elecraft@mailman.qth.net

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elecraft@mailman.qth.net

Jan Ditzian
I hope that this is the last message in this thread, although I suspect
that there will be a bunch of I-told-you-so's.  I resolved the RFI and
distortion problem with my 67 foot vertical on 75/80 meters.  The
difficulty was, as some suggested, with the station ground.  I should
have realized that 20 years of a wire clamped to a copper rod exposed to
the elements would probably result in some oxidation.  I removed the
clamp and used steel wool to scour the rod, the inside of the clamp, and
the wire (I do not remember the exact size, but it is substantially
larger than #10).  I put everything back and now I no longer have audio
oscillation nor spikes on the SB-610 scope.

When I first put things back together, I forgot to ground the K3 itself,
but the audio was clean.  I suspect that the corroded ground acted as a
semiconductor that detected the RF.  Anyway, the purists among you can
relax, I attached the ground to the K3 and it still works.

In my usual fashion, I chased down the cheap solutions before the costly
ones.  At this point, I am using the 50 ohm feedline with the commercial
1:1 balun, but, weather permitting, I may try the hardline and chokes
again (cheaper that way).

I want to thank the many hams who responded to my call for help and gave
me plenty to chew on.  I especially want to thank Joe, Phil, and Bob,
although everyone's input helped.

Happy Thanksgiving, good DX, and GL in CQWW,

Jan, KX2A

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Re: elecraft@mailman.qth.net

Bill-3
Your problem would have never occurred to me. I check all antenna
connections and ground connections each fall. This includes the service
ground for the house. No details on the how it is done - I will leave
that to the relector's abounding experts.

Suffice to say, a poor ground can not only spoil your ham radio
experience - it can burn your house down. Also: Good practice and the
NEC says ALL grounds must be bonded together.

Bill W2BLC K-Line



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