Scott,
There is no real need to ground the K2 itself. Ground the antenna
feedline shield for a better installation. The K2 would be grounded
through that coax connection.
I could go on and on about grounding, but in a nutshell, there are 3
types of grounds to consider:
1) AC Safety Ground - the K2 does not need one - but an AC power supply
should. A proper 3 wire household outlet should have this ground
connected to the mains entry point ground.
2) Lightning Surge ground - your antennas should have adequate
protection from lightning surges, but that requires an extensive
grounding system (see the PolyPhaser website for information).
IMPORTANT - any added ground system or ground rod MUST be connected to
the Utility Entry point ground rod with a heavy wire - #6 or larger
(required by NEC and important to protect you and your equipment should
an AC ground fault occur).
3) RF Ground - this one is a "horse of a different color". It is
unlikely that you will achieve an RF ground by making a connection to
Mother Earth - any wire you run off to a ground rod will be an odd
mulitple of a quarter-wave long at some frequencies, and will present a
high impedance at those frequencies (this is exactly the opposite of an
RF Ground). RF will seek its own zero-voltage (or ground point)
somewhere in the antenna system - for example, that point will be at the
midpoint of a balanced radiator. You challenge is to control the RF
Ground within your antenna system to avoid conducting RF back to the shack.
If you install a KAT2 or KAT100 or KPA100, there is a grounding terminal
provided on each of those options should you wish to attach a ground
wire. For the basic K2, one could add a ground terminal to the hole in
the top cover (the one that will be used for the KAT2 ground).
73,
Don W3FPR
Scott McDowell wrote:
Hello
Has anyone ever felt the need to ground their K2, and if so, where did you
connect the ground wire to the K2?
Thanks
Scott
N5SM
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