GROUNDING HF RADIO

A place to discuss the HF and Shortwave listening side of the radio hobby. Discuss equipment, frequencies and antenna systems etc. Anything HF!
Post Reply
gerald123
Super Member
Super Member
Posts: 365
Joined: 12 Feb 2009, 00:05

GROUNDING HF RADIO

Post by gerald123 »

hi lads......my radio shack is in my bedroom ie , second floor ...the trouble is I am trying to get a good earth on my hf set my antenna is a 75 foot long wire running from the top of my garden down to the bottom ....I have tried running a earth wire out of the window down to a earth spike in the garden the earth wire is 15 feet from radio to the spike with no difirense to audio, by audio I meen a lot of static and humming. I made dipoles up for the frequencies that I like to monitor ,and they work well.but now I like to listen to a lot of difirent stations .I did think of making a fan dipole but haven't got around to it yet .and the way the weather has been lately I would like to put a good ground on my radio for safety and better audio if I can..........it is detting a pain to leave the radio on it the backround just to here the static and humming while waiting for a station to come alive.. :yawn:
Mattylad
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 1536
Joined: 03 May 2014, 20:09
Call Sign: RDX64
Location: Lancashire

Re: GROUNDING HF RADIO

Post by Mattylad »

AFAIK 1 earth spike is not enough, you need more - bury a tin bath etc :)

How thick is your earth wire?
rogerbeep
Super Member
Super Member
Posts: 123
Joined: 18 Nov 2013, 00:24
Call Sign: 20TM896

Re: GROUNDING HF RADIO

Post by rogerbeep »

Ideally, you should earth the antenna and the radio set separately.
More important than the earth wire diameter is the area of the earthing material you put in the ground.
2-2.5 meters of fairly large copper tube is one of the best, but not always achievable due to ground conditions. Alternatively you can use other rods or tubes, a lot of buried wire radials or a type of metal mesh.

Earthing only the radio may end up in noise and/or static discharges from the antenna into the radio (, or you when touching the center piece at the coax).
The antenna probably need earth more than the radio, since just a tad of wind will set up static charges in the antenna.
Longwire antennas without proper earth connection may damage the radio set, if you don't disconnect after use and discharge before use.

You can also improve the signal/noice ratio for the longwire by adding a 9:1 balun to the system.
The receiving capacities at my SWL setup increased noticeably after adding a balun and earth wire to the antenna.

Example showing a typical setup:
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/pi ... ystem1.jpg

An interesting guide to improve the capabilities for your longwire antenna, including baluns and earth:
http://setxac.com/wp-content/uploads/20 ... ntenna.pdf
TRX:
Icom 7300 / 706 mk II / 735 - Alinco DR-135DX - President Grant mk II / Jackson mk I - CRT SS9900 / One - Anytone AT300M
Icom ID 51E - QYT KT-8900 - Icom F4SR / 28H - Baofeng UV-5R / 888S

Uniden UBC 780 XLT - Icom R5 / PCR-100 - RTL2832U/R820T + Ham It Up v1.2 - NESDR SMArt
gerald123
Super Member
Super Member
Posts: 365
Joined: 12 Feb 2009, 00:05

Re: GROUNDING HF RADIO

Post by gerald123 »

Mattylad wrote:AFAIK 1 earth spike is not enough, you need more - bury a tin bath etc :)

How thick is your earth wire?
Thanks for reply, the earth wire is what the plummer used to plum my boiler in ,it is fairly thick.....sory I can't be more prosise.
ChrisCSL
Banned
Banned
Posts: 2247
Joined: 27 Feb 2013, 16:15
Location: Workington, Cumbrian Coast

Re: GROUNDING HF RADIO

Post by ChrisCSL »

Like rogerbeep says, it would make life a hell of a lot easier if you could first run the coax down from your bedroom to ground level, then run the antenna against earth as an Inverted 'L'.

As for the noise ... well monopoles are noisy. There are 'countermeasures', but cross that bridge when you come to it.
gerald123
Super Member
Super Member
Posts: 365
Joined: 12 Feb 2009, 00:05

Re: GROUNDING HF RADIO

Post by gerald123 »

rogerbeep wrote:Ideally, you should earth the antenna and the radio set separately.
More important than the earth wire diameter is the area of the earthing material you put in the ground.
2-2.5 meters of fairly large copper tube is one of the best, but not always achievable due to ground conditions. Alternatively you can use other rods or tubes, a lot of buried wire radials or a type of metal mesh.

Earthing only the radio may end up in noise and/or static discharges from the antenna into the radio (, or you when touching the center piece at the coax).
The antenna probably need earth more than the radio, since just a tad of wind will set up static charges in the antenna.
Longwire antennas without proper earth connection may damage the radio set, if you don't disconnect after use and discharge before use.

You can also improve the signal/noice ratio for the longwire by adding a 9:1 balun to the system.
The receiving capacities at my SWL setup increased noticeably after adding a balun and earth wire to the antenna.

Example showing a typical setup:
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/pi ... ystem1.jpg

An interesting guide to improve the capabilities for your longwire antenna, including baluns and earth:
http://setxac.com/wp-content/uploads/20 ... ntenna.pdf
thank you for the links.......some good reading there.
Post Reply