K9YC writes: > There is no problem with V- bonded at load equipment (the rig). The problem > is bonding at the power supply, and that is EASY to fix > -- indeed, many (most?) power supplies are built either with V- NOT bonded, > or with nothing chassis-referenced and a removable jumper > at the output. All Astron supplied I've looked at are built this way -- > indeed, all I've looked at had the bond to the mounting stud of terminal > strip that was insulated from the chassis by paint. So they were NOT bonded, > and neither was the green wire, which went to the same lug.
My observations of Astron ground wiring are similar to yours but I come to a different conclusion. The V- goes to the terminal strip lug and the terminal strip lug is attached to painted chassis by screw, but I would assume that this makes a poor and intermittent connection between V- and chassis ground. "Insulated by paint" seems like a very poor idea. It's like someone thought "my boss told me to do this, I don't think I it should be done, and if it isn't worth doing then it isn't worth doing well" :-) Lifting the ground connection to V- is a very common modification to Astrons and some sources (e.g. http://www.repeater-builder.com/astron/astron-intro-stuff.html ) tell me that Astron has vacillated between grounding V- to cabinet and not grounding and isolating it with 3K ohm resistor over the years. Tim N3QE _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
