitable for use by the average british radio amateur in the context of the current gb building regulations. Arrl handbook, arrl antenna book nec handbook at your library, any recent edition lightning protection for the amateur station ron block, nr2b junjulaug 2002 qst arrl website, available to the public not just members power, grounding, bonding, and audio for amateur radio and rfi, ferrites, and. Arrl grounding and bonding for the radio amateur tia 607b motorola r56 ieee is an association of professionals. Bonding networks for buildings and other structures ges also known as bonding equalizer must be made every other 3 floors and the top floor. If the box has a grounding terminal, also connect a similar wire to the grounding terminal on the box. Aug 04, 2020 recommend arrl grounding and bonding book. Connect the grounding wires as shown above only if there is a grounding wire. Series of articles on grounding on the hard core dx website. This is a brand new cookbook for transmitting chokes for 16010m. Mar 03, 2021 i suggest you ask the forum administrator if your post can be permanently pinned to the top of the page. Bonding bus ac safety ground house exterior service entrance ground bond if near the service entrance ac power service antenna cables antenna cables phone service heavy bonding conductor tower grounding system conductor extends to all earth connections ham radio equipment entry panel ac power panel cable tv service ground rod. I found that the problems with my generatorinverter appeared to be dominated by radiation problems. Grounding and bonding for the radio amateur kindle edition by inc. The arrl has a number of relevant publications including grounding and bonding.
Jun 16, 2018 nec on grounding ground neutral at breaker panel only tie all grounds to a single point inspect at least annually. References canadian electrical code ieee emerald book arrl grounding and bonding for the radio amateur tia 607b motorola r56 ieee is an association of professionals. Electrical inspectors publication, soares book on grounding and bonding, 9th edition, for added information. The manufacturers manual should show you where to connect ground conductors. Arrl, the national association for amateur radio 225 main street newington, ct, 061111400 usa tel. Grounding presentation wb8vsu jim dara thursday night. This book validated what i knew and taught me many new things when it comes to bonding and grounding. But in the end, the arrl book is a pretty good and practical reference to follow. Mar 01, 2021 second step, read the arrl book on grounding and bonding before you do anything permanent. They are not dcblocked, so they will pass control and power voltages in applications requiring the coaxial cable to carry both rf and dc voltage.
The links below are out of my presentation at the dara meeting january 6, 2018 actually friday january 5, 2018. Grounding presentation wb8vsu jim dara thursday night group. Arrl handbook, arrl antenna book nec handbook at your library standards and guidelines for communication sites motorola r56 available online lightning protection for the amateur station ron block, nr2b junjulaug 2002 qst arrl website power, grounding, bonding, and audio for amateur radio and. Your polyphaser or similar lightning surge protector also attaches to the copper plate. Reference books arrls grounding and bonding for the radio. Grounding and bonding for the radio amateur dokumen. Youll learn effective grounding and bonding techniques for home stations, including condos and apartments, portable and temporary stations, as well as towers and outside antennas. I have similar situation to yours and because of that went with the designvet route. Arrl publication grounding and bonding for the radio amateur, by n0ax.
This is a new applications note summarizing my work on chokes and transformers for receiving antennas. An essential book for understanding and implementing grounding and bonding an amateur radio station. The actual voltage clamping device often is a gastube element figure 5. Arrl s grounding and bonding for the radio amateur explains why proper station grounding is so important. Grounding and bonding for the radio amateur 1, inc. Jim brown, k9yc, sent this photo of grounding jumpers green wires in the back of a nice portable station built by glen brown, w6gjb, for the california qso party. The book brings together material from numerous amateur radio and industry sources to present a comprehensive picture of basic grounding and bonding. Understanding shack grounding and bonding in your house see also station grounds and. Lightning protection is a safe investment for any station. Mar 28, 2019 grounding and bonding for vhf shacks tim duffy, k3lr, coo dx engineering enhancing your 6 meter shack experience with the latest technology bob naumann, w5ov, sales manager dx engineering strategies for setting up and operating your vhf station for contesting george fremin, k5tr.
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