Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Matt Murphy]

I'm in the process of setting up my station in a new QTH and plan to
install a station ground at the cable entrance.

Tom, is there a best practice for bonding to the mains ground? Any
approaches to avoid?

73,
Matt NQ6N

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 7:07 AM, Tom W8JI  wrote:

> I have and electrician coming next week who says he will check things out
>> and first of all ground the breaker panel to two ground rods 7 feet apart.
>> I thought the grounding was put at the meter but he says they don't do that
>> anymore. I think the old meter, before we had the new one put in had a
>> ground rod beneath it but nothing now. The only ground I could find to the
>> panel is a skimpy wire going to a water line. All of which looks corroded
>> etc.. I know many dollars were spent on renovation and restoration of this
>> place but I'm afraid to much emphasis was placed on cosmetic and not enough
>> on electrical as I look more closely, pretty depressing. >
>>
>
> Jim,
>
> Just keep in mind when  you do the work, the quality of the house ground
> to earth is far less important than having everything entering the house
> being bonded to act like one common point.
>
> One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the decades
> has been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance ground
> non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an independent
> ground.
>
> The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything entering
> the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.
>
> Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things much
> safer and more reliable.
>
> 73 Tom
> _
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>
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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Tom W8JI]

I have and electrician coming next week who says he will check things out 
and first of all ground the breaker panel to two ground rods 7 feet apart. 
I thought the grounding was put at the meter but he says they don't do that 
anymore. I think the old meter, before we had the new one put in had a 
ground rod beneath it but nothing now. The only ground I could find to the 
panel is a skimpy wire going to a water line. All of which looks corroded 
etc.. I know many dollars were spent on renovation and restoration of this 
place but I'm afraid to much emphasis was placed on cosmetic and not enough 
on electrical as I look more closely, pretty depressing. >


Jim,

Just keep in mind when  you do the work, the quality of the house ground to 
earth is far less important than having everything entering the house being 
bonded to act like one common point.


One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the decades has 
been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance ground 
non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an independent 
ground.


The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything entering 
the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.


Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things much 
safer and more reliable.


73 Tom 


_
Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband

Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Dan Edward Dba East edwards]

I, for one, wonder how good my service entrance ground is...mine is probably 20 
years old, and while the top looks ok, there's no way to know what's going on 
down 4, 6 and 8 feet...my utlities are underground, if that means anything...
as a starting point, should a guy drive a new one? or 2 or 3, spaced some 
distance apart?
( gosh, top band sounds lousy this fall, for me, anyway...sigs are well down 
from normal strength..)
73, w5xz, dan
 


 On Thursday, October 29, 2015 8:17 AM, Matt Murphy  wrote:
   

 I'm in the process of setting up my station in a new QTH and plan to
install a station ground at the cable entrance.

Tom, is there a best practice for bonding to the mains ground? Any
approaches to avoid?

73,
Matt NQ6N

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 7:07 AM, Tom W8JI  wrote:

> I have and electrician coming next week who says he will check things out
>> and first of all ground the breaker panel to two ground rods 7 feet apart.
>> I thought the grounding was put at the meter but he says they don't do that
>> anymore. I think the old meter, before we had the new one put in had a
>> ground rod beneath it but nothing now. The only ground I could find to the
>> panel is a skimpy wire going to a water line. All of which looks corroded
>> etc.. I know many dollars were spent on renovation and restoration of this
>> place but I'm afraid to much emphasis was placed on cosmetic and not enough
>> on electrical as I look more closely, pretty depressing. >
>>
>
> Jim,
>
> Just keep in mind when  you do the work, the quality of the house ground
> to earth is far less important than having everything entering the house
> being bonded to act like one common point.
>
> One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the decades
> has been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance ground
> non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an independent
> ground.
>
> The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything entering
> the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.
>
> Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things much
> safer and more reliable.
>
> 73 Tom
> _
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>
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Topband: interconnecting cables

[Art Snapper]

I am curious about terminating RG-6 cable connections in the ham shack.

I have been using several types of adapters, i.e. F female to BNC male,  F
female to UHF male, or F female to RCA.

I have not been overly impressed with these adapters from either an
electrical or mechanical viewpoint.

Is there a preferred method for termination, like soldering a PL-259 on
RG-6?

I like using the F connectors on the receive side, to prevent damage caused
by user error.



73
Art NK8X



ᐧ
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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Dave Blaschke, w5un]

I have driven copper ground rods in about ten years ago, then wrapped a 
couple turns of #4 wire around the top and soldered that to the rod 
using plumbers solder. These connections are as good today as the day I 
soldered them. Plumbers solder works very well outdoors for me. I use it 
on everything outdoors now.


Dave, W5UN

On 10/29/2015 2:43 PM, Paul Christensen wrote:

That's one reason why I like to augment a NEC-required mechanical connection 
with silver-solder.  The mechanical connection will degrade with time but it 
will take significantly longer for a silver-soldered connection to degrade, 
absent some really acidic soil condition.

Local code here now requires two (2) grounding electrodes at the service entrance spaced 
to cover the "sphere of influence."  That means two eight-foot rods require 16 
ft. spacing.  As I recall, the 2008 issue of NEC allows one electrode if one can 
demonstrate 25-ohms earthing resistance.Not sure if that's still true with the newest 
NEC changes.   But what measures 25 ohms today may measure a lot higher as time goes by.

Paul, W9AC

-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Edward 
Dba East edwards
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2015 10:28 AM
To: Matt Murphy ; Tom W8JI 
Cc: Jim Murray ; low bad reflector 
Subject: Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

I, for one, wonder how good my service entrance ground is...mine is probably 20 
years old, and while the top looks ok, there's no way to know what's going on 
down 4, 6 and 8 feet...my utlities are underground, if that means anything...
as a starting point, should a guy drive a new one? or 2 or 3, spaced some 
distance apart?
( gosh, top band sounds lousy this fall, for me, anyway...sigs are well down 
from normal strength..) 73, w5xz, dan
  



  On Thursday, October 29, 2015 8:17 AM, Matt Murphy  wrote:



  I'm in the process of setting up my station in a new QTH and plan to install 
a station ground at the cable entrance.

Tom, is there a best practice for bonding to the mains ground? Any approaches 
to avoid?

73,
Matt NQ6N

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 7:07 AM, Tom W8JI  wrote:


I have and electrician coming next week who says he will check things
out

and first of all ground the breaker panel to two ground rods 7 feet apart.
I thought the grounding was put at the meter but he says they don't
do that anymore. I think the old meter, before we had the new one put
in had a ground rod beneath it but nothing now. The only ground I
could find to the panel is a skimpy wire going to a water line. All
of which looks corroded etc.. I know many dollars were spent on
renovation and restoration of this place but I'm afraid to much
emphasis was placed on cosmetic and not enough on electrical as I
look more closely, pretty depressing. >


Jim,

Just keep in mind when  you do the work, the quality of the house
ground to earth is far less important than having everything entering
the house being bonded to act like one common point.

One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the
decades has been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance
ground non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an
independent ground.

The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything
entering the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.

Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things
much safer and more reliable.

73 Tom
_
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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Paul Christensen]

That's one reason why I like to augment a NEC-required mechanical connection 
with silver-solder.  The mechanical connection will degrade with time but it 
will take significantly longer for a silver-soldered connection to degrade, 
absent some really acidic soil condition.

Local code here now requires two (2) grounding electrodes at the service 
entrance spaced to cover the "sphere of influence."  That means two eight-foot 
rods require 16 ft. spacing.  As I recall, the 2008 issue of NEC allows one 
electrode if one can demonstrate 25-ohms earthing resistance.Not sure if 
that's still true with the newest NEC changes.   But what measures 25 ohms 
today may measure a lot higher as time goes by.

Paul, W9AC 

-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Edward 
Dba East edwards
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2015 10:28 AM
To: Matt Murphy ; Tom W8JI 
Cc: Jim Murray ; low bad reflector 
Subject: Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

I, for one, wonder how good my service entrance ground is...mine is probably 20 
years old, and while the top looks ok, there's no way to know what's going on 
down 4, 6 and 8 feet...my utlities are underground, if that means anything...
as a starting point, should a guy drive a new one? or 2 or 3, spaced some 
distance apart?
( gosh, top band sounds lousy this fall, for me, anyway...sigs are well down 
from normal strength..) 73, w5xz, dan
 


 On Thursday, October 29, 2015 8:17 AM, Matt Murphy  wrote:
   

 I'm in the process of setting up my station in a new QTH and plan to install a 
station ground at the cable entrance.

Tom, is there a best practice for bonding to the mains ground? Any approaches 
to avoid?

73,
Matt NQ6N

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 7:07 AM, Tom W8JI  wrote:

> I have and electrician coming next week who says he will check things 
> out
>> and first of all ground the breaker panel to two ground rods 7 feet apart.
>> I thought the grounding was put at the meter but he says they don't 
>> do that anymore. I think the old meter, before we had the new one put 
>> in had a ground rod beneath it but nothing now. The only ground I 
>> could find to the panel is a skimpy wire going to a water line. All 
>> of which looks corroded etc.. I know many dollars were spent on 
>> renovation and restoration of this place but I'm afraid to much 
>> emphasis was placed on cosmetic and not enough on electrical as I 
>> look more closely, pretty depressing. >
>>
>
> Jim,
>
> Just keep in mind when  you do the work, the quality of the house 
> ground to earth is far less important than having everything entering 
> the house being bonded to act like one common point.
>
> One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the 
> decades has been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance 
> ground non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an 
> independent ground.
>
> The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything 
> entering the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.
>
> Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things 
> much safer and more reliable.
>
> 73 Tom
> _
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>
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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

I seem to recall that one of the arguments against soldering ground rod
attachments was that a lightning strike would first evaporate the solder
and then burn the connection. This would create a period during the strike
when it was not firmly connected and far more resistive. That in turn
elevates the potential for damage.

That is why one is supposed to use sturdy clamping, or various schemes that
form the connection by sufficient heat to melt the copper together.

I've not heard anyone talk about doing a proper clamp, and then protecting
the proper clamping by silver soldering over it all. The obvious
disadvantage is that changing out the connection becomes interesting, as in
replacing the ground rod.

I loosen, clean and then retighten my #4 copper wire to ground rod
connections periodically.

In my years as a fireman and fire commissioner, I saw many lightning
started fires where grounding turned out to be damaged, aged, sometimes not
to current code and ineffective, or simply missing altogether. The worst
outcome in ignoring proper grounding is a lot worse than damaged radio
equipment. I personally never saw a fatality for that, but others of my
firefighting brethren did.

I also will underline the stories told here about discovered problems in
house grounding and electrical wiring. One of my sons bought an old house,
inspected by a building inspector that he paid for as part of the mortgage
process, that later turned out to be missing the neutral connection from
the pole transformer, and was using the iron natural gas pipe as both the
ground and neutral connection. (!)  That was discovered when I went
over there to discover the reasons for various mysterious lamp dimmings,
etc. The power company was there instantly when we told them that the
neutral connection was simply MISSING at the house.

Don't take grounding for granted. KNOW for sure that all your outlet wiring
is correct with one of those little plug in testers, and do not short cut
on grounding.

73, Guy K2AV

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 11:54 AM, Dave Blaschke, w5un  wrote:

> I have driven copper ground rods in about ten years ago, then wrapped a
> couple turns of #4 wire around the top and soldered that to the rod using
> plumbers solder. These connections are as good today as the day I soldered
> them. Plumbers solder works very well outdoors for me. I use it on
> everything outdoors now.
>
> Dave, W5UN
>
_
Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband

Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Paul Christensen]

*  ”I've not heard anyone talk about doing a proper clamp, and then protecting 
the proper clamping by silver soldering over it all. The obvious disadvantage 
is that changing out the connection becomes interesting, as in replacing the 
ground rod.



Not sure how you reached that conclusion.   I’m referring to a silver-soldered 
bypass of a mechanical clamp with copper strap.  The strap starts some inches 
away from the clamp, then reforms around it.  The clamp remains unsoldered and 
connected as per NEC and the manufacturer’s connection procedure.

 

Paul, W9AC

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Re: Topband: [Bulk] Re: RFI - and lots of it

[Grant Saviers]

Recently I put up a big new tower and a ground system for it and learned 
a few things.


The actual ground conductivity is a bit of a mystery and highly variable 
over short distances, so I bought a clamp on ground resistance measuring 
meter on ebay, a Chinese knockoff for $300.  It was quite informative 
about what was working and what not.  After a short learning curve, it 
worked well and would be a good investment to share within clubs, etc.  
(DY1000A Digital Clamp-on Grounding Earth Resistance Meter Earth 
Tester)  I checked into renting a meter and the one month rental was 
more than $300.


The new code requirement is for #2 awg to the rods from the 
panel/tower.  However after expressing skepticism about why this is 
necessary, I learned that this size conductor is essentially a ground 
rod if down about 10" in the earth as it is essentially a horizontal 
rod, just about as effective (surface area) as pounding a 10' rod into 
the earth.


I started off believing I could drive two 10' x 5/8" rods with couplers 
to 20' depth with a 1.5" capacity Bosch hammer drill with a ground rod 
driver attachment but that was a no go.  I drilled the first 36" of the 
rod position with a rotary bit as we have a hardpan layer at about 12" 
to 24" depth.  Five new rods were 10' and one of 4' when going deeper 
was a no go.  The recommended spacing is 2x the ground rod depth and in 
a star configuration for towers.  The code specified resistance to 
achieve for a tower is less than 10 ohms.  I measured each lead and the 
resistance reduced by an average of 35% from late summer bone dry 
conditions to after about 4" of rain.  8.0 ohms to 5.3 ohms net parallel 
resistance for 5x 10' plus 4x 8' rods.   I believe that much of that 
resistance reduction after 4" of rain was from the #2 horizontal runs, 
about 90' of wire.  So I declared victory, and will measure again 
shortly now that we are well into the rain season here in Redmond, WA. 
and the ground is becoming saturated at depth.


Cadweld "One Time" copper thermite welding is the way to go for 
connecting the ground lead to the rod - good for the life of the rod w/o 
any need for inspection and zero ohms.  They are about $12 a shot from 
your local electrical distributor.  There are many variations of number 
and size of conductors.  They also appeal to any pyro instincts you 
might have.  For problem sites e.g. rock ledges, there are conductive 
concrete mixtures that can be poured around horizontal rods and wire 
leads to dramatically increase the conductive surface area and produce a 
useful ground resistance, but that is not needed at my site.


My reference "far earth ground" for measurements is the Ufer foundation 
of a steel building, about 250' of perimeter concrete. It is impossible 
to measure that resistance since the steel frame connects everything to 
everything, including the service transformer with HV underground 
feeder.  When that transformer was installed the PSE "ground" was the 
concrete vault Ufer, no separate ground rods. I suspect the net of these 
Ufer grounds are less than 1 ohm to the "far earth ground."


While my QTH is in one of the lowest lightning frequency areas of the 
USA, the new tower goes 50' plus over the tree line and is on a ridge, 
so I became a bit paranoid about a strike.  The total investment for the 
ground system was about $850 including the meter.  That seemed like 
reasonable insurance considering the rotators, hardline, controllers, 
and shack equipment dependent on a good ground system.


Grant KZ1W

On 10/29/2015 7:43 AM, Paul Christensen wrote:

That's one reason why I like to augment a NEC-required mechanical connection 
with silver-solder.  The mechanical connection will degrade with time but it 
will take significantly longer for a silver-soldered connection to degrade, 
absent some really acidic soil condition.

Local code here now requires two (2) grounding electrodes at the service entrance spaced 
to cover the "sphere of influence."  That means two eight-foot rods require 16 
ft. spacing.  As I recall, the 2008 issue of NEC allows one electrode if one can 
demonstrate 25-ohms earthing resistance.Not sure if that's still true with the newest 
NEC changes.   But what measures 25 ohms today may measure a lot higher as time goes by.

Paul, W9AC

-Original Message-
From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Edward 
Dba East edwards
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2015 10:28 AM
To: Matt Murphy ; Tom W8JI 
Cc: Jim Murray ; low bad reflector 
Subject: Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

I, for one, wonder how good my service entrance ground is...mine is probably 20 
years old, and while the top looks ok, there's no way to know what's going on 
down 4, 6 and 8 feet...my utlities are underground, if that means anything...
as a starting point, should a guy drive a new one? or 2 or 3, spaced some 
distance 

Re: Topband: interconnecting cables

[Tom W8JI]

I am curious about terminating RG-6 cable connections in the ham shack.

I have been using several types of adapters, i.e. F female to BNC male,  F
female to UHF male, or F female to RCA.



I use F's up to the actual radio stuff, then I am forced to use what the 
radios use. I have a lot less luck with BNC than I do phono connectors. 
BNC's are often a lousy ground connection over time. Unfortunately, radios 
require what the manufacturer uses.


In order of shield reliability over time in common small connectors, I've 
found it is N, UHF, F, phono, and BNC.  For lightning, it is UHF, N, F, 
phono, and BNC. My security system uses BNC and phono, and it is a constant 
issue for having to clean and reseat the BNC connectors. Same with my radio 
gear.


I never have to reseat a UHF,  N, or F.  Very rarely a phono connector 
issue, but they are only indoors. The BNC are a pita, inside or outside.


73 Tom 


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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Tom W8JI]

I have driven copper ground rods in about ten years ago, then wrapped a 
couple turns of #4 wire around the top and soldered that to the rod using 
plumbers solder. These connections are as good today as the day I soldered 
them. Plumbers solder works very well outdoors for me. I use it on 
everything outdoors now.


Dave, W5UN


80 year old broadcast radial systems are still good with silver solder 
connections. My 318ft tower gets whacked all the time and has silver 
soldered connections. They never melt. Even RF radials that augment the 
lightning ground, which are plumbers solder #16, do not get hurt.


The main reason NEC and other codes don't like solder is they don't trust 
people to know how to solder.


Of course the heat is I^2 R  times the time. It isn't just current, it is 
joules.  If the solder connection is good with low resistance, it will not 
get hot.


Also, there is no possible way a rod system could stay anywhere near zero 
volts in a strike. Almost all of the protection to equipment and the house 
itself is by the common point connection of things entering the house 
outside the house.


We certainly need the rods, but most of the protection comes from bonding of 
all things entering the dwelling. Very little of the protection inside the 
dwelling actually comes from the rods.


With a tower or tall structure likely to be hit, the structure ground can be 
a major player. That ground keeps strikes from raising the base voltage so 
much, and reduces common mode into the house grounds. It takes a pretty big 
ground system to not elevate in voltage in hits. A couple rods will not do 
it, even if they ohm just a few ohms at low frequencies.


73 Tom 


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Re: Topband: interconnecting cables

[mstangelo]

They make BNC crimp connectors for RG-6. I've even seen them at Lowes.

Mike N2MS
- Original Message -
From: Art Snapper 
To: 160 
Sent: Thu, 29 Oct 2015 14:49:29 - (UTC)
Subject: Topband: interconnecting cables

I am curious about terminating RG-6 cable connections in the ham shack.

I have been using several types of adapters, i.e. F female to BNC male,  F
female to UHF male, or F female to RCA.

I have not been overly impressed with these adapters from either an
electrical or mechanical viewpoint.

Is there a preferred method for termination, like soldering a PL-259 on
RG-6?

I like using the F connectors on the receive side, to prevent damage caused
by user error.



73
Art NK8X



ᐧ
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Topband: ZD7

[David Raymond]

Just finished a QSO with the ZD7 op on 17 CW.  Kind of interesting, he was 
actually wanting to chat with callers. . .looking for name, location, even 
weather, etc.  Anyway, he said they would be on 160 again later this evening NA 
time.  He wasn't clear about a specific time.

73. . . Dave, W0FLS
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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Dan Edward Dba East edwards]

all my plumbing is copper, hot and cold water, in the slab.  and, i have an 
outside water spigot just a few feet away from my service entrance...should I 
tie it in too ??
just wondering, w5xz, dan
 


 On Thursday, October 29, 2015 1:39 PM, Tom W8JI  wrote:
   

 

>I have driven copper ground rods in about ten years ago, then wrapped a 
>couple turns of #4 wire around the top and soldered that to the rod using 
>plumbers solder. These connections are as good today as the day I soldered 
>them. Plumbers solder works very well outdoors for me. I use it on 
>everything outdoors now.
>
> Dave, W5UN

80 year old broadcast radial systems are still good with silver solder 
connections. My 318ft tower gets whacked all the time and has silver 
soldered connections. They never melt. Even RF radials that augment the 
lightning ground, which are plumbers solder #16, do not get hurt.

The main reason NEC and other codes don't like solder is they don't trust 
people to know how to solder.

Of course the heat is I^2 R  times the time. It isn't just current, it is 
joules.  If the solder connection is good with low resistance, it will not 
get hot.

Also, there is no possible way a rod system could stay anywhere near zero 
volts in a strike. Almost all of the protection to equipment and the house 
itself is by the common point connection of things entering the house 
outside the house.

We certainly need the rods, but most of the protection comes from bonding of 
all things entering the dwelling. Very little of the protection inside the 
dwelling actually comes from the rods.

With a tower or tall structure likely to be hit, the structure ground can be 
a major player. That ground keeps strikes from raising the base voltage so 
much, and reduces common mode into the house grounds. It takes a pretty big 
ground system to not elevate in voltage in hits. A couple rods will not do 
it, even if they ohm just a few ohms at low frequencies.

73 Tom 

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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

It would really be something if in-the-slab copper was floating
electrically. I have seen the copper connected with a heavy wire out of the
slab connected to the ground bus in the main electrical panel. The other
end of the wire came up out of the slab next to the bonding point with the
copper pipe in a weather protected spot.

If there is a question you should get a local licensed electrician who can
check it according to NEC + local practices. Local practices may specify
where and how the pipe is connected to the power ground.

You might want to check if an ohmmeter shows a dead short between the
spicket copper pipe and the power ground.

If it ain't connected, you need to get that fixed right away.

73, Guy K2AV

On Thursday, October 29, 2015, Jim Brown  wrote:

> On Thu,10/29/2015 2:45 PM, Dan Edward Dba East edwards wrote:
>
>> all my plumbing is copper, hot and cold water, in the slab.  and, i have
>> an outside water spigot just a few feet away from my service
>> entrance...should I tie it in too ??
>>
>
> NEC REQUIRES that it be tied in.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
> _
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>


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Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Jim Brown]

On Thu,10/29/2015 2:45 PM, Dan Edward Dba East edwards wrote:

all my plumbing is copper, hot and cold water, in the slab.  and, i have an 
outside water spigot just a few feet away from my service entrance...should I 
tie it in too ??


NEC REQUIRES that it be tied in.

73, Jim K9YC
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Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband

Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it

[Jim Brown]

Exactly right.

NQ6N asked about how to ground his new QTH.  For about ten years, I 
taught classes at trade shows on the topic of power and grounding for 
audio and video contractors. Slides for those sessions are at


http://k9yc.com/InfoComm-PowerSystems2012.pdf
http://k9yc.com/InfoComm-Grounding2012.pdf

An extensive "White Paper" on the topic is at

http://k9yc.com/SurgeXPowerGround.pdf

Earlier in this thread I posted a link to a tutorial I have given at 
Pacificon and at several ham clubs on the topic, this time focused on 
ham installations. I'll post it again. It's exactly what Matt is looking 
for, and it' what any ham ought to be studying carefully.


http://k9yc.com/GroundingAndAudio.pdf

73, Jim K9YC

On Thu,10/29/2015 5:07 AM, Tom W8JI wrote:

Jim,

Just keep in mind when  you do the work, the quality of the house 
ground to earth is far less important than having everything entering 
the house being bonded to act like one common point.


One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the 
decades has been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance 
ground non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an 
independent ground.


The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything 
entering the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.


Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things 
much safer and more reliable.


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