Crackling 60hz hum three channels in a row, every 4th channel clear as a bell.

[cominatyalive]

Hey guys, thanks for the tips. So Fodendaf, I am sorry to hear you are right beside a cell phone tower. And I thought I had problems.

Just thought I'd pop in here from work. Seems like I live here at times, but I'm rested enough to reply. Thank you for the tips from you also Buttfuzz, But I've already covered the whole house. As in my previous post, I have already sniped out my entire house using an old trick with just a AM transistor radio. You just simply hold the AM radio near the sources and you will hear the noise loud & clear. But it's not the noise that I'm getting in my Radio. That noise I'm afraid, & almost certain now it's interference from the house next door. The household noisemakers, the Fluorescent lamps, my modem and etc, are not traveling that far to enter my radio. As I mentioned, The whole house I turned off. But still the interference as if I did nothing.

I have turned off every ballast & every fluorescent lamp that I have in the house. Yes, every fluorescent lamp gave off a horrible noise. I shut down the whole house except the circuit to my Radio. I have a single dedicated circuit line just for my Radio only. Still the noise.

But I'm afraid your dead on about the neighbors house. It's either the old lady on the left of me, or the guy on the right. I'll put money it's the woman on the left. She lives there with her 89 year old mother. Just the two of them. I wouldn't doubt it for a second that she's got a home security system that would handcuff you, convict you, and lock the cell for you in just a matter of seconds. She's the type that's looking through her blinds at ya the minute I sneeze or fart.

I'm going to do the next right thing and install a 1:1 Air Choke Current Balun & install the best Coax there is. I will also look into a polyphaser for my lightning protection after that and A RF Isolator unit to boot. THIS IS WAR!

 

[loosecannon]

wow!

a 104 year old house?

man, you've got your work cut out for you LOL.

i see why you expected a noisy mains.

you said that your neighbor lived with her elderly mother.
medical equipment is a BIG RFI producer, and can wreak havoc with HF radio.

as for the grounds, just connect the antenna ground rod to whatever is closer.

if you want to get around the 60 foot height thing (which most CB'ers dont pay any attention to anyway) just go get your ham license.

you can study for the test on qrz.com and find out when they hold tests in your area. there is no morse code required anymore.

when you are a ham, you can put your antenna as high as you please, as long as its safe of course.

good luck with all your research and experimentation.
when doing your google searches, always include "ham radio" or "amateur radio" in your keywords. that way all your results will apply to home hobbyist radio stations.

also, while its hard to tell someone not to get carried away with safety; you are going to find that to do it "right", its going to cost you an arm and a leg.

you have to asses what your goals and limitations are, and find out what others have done in similar situations.

many folks just unplug their radios and put the coax out the window during a lightning storm.

no one but you can determine how far into this you should get.

i hope it all works out for you and you can get on the air soon.
LC

 

[fodendaf]

nah, i don't live next to a cell tower but it is on top of a mountain a few miles away with a road right to the top so it works seriously well for cb'ing.

 

[cominatyalive]

Good afternoon gentlemen, & ladies I suppose.

So Fodendaf, so you are on top of a mountain? You said it worked well. Well I believe it should at that elevation. It's so nice up in the mountains.

Yes guys, you guessed it, I'm at work again, watching the beautiful sunset in the clear blue sky. Thinking of all the DXing & skip I'm missing out on. Sigh......... Yep, working 2nd shift sucks when it comes to being on the air. Instead, I have to stay here in the Engine room with 9 semi-hermetic ammonia compressors whining, & drowning out my ears. I envy all of you who can sit there in the mid evenings at home manning your radios & talking cross-country. ( me? :bored.

But as I sit here 9.5 hours each evening, (Last night 12.5 hrs), I am busy on the net looking for more tips, more answers, more reasons to keep my enthusiasm from going down the toilet. On a brighter note, in my mind, I am planning the construction of this 1.5' X 4" PVC RF Air Choke Balun. I'm getting ready to order better Coax. The best there is. I am planning on Isolating my IMAGE 2000 & I'm going to buy a Ground Plane Kit probably all before the night is through.

Yes L.C., found my house in the fall of 2007. It was built in 1905. But it was in fair condition. But don't get me wrong here, as you mentioned, I do have my fair share of home improvements. But most of the wiring downstairs is newer. But the attic is spider'd with old BX 2 conductor wiring. Most of it in fair condition surprisingly. No room to work in the attic. I barely was able to get in there to mount my IMAX. Yes, my studs did not match the tri-pod except for one stud. So I had to use 2X4 blocks from the underneath for strength. Getting back down from the attic is not something I want to do anytime soon.

If I ever re-wire the upstairs, I will have an electrician run a 2" pipe drop up the side of the house to the upper level. I want to upgrade my Circuit Box too one of these days. But for now, The house & the mains are in pretty fair shape.

I was reading on another post to use Teflon as an isolator for the antenna. How about a Nylon 5/8" or 1/2" thick block? Drill the holes and Wallah! I think that would be even better. Yeah, I will try mounting the ground to either location. But we'll see if there's a difference.

It's just that darned interference. The receive comes in actually quite well, but could be a bit better I believe. Heck! last Labor Day, The skip was going wild! I was hearing guys from Jacksonville Florida, Mobile Alabama, & the everglades. A good 1500 miles or more from my house. I live in the very north east part of Illinois you can get, so that's pretty good for my cheap Fiberglass IFART I suppose.

Oh how I wished I had my simple 1/4 wave Astroplane that I had back in 75. The receive was so crystal clear back then. And when I pressed the Mic button, believe me, I could walk over a lot of people. Back then, no computers, no cell phones, no noisy home security systems except for the rich perhaps. Sigh, yes, (PARADISE).

Well, Off I go now to order my ground plane kit, & the best coax I can find. That will be my start. When it comes, I will install the 4" Diameter Balun & Isolate the antenna.

Oh yeah, you hit the nail on the head! Actually, I have been to the ARRL site & E-Ham Universe and have been dreaming of getting my beginner's Ham License. But for now, I felt that getting back into CBs would prep me up with some know how before I plunged big bucks down on a Radio. Remember now, I'm just a punk A_S green horn here. lol! I gots to take it Slooooow! ;-)


Well, Time for me to do the walk & stop the talk. First I'm going to get up on the roof here at work & watch the sun disappear. Such a fantastic view at 40 or 50 ft or so. Then I'm buying my goodies. Oh yeah, I will get those anthenol connectors you spoke of. Do they work any good? I've read they are like a spark gap thingy. Well, gotta fly!



C'mon bak ya'll
We gone!

 

[cominatyalive]

wow!

a 104 year old house?

man, you've got your work cut out for you LOL.

i see why you expected a noisy mains.

you said that your neighbor lived with her elderly mother.
medical equipment is a BIG RFI producer, and can wreak havoc with HF radio.

as for the grounds, just connect the antenna ground rod to whatever is closer.

if you want to get around the 60 foot height thing (which most CB'ers dont pay any attention to anyway) just go get your ham license.

you can study for the test on qrz.com and find out when they hold tests in your area. there is no morse code required anymore.

when you are a ham, you can put your antenna as high as you please, as long as its safe of course.

good luck with all your research and experimentation.
when doing your google searches, always include "ham radio" or "amateur radio" in your keywords. that way all your results will apply to home hobbyist radio stations.

also, while its hard to tell someone not to get carried away with safety; you are going to find that to do it "right", its going to cost you an arm and a leg.

you have to asses what your goals and limitations are, and find out what others have done in similar situations.

many folks just unplug their radios and put the coax out the window during a lightning storm.

no one but you can determine how far into this you should get.

i hope it all works out for you and you can get on the air soon.
LC

And also LC, it will cost us an arm or a leg if we don't do it right.
I'll keep ya posted.

James

 

[loosecannon]

i run an astroplane myself. great antenna.

i guess nylon would work ok. the thing i would worry about with different plastics is static.
i dont know if nylon is "staticy" or not, just something to think about.

also, you have to consider the effect of UV rays on different plastics.
PVC will crumble in your hands eventually.

delrin is the best thing to use.
you can get all kinds of different diameters on ebay.

just do an ebay search for "delrin rod" and you will find what you need.
a two foot piece should be perfect.

shouldnt cost more than 20-25 bucks.

if the coax you are getting is the thick stuff (RG8 size .405" dia.) then you dont want to coil it around a form less than 8" in diameter.
if its LMR400 that you are getting (thats what i use. it cost more than my antenna, but its worth it!) then you will find that even 8" might be too small.

if you are getting something sized like RG8x (.242" dia.) then a 4" form should be fine.

AMPHENOL is a brand name and any place that you get your coax from that is reputable will most likely be using that brand of PL-259 connectors.
save yourself the headache and let them put the connectors on for you.

where are you getting your coax from and what kind?

remember about the grounding, that you cant run a ground wire from the antenna feedpoint to your groundrod as you will defeat the whole purpose of isolating the antenna from the mast and the coax.

i will lay out what the ideal setup would be, and you can adapt it to your situation.

ok, get a piece of delrin about 2 feet long that is the same diameter as your mast. (probably 1 1/4") turn the last 8-10 inches of one end down enough so it will sleeve into the top of your mast. drill two 1/4" holes 90* off of eachother through the mast and delrin rod and bolt it in place.

mount your RF choke somewhere within a foot or so of the feedpoint.
(BTW that 18-21 feet thing is for 160-10m, for CB you only need about 8 feet)
mount the antenna and GPK to the delrin rod.

now your mast and your coax are isolated from RF.

run the coax down to the ground rod.
you can either mount the polyphaser right to the ground rod or put it in a little plastic box within a couple of feet of the rod and just run a big ground strap from the polyphaser to the groundrod.
you must protect the polyphaser from the weather.

screw your antenna coax into one end of the polyphaser and screw one end of another length of coax into the other side of the polyphaser and run it to your radio. (yes, you need to order two separate pieces of coax)

now the lightning only has one path to your station and its through the polyphaser.

connect your antenna groundrod to the house electrical ground.
(one ground rod is the bare minimum. many people use three or four, about 8 feet apart, all tied together with ground strap)

round wire is not the best thing to use for grounding. (look up "skin effect")
flat copper strap is better.

ok, that should do it.
if you do that, you are doing pretty much everything you can to reduce the noise interference, and you have also increased your antenna's efficiency to boot!

can you tell from the length of my posts that im at work too? LOL

take it easy and good luck,
LC

 

[cominatyalive]

Hello L.C.

Good advice & that's what I'm going to do soon. I ordered the 1 1/4" x 2' delrin rod like you said. That's a better idea than trying to install just a nylon plate. BTW, I forgot about the u-bolts and clamps that would still be in contact with the mast. So delrin rod it is. Say, I was thinking of getting the LM-400 also. Are you running the Stranded core or the Solid core? I want the bigger cable because of the resistance to interference, but I may want to have more power when & if I get my Ham radio & License.

That way I will be able to change right over easier than going through all this again. Make Sense? But before I do switch over, I'll be hopefully enjoying the benefits of clearer reception & less noise & interference and have the same benefits even after I switch to Amateur radio. The ends I have on my RG-8x gray coax are just the regular Joes.

In regards to my Balun, would it be better to have the stranded core on the LM-400 for easier wraps around my pipe? or is the solid core better. Does your LM-400 coax have a solid dielectric or air? Just wondering as the solid dielectric is better if your running a Balun. And stranded might make the wrapping of the coax a little easier. So do you have the newer Astroplane? or the old Avanti Astroplane? I was thinking of getting the newer version myself. I just might get one later I liked it so much. I wished I would have just got one of them or a Maco or something other than A fiberglass antenna. I was wary of them before. Seems like it's taking much more money to upgrade when I could have just bought an aluminum antenna from the get-go that I don't have to constantly modify or update. Ya know? I think you do. Ain't dat a beeg 10-4!

 

[cominatyalive]

Oh yeah, just one more question, CB band is indeed 11 meters is it not? Than 160-10 meters, The CB band should be covered as far as the length of coax to wrap around the PVC pipe for the Choke. But you said I would only need 8'. Perhaps it's the smaller cable I'm thinking about. Well, the delrin rod, the GPK, and 100' of LM-400 for now.


Later

James

 

[Beetle]

James -

As LC said, if you're planning to use LMR400 or any other 0.405" OD coax, do NOT wrap it around anything with a radius less than 4" (which means a coil form has to have a DIAMETER of at least 8"). Smaller than that, in warm (hot) sunshine with a few hundred watts and the internal geometry of the coax will change. The center conductor (not the "core") will migrate right through the dielectric, right up against the inside of the braid. This, as you'd expect, is unwanted.

For RG8X and other 0.24" coax, it's the same basic formula: 10 times the OD (which would give you the RADIUS of 2.4". Then multiplying by 2 to get the equivalent diameter gives you 4.8", rounding up = 5").

 

[loosecannon]

i am running the solid center conductor LMR400, and let me tell you; it is STIFF!!!
this stuff is no joke. bend it in a U shape, and it STAYS bent.


i am running the newer astroplane copy called the CTE "top one".
it is the same as the old avanti astroplane.

the new antenna being sold today that is being called the astroplane is NOT the same as the old ones at all.

i wouldnt bother with that antenna.

sad to say, but you cant buy an original design astroplane type antenna new anymore.
you will have to do like i did and watch the used market for months and months looking for someone selling one.


something to keep in mind as you are working with your new coax:

the coaxial cable we use for CB radios is 50 ohms.
what makes it 50 ohms?
its the space between the shield braid and the center conductor (among other factors) that gives our coax its 50 ohm impedance.

so you can see how, if you are winding a length of coax cable around a coil form, and you are pulling the cable very tightly, you can actually "smoosh" the center conductor closer to the shield, as beetle was saying.

by doing this you have changed the distance between the center conductor and the shield, thereby changing the impedance of the coax.

this is not something you will want to be wondering about later, so take your time and dont force anything.
keeping these facts in mind will make sure you do it right.

good luck,
LC

 

[Beetle]

I should have added this to my earlier post, but...

My "formula" involves a factor of ten times the coax outside diameter. The Navy (my former employer, both uniformed and civilian, for 45+ years) has, for years, specified a factor of TWELVE. I figured ten times was close enough for most non-shipboard antenna/coax installations, and besides, it makes the math easier! :blushing:

 

[cominatyalive]

Hello all,

Hope your sunday was a good one. Thank you for the advice.
A lot of great info and believe me I'm eating it up. However, no offence guys, but yes, I know the coax is 50 ohms. But I did not know how the maufacturers came up with the figures, so I've learned something here.

I have no intention on wrapping .405 around a 4" pipe. Especially after L.C. advised me a day or two ago. Thank you. But I might have tried since I have seen a few pictures of guys doing that. That is why I was asking about the center core of the coax if it was better to have stranded or the solid core.

I know the stranded core is fairly new perhaps and was just wondering. I myself would rather prefer the solid core coax, I have read & if I'm not mistaken, many more prefer the solid. I wouldn't know if one is better than the other due to me not having any statistics on this. But I have also read from others that solid gives a better, cleaner signal for all I know.

With all this said, I do plan on getting a 8" diameter pipe soon. Is this the standard for 11 meter band? or could I even go a good 10" in diameter? and if so, would this change the amount of wraps on the pipe? I've looked everywhere on the internet for a guide on these figures, but the only place I've seen any kind of close instructions, was on Ham Universe. lol, that's where I saw the guys building their chokes with .405 around 4" pipes. Well, a few of them did use larger pipes and less turns.

I must say, the PVC is not cheap. $24.00 just for a 10" X 1' piece. So I was thinking if 8" diameter was the least we could go with .405, wouldn't 10" be even better? Safer? I know that's straying a bit from Beetle's calculation method, so maybe 10" would throw off the balancing of the antenna & coax?

How about you L.C., are you using a Balun? I would say probably not due to the Astroplanes being a great antenna, but if you are, is it a 8" pipe? Just wondering.

And please, don't think I'm not acting upon all the advice I've been given here, because I am. Already threw down another buck & a half at least between the newer coax & GPK I ordered the other day. But as you said, "to give my antenna a fighting chance".

I also read that the number of wraps of the coax for the Balun was not as critical as the length of the balun, but all I really have is pictures to go by and no solid charts or statistics.

I value most if not all the info I receive here. I'm no theoretical genious with equations, but that hasn't stopped me from even searching for some kind of Balun engineering calculator. I just want it right. I also read somewhere that there were limits to the impedance when in fact your building a current balun.

Yeah, you can say I have the fever. And I'm feverishly seeking all the information I can. Thank you Beetle for the calculation method on figuring out the diameter pipe to use. Yep, it was 5" on the money for the smaller coax. And 8" for .405 So I'm just going to get the 8" pipe & do what I'm told. lol.

It may seem as if I'm rushing here, but I'm really not, considering all the questions I'm throwing out here in the wind. But H_ll, I've come such a long ways already to be fooling around. I really am grateful to all the advice you guys are giving me. I refuse to argue with anyone on here. I don't have time for that kind of stuff. Sometime's people are very opinionated. I can understand how indifferences can cause calamities from time to time.

As my profile states, I'm here to learn all I can. Especially from the veterans in this field especially. I'm also willing to share what I know, even if it ain't squat! Actually, I feel kind of funny still about giving any advice out there yet due to my skin being so green.

Anyways, got to hit the hay now as they keep making me switch shifts at work every weekend it seems. Got to be up by 4:20 am in the morning. But the good thing about that is, I'll be home in the evening to hear some skip.

BTW, I keep hearing this southern guy all over the bands in the evenings, Every time he hands the break over, he will end his break with: No Brakes, All Drive & I Goooooo!

Anyone else ever hear this guy? He's got to be running some power I thought.


73's
James

 

[loosecannon]

james,

with the RF choke, its all about the length of cable involved.
the diameter of the coil form is just so you dont wrap your coax in too tight of a radius.

as for stranded vs. solid core coax, if there is indeed a difference, i doubt anyone would ever notice it.

i do not run a balun on my antenna because it is not needed with this type of antenna.
with the astroplanes, you actually WANT the mast/coax to radiate.
(sort of, there are many specifics involved in that generality LOL)


as for the breaker, most likely, only people in your immediate area will hear the same person at the same time.
skip is a strange beast indeed.
who knows, maybe he is local to you.

you get up at 4:20? doesnt that put you right back to sleep ?

 

[cominatyalive]

Correction L.C., I get up at 4:15am every Saturday morning after getting home at 12:45pm Friday night. I'd be lucky to even get an hour & a half sleep. I control all the refrigeration for a major food company plant. I work 2nd shift, but expected to do a turnaround come early Saturday mornings. It is our down day to do repairs, etc.

This Monday we had no production, but I had to still come in early again Monday morning just for that same reason. But I got home at 3pm Monday just in time to do some Dxing. And let me tell ya, the skip was rampant all the way from 3pm to about 8pm before it all settled down.

I was hearing guys from all over clear as a bell & pushing 9dbs to boot. Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Canada, New York, Georgia, but the majority of the skip was coming in from the Carolinas & Florida down by the keys. To excite my (sacred free evening), I heard a woman from the Carolinas pushing 9db over my radio. I thought I'd just try breaking in and seeing if she would answer. Well, the conditions must have been just right because not only did she respond to my break, she said I was pushing a good 9db also into her radio. Needless to say, it was a very exciting moment. Something I have not experienced in 34 years.

Also, yesterday evening, I was getting this different noise all over my 40 channels, it was like a pulsating noise combined with a wild frequency buzzing noise. I thought my evening was ruined. At first I thought it was the woman next door again running something. But this noise sounded like something electronic and kept transmitting every 2 seconds. After 2 hours, it went away. I figured it must have been someone parked down the block with some kind of car alarm. For the life of me, I never heard this kind of noise ever since I have had my Solarcon up & running.

It was almost like a star wars light Sabre noise, but with a pulsation.
So I'm anxiously awaiting for my stuff to come. Getting back to the separate ground rod I have next to the house ground, I tried putting my Mast ground on it again. To my surprise, (and this has not happened before), I had a horrible mains noise in the kitchen & coming into my mains circuit box. A definate ground loop if you ask me. I confirmed this with my AM transistor radio with my father present.

As soon as I disconnected the Mast ground from this separate ground rod I have, the noise disappeared. I then proceeded to hook it up to the mains neutral (house ground) that was next to my separate ground rod that I had. The so called House ground from the meter box. A tiny bit of mains noise still was eminent, but it was really minute. So the Mast ground is grounded to the house ground as you have stated for me to do. Why I did not have this ground loop before I will never know. But let me assure you, I did not have it before when it was hooked up to my separate ground before.

Mighty strange, but hey, live & learn. It's on the house ground now as L.C. has told me before to do. But the loop was not there before. The damn est thing. Well, it's working ok now with the mast on the house ground, but the original problem noise, the same noise Maxmobile43 has, is still rampant through all my 40 channels. There are some channels that are fairly quieter, but only a few. The most noisiest of channels remain to be 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, with 5, 6, & 7 being the noisiest with this crackling 60 Hz hum.

Well, as soon as my new cable, the PVC & delrin rod are here, I will commence on taking the antenna back down. Well, I had one question for you guys, I noticed Dacron was being used for guy wires now. Well, you know me, I used regular steel guy wires with turnbuckles and aircraft crimped lead compression fittings for the cable ends. I was able to get away with just 3 guy wires. The mast & antenna are fairly secured tightly, it is level as well.

I heard this could be a problem, perhaps I'm radiating onto these steel guy wires? should I get Dacron instead? I was going to anyways, but thought I'd just throw it out there. If there's a thread in here about this, (And I'm sure there is), I will find it & please don't bother to respond as I will find it later & see what others are doing.

Later for now,
James

 

[cominatyalive]

Just thought I'd add to this post a bit more before I gave it a rest. I was wanting to do this comment on Antenna installation & setup, but since I already scraped right here about grounding, I thought I better keep it here.

Lately, there has been many different thoughts, views, methods, advice, on Base Station Grounding. There has also been advice on what the NEC says, What it actually says, and many opinions about the same.

Well, I for one will always try to follow the NEC, FCC, and what have you. After all, it's for our own safety, and it's just plain good ethics. But the issue on grounding has bothered me for some time now. I'm hearing different opinions, seeing different ideas, methods & examples. Some will tell you that there's only one correct way. I wanted to explore because of the many different pieces of advice & info I have seen out there.

And this my friends is pertaining to Antenna, & especially Antenna Mast Grounding. As I posted in my very first or second post on WWDX, I had stated from my knowledge that there are two main types of ground in a modern day residential home.

As I stated: You have the Mains, Neutral Ground from the Meter box commonly called the (House Ground). And you have the Water Pipe Ground, known as the (EARTH) ground that is primarily, & usually a ground for lightning. You also have the subject of RF grounding, but I am more concerned right now about the two main types of ground. Mains Neutral & Earth Ground.

Two totally different animals. In my previous posts, I mentioned I was not hooked into either of the two because of fear of "Mains Noise Leakage". I submitted my reasons on these past posts of mine. Fear of being hooked to the Mains Neutral (House Ground) for fear of mains noise leakage into my Ground cable. And fear of being hooked into the Earth Ground (Water Pipe) because I had noise on that also

If you know anything about house wiring, you will also have known that the Earth Ground, & the Mains Neutral Ground are bonded together anyways inside your Main circuit breaker box. Well then, you wonder why I had my own separate ground rod for my Antenna mast & Antenna. Well, I ask you this, who in the world would want to be grounded to something that is carrying noise potential? I for one do not.

But yesterday, (all of a sudden) there was a nasty Ground Loop on this so called (separate ground rod) of mine. Which really surprised me because it was not there the whole two weeks I have had my Mast Ground hooked up to it. So I finally took L.C.'s advice, and hooked up to my Mains Neutral (House Ground) from the Mains Meter Box.

Well, the ground loop was gone, but still a little mains hum detected by my AM transistor Radio. Sorry, but I still have a problem with being hooked up to my Mains Neutral Ground Rod for the house. What if I had a lightning strike? Where would the current go then? You got it, right up my house's neutral wire system. Every socket, circuit breaker, etc, (plus because the neutral is bonded to the Earth ground as well), you guessed it! right up my entire grounding of my entire house as well, (conduit, electrical boxes, ground wires, the whole shebang). Follow?

Is there anybody here to prove otherwise if they were hooked to their central Mains Neutral House Ground? If so, I am all ears & very eager to hear your reasoning, your examples, and documentation supporting your answers & theories. So this is why I have a separate ground rod for my Radio Communications. I'm not wanting any kind of Mains noise whatsoever coming into my Radio through the ground whether it be from Neutral or Earth Ground leakage. Reason being is that I'm dealing with another problem as we speak with the Mains power as it is, coming through with a 60 Hz buzz as you will see after reading my original post.

Now I am not condemning anybody's advice here, but I have my own thoughts and reasons. And today, I also fell upon one of Booty Monster's posts about grounding in the Antenna Installation & Setup forum. He has the link of this information about House Neutral Grounding. Here is the link:

Special Publications | Technical Publication #31

2. Choose an electrode wisely. Don't use cold water pipes or AC service neutrals to achieve ground. both of these often travel very long distances before actually reaching earth ground, and they are often full of joint connections, corrosion, and dissimilar metal changes along the route. Making connections through these sources in transmitting applications frequently increases local interference because they become part of the radiation pattern at ground level. Grounding should always be done with the shortest distance to the actual dirt entry point where a rod may be driven. Ground rods come in many sizes but a length of 6 feet or more is highly recommended. Use rods that have a bright dipped copper clad finish to the steel core or solid brass for best long term results. Keep the earth around the rod wet as often as possible to increase effectiveness and dissipation capability.


Mmmm, do not use AC service neutrals to obtain ground.

Can anyone contradict this with any rational reasoning?

Until someone does, I'm finding another location for my separate ground rod, and I will ground my mast into it, far, far away from my Mains, period.

Sorry to be such a stickler, and I hope no-one is offended, but like Booty Monster, I am seeking answers. Answers with a bit of backup supporting evidence. That is all. but as I mentioned, I'm also wanting to do this right. I Never rush in anything I do. I will try different things before I settle onto something supportive.

Also, I just hope I can find a place on the other side of my house to put a ground. Somehow, there seems to be some kind of concrete ledge about 3' down & 1' away from my foundation that seems to run all around the house. Let's face it here, it's like there's everything under the sun here trying to stop & slow my efforts. I will not ever succumb. As I said before. All replies welcome. Wrong or right.

This is War.
:headbang





James