For RF, you want the lowest possible inductance in the ground lead since inductance has reactance and reactance is what you do *not* want.
For a given length, a bigger conductor has lower inductance. I don't know why full coax would not be as good as just the shield, although it is a lot more bulky. The center conductor is a relatively small wire, so it would not carry nearly as much of the RF current as the outer braid due to its reactance. I'd not expect any benefit from connecting it. There might be a slight advantage to having the braid round (on the coax) rather than flat. I've not investigated that. FWIW, in my installation I run a 100+ foot inverted L that terminates at a shelf in the shack above the rig where I have a large, manual, L-net tuner. All the equipment is tied together and then to ground. I use a sheet of copper mounted on the wall (with thumbtacks) behind the rig and tuner that runs to where the outside ground comes through the wall. The equipment all connects to this copper sheet through short wire pig-tails. Got the copper sheet for a few bucks from a hobby store. It's about twice the thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil and came in a roll several feet long. 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of W8JH Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 11:05 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elecraft] OT- Coax for ground wire? I have learned quite a bit about grounding from K9YC and others on the list over the years and thank you all for making my shack a better place. I have been tying together outside grounds where antennas enter the house back to the service ground as part of my improvements and have run out of heavy wire to do so. I do have some old RG 8X or 213 around and have been thinking about using that for grounding. My questions are: 1. Good idea/bad idea? 2. Should I use just the shield or is there any downside to bonding the shield and center conductor at each end? Thanks in advance for any advice offered. 73, Joe, W8JH K3 1713, KPA 132 -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/OT-Coax-for-ground-wire-tp6917875p69178 75.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
