Ground connection on a DX Engineering balun - what's best with my loop?

[VK7JB]

        Hello Group,

Apologies if this is too far off topic, but I have a question about
ground connection on a DX Engineering balun.

I have an 80m horizontal loop, fed with 300 ohm ladder line.  I use
this multiband.  The ladderline ends just outside the shack at a DX
Engineering 1:1 current balun, which has an aluminium case.  A 6 foot
length of RG213 then leaves the balun and passes through the shack
wall to the coax connector on the back of an unbalanced Palstar manual
tuner.  The tuner chassis is connected to station ground (bonded to
AC safety ground) via a direct wire, through the wall to a ground rod
less than 3 feet away.

On the balun case, there is a stud and wingnut to allow the
unbalanced  side of the balun (coax shield)  to be connected to
station ground.

A warning in the DXE balun manual states that the ground stud on its
case should not be connected to "antenna ground".  In my situation,
I'm not sure whether the coax on the shield between the balun and
tuner is considered to be part of the "antenna ground" and should
therefore  NOT be connected to station ground?

So my question is:

Should I connect the balun, via the case stud, directly to station
ground?  (The ground rod is only 2 feet below the balun, right
outside the shack.)

Or do I leave my current configuration, where station ground is
connected to the tuner chassis.

Thanks for any advice.

73
John
VK7JB


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[Don Wilhelm-4]

John,

I would interpret "antenna ground" to be something in the antenna
system, such as a radial system.
Yes, connect the grounding stud to your ground rod outside the house.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/20/2012 9:47 AM, [hidden email] wrote:

> On the balun case, there is a stud and wingnut to allow the
> unbalanced  side of the balun (coax shield)  to be connected to
> station ground.
>
> A warning in the DXE balun manual states that the ground stud on its
> case should not be connected to "antenna ground".  In my situation,
> I'm not sure whether the coax on the shield between the balun and
> tuner is considered to be part of the "antenna ground" and should
> therefore  NOT be connected to station ground?
>
> So my question is:
>
> Should I connect the balun, via the case stud, directly to station
> ground?  (The ground rod is only 2 feet below the balun, right
> outside the shack.)
>
>

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[Vic Rosenthal]

The stud and the coax shield are connected together. So grounding the stud outside is just
another ground path for the station ground.

The warning about the "antenna ground" means that two halves of an antenna should be
connected to the two insulated connectors and not to the station ground. If you were to
connect one of the insulated connectors to the stud, it would bypass the isolation
provided by the balun, defeating its purpose.

On 9/20/2012 6:47 AM, [hidden email] wrote:

>
>
> Hello Group,
>
> Apologies if this is too far off topic, but I have a question about
> ground connection on a DX Engineering balun.
>
> I have an 80m horizontal loop, fed with 300 ohm ladder line.  I use
> this multiband.  The ladderline ends just outside the shack at a DX
> Engineering 1:1 current balun, which has an aluminium case.  A 6 foot
> length of RG213 then leaves the balun and passes through the shack
> wall to the coax connector on the back of an unbalanced Palstar manual
> tuner.  The tuner chassis is connected to station ground (bonded to
> AC safety ground) via a direct wire, through the wall to a ground rod
> less than 3 feet away.
>
> On the balun case, there is a stud and wingnut to allow the
> unbalanced  side of the balun (coax shield)  to be connected to
> station ground.
>
> A warning in the DXE balun manual states that the ground stud on its
> case should not be connected to "antenna ground".  In my situation,
> I'm not sure whether the coax on the shield between the balun and
> tuner is considered to be part of the "antenna ground" and should
> therefore  NOT be connected to station ground?
>
> So my question is:
>
> Should I connect the balun, via the case stud, directly to station
> ground?  (The ground rod is only 2 feet below the balun, right
> outside the shack.)
>
> Or do I leave my current configuration, where station ground is
> connected to the tuner chassis.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> 73
> John
> VK7JB
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

--
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
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