Ham Station Sheet Metal Ground Plane

The individual station equipments already have their own ground reference but when they are interconnected grounding each equipment to the main ground bus as shown in fig 1 creates ground loops.

Ham station sheet metal ground plane.

It is possible to simulate this function by replacing the real earth. Connection to other conductors just under the surface like a metal water pipe is next. 5 we have poorly installed connectors or defective cables. It is found that for a monopole antenna like a quarter wavelength vertical the ground acts as a plane to reflect the radio waves so that an image of the top half of the antenna is seen in the earth.

These are for the rf ground described above. A very large pizza sheet might be around a meter in diameter or iow 50cm in radius. Used under and in back of equipment this 1 16 inch thick pre drilled copper sheet creates an rf reference plane that is typically connected to the existing grounding bus. The ground stake near the house provides a place for the common mode noise current to go far from the antenna where it cannot couple significantly.

I guess what i m simply not clear on is how a mag mount antenna s ground plane is connected electrically. 4 equipment has a design defect. Each time a ground loop is created a small inductive coil is formed the ground wire completes the loop. Consider also that most cars have a coat of paint between the mag mount and the sheet metal.

A ground plane is a reflective metal surface that the signal from an antenna bounces off of to better meet the antenna s design goals. What are the ground counterpoise alternatives to driving an 8 foot metal pole into the ground. Sometimes we set ourselves up for problems without knowing it. 3 the problem is not rf at all but is a dc power supply ground loop back into the audio system.

Why or when is a ham station ground necessary. The ground stake at the base of my inverted l antenna provides a place for the antenna current to flow at a true ground potential relative to the antenna potential. A dependent antenna can become effectively useless without one. Dx engineering radio rf ground plane kits provide an effective method of reducing stray rf pickup by equipment and interconnecting cables.

I live in an apartment and i highly doubt i can do this. A cookie or pizza sheet works fine as a ground plane for a 70cm or even 2m vertical but it s a very small ground plane on 10m or lower bands. Shallow buried radial wires are the best. That s only 05 wavelengths at 30 mhz which is a tiny ground plane.