‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM AUGUST 2006 QST  PAGES 48, 49 AND 97  ‰

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR RADIO A DOWN TO EARTH VIEW OF STATION GROUNDS SINCE
THIS IS THE ANNUAL QST ANTENNA ISSUE, I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING RELATED TO
ANTENNAS, BUT NOT STEAL THE THUNDER OF OUR EXCELLENT TECHNICAL AUTHORS.
WHAT BETTER TOPIC THAN GROUNDS IN SOME WAYS RELATED TO ANTENNAS, AND
PERHAPS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST OF TOPICS FOR MANY OF US TO UNDERSTAND.  SO
WHATS NOT TO UNDERSTAND?  IT DOES SEEM THAT GROUND SHOULD BE AN EASY TOPIC.
AFTER ALL WE MOSTLY HAVE OUR FEET ON IT MOST OF THE TIME.  UNFORTUNATELY, I
BELIEVE THE CONFUSION STEMS FROM THE FACT THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PLACES
THAT THE CONCEPT OF GROUND APPEARS IN AND AROUND AN AMATEUR RADIO STATION
AND THEY CAN BE QUITE DIFFERENT.  LETS TALK ABOUT EACH IN TURN.  THE
ANTENNA GROUND IT SHOULD BE CLEAR TO ANYONE AWARE OF AIRBORNE OR SPACE
COMMUNICATIONS, THAT AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL GROUND IS NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR
RADIO STATION OPERATION.  IT IS TRUE, HOWEVER, THAT SOME TYPES OF ANTENNAS
DO REQUIRE A REAL OR AN ARTIFICIAL GROUND TO OPERATE PROPERLY.  THE CLASSIC
EXAMPLE IS A MARCONI ANTENNA, A  /4 WIRE FED AGAINST GROUND.  IN THIS CASE
SEE FIGURE 1, THE GROUND IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ANTENNA, NOT THE STATION
‰  FROM PAGE 97  ‰
K4MEZ/354 K4MPE/365 K4MS/353 K4MZ/353 K4NA/344 K4PR/342 K4TAG/350 K4TQ/340
K4TXJ/348 K4UTE/359 K4WS/351 K4XG/362 K4XR/347 K4XU/348 K4YR/382 K4ZO/345
K4ZW/344 K4ZYU/358 K5BG/340 K5CSK/349 K5ESW/354 K5IH/343 K5JUC/345 K5KC/348
‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ

ITSELF.  THE MARCONI CAN BE DEPLOYED VERTICALLY, AND THEN BECOMES THE
COMMON /4 VERTICAL MONOPOLE, PERHAPS THE MOST POPULAR ANTENNA AMONG
BROADCASTERS IN THE STANDARD AM BROADCAST BAND.  THE GROUND FOR SUCH AN
ANTENNA SHOULD BE BENEATH THE ANTENNA.  IT IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE
ANTENNA SYSTEM AND, TO BE EFFECTIVE, NEEDS TO HAVE A LOW IMPEDANCE AT THE
OPERATING FREQUENCY.  IF A TRANSMISSION LINE CONNECTS THE STATION TO THE
ANTENNA, THE GROUND CAN BE AT A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE FROM THE STATION.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ANTENNA TYPES THAT RELY ON SUCH A GROUND.  MANY
INHERENTLY UNBALANCED ANTENNAS HAVE SOME REQUIREMENT FOR A GROUND SYSTEM.
SOME CLASSICS ARE 5/8 MONOPOLES, BOBTAIL CURTAINS, TRADITIONAL WINDOMS AND
LONG OR RANDOM WIRES.  SAFETY GROUND IT IS CERTAINLY GOOD PRACTICE, AND IN
MOST IF NOT ALL US JURISDICTIONS IT IS A BUILDING CODE REQUIREMENT, THAT
ELECTRICAL AC WIRING BE SET UP WITH THREE LEADS HOT, NEUTRAL AND SAFETY
GROUND.  AT THE SERVICE ENTRANCE, THE NEUTRAL AND GROUND ARE TIED TOGETHER
‰  FROM PAGE 97  ‰
K5MA/351 K5RH/343 K5YY/366 K5ZQ/349 K6AAW/353 K6LD/339 K6LGF/378 K6MD/342
K6SLO/340 K6SMF/352 K6UFO/338 K6XJ/354 K6YK/350 K6YUI/356 K7EG/347

STATION.  SHUNTING THESE CURRENTS TO EARTH VIA THE STATION GROUND, CAN BE
BENEFICIAL AS PART OF THE SOLUTION.  IN MY OPINION, ITS BETTER TO MINIMIZE
THE COUPLING AND AVOID THE CURRENTS IN THE FIRST PLACE, ALTHOUGH A
COMBINATION IS OFTEN NEEDED SINCE IDEAL 
‰  FROM PAGE 97  ‰
KA5CQJ/344 KA5V/345 KA9CFD/340 KB2RA/339 KB4ET/342 KB8NW/340 KC0SB/339
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‚