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#1
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Best ground source for SSB on board
We have an Icom IC-745 on board. This boat is new to me, so I'm trying
to figure out how everything is installed, and if the status quo can or should be changed/improved What is the best place to connect to ground? Right now, the radio is not grounded (at least their is nothing connected to the ground plug on the back of the radio) Not sure if it matters, but it is equipped with a microprocessor controlled auto-tuner, connected to the backstay. Thanks, Mike. |
#2
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ICOM has a complete guide to SSB installation including grounding
on their website. Has alot of good tips. Doug, k3qt s/v Callista "beaufortnc" wrote in message oups.com... We have an Icom IC-745 on board. This boat is new to me, so I'm trying to figure out how everything is installed, and if the status quo can or should be changed/improved What is the best place to connect to ground? Right now, the radio is not grounded (at least their is nothing connected to the ground plug on the back of the radio) Not sure if it matters, but it is equipped with a microprocessor controlled auto-tuner, connected to the backstay. Thanks, Mike. |
#3
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"beaufortnc" wrote in
oups.com: What is the best place to connect to ground? Right now, the radio is not grounded (at least their is nothing connected to the ground plug on the back of the radio) The most important ground is the ground on the HF antenna tuner, which is actually part of the antenna, itself. AS we'er talking about RF ground, not DC, what you're trying to do is connect the little ground screw on the tuner to the ocean. Anything you can do to make that happens improves the antenna's efficiency. The path needs to be as short as possible WITH THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF TURNS, please! Don't make any sharp bends going around things, just to make it look neat. RF doesn't like to make sharp corners. The other problem is getting an RF ground on it that isn't simply eaten in a few months by the salt. A copper strap soon turns green, then disintegrates, making an awful mess on the gelcoat wherever it is near. A stainless strap, bolted to the engine block's stainless bolts, makes a good connection, that isn't eaten, and doesn't make a galvanic battery down in the bilge where that stainless bolt is. The wider the strap, the better the ground, but you have to be reasonable, of course. It's all a compromise. If you have the tuner located near SOLID, not cabled, safety rails, don't hesitate to connect them to the ground post, too, as it adds to the overall ground plane effect at radio frequencies. Cabled handrails, don't connect them as the cables make intermittent connections and noise in your receiver, screwing up the tuning on transmit, too. If the tuner is well grounded, ground the radio as you like. It makes little difference. I don't even have a ground on our M-802 at the nav station. I'd rather EMP from lightning take the path through the tuner's arc gap and down the tuner's ground strap, than a secondary path down the control and coax cables into the transceiver, itself. I've never had a radio that was grounded, other than through the DC power cable. |
#4
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"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message ... ICOM has a complete guide to SSB installation including grounding on their website. Has alot of good tips. Doug, k3qt s/v Callista "beaufortnc" wrote in message oups.com... We have an Icom IC-745 on board. This boat is new to me, so I'm trying to figure out how everything is installed, and if the status quo can or should be changed/improved What is the best place to connect to ground? Right now, the radio is not grounded (at least their is nothing connected to the ground plug on the back of the radio) Not sure if it matters, but it is equipped with a microprocessor controlled auto-tuner, connected to the backstay. Thanks, Mike. Yes, Icom has a PDF document on grounding. I think I found it on the Icom-Japan website. They seem to have different documents stored at different country websites. |
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