Transceiver not grounded ok temporary use?

[tdenfuny]

I live in a place where I can't have a permanent ground for a transceiver. From what I understand it is important to ground a transceiver for various reasons, but I am wondering if for temporary use one can avoid grounding. I don't know, but from various Youtube videos I am guessing that for portable operations, one would usually not worry about grounding (except possibly the antenna to protect against static electricity).

Is this right?

If one takes down the antenna after use every time, does this eliminate the use for grounding?

If one uses a end fed longwire, would this need to be grounded?

How does the use of battery vs. power supply running from outlet change grounding?

 

[Weaksignal]

I'm sure portable operations, running 100 watts or less (ARRL Field Day or contest mountain topping) are not too concerned about driving a ground rod(s) into the rock or soil where they're operating... Give it a try.

 

[PrimeNumber]

There is just sooooo much to learn about grounding, but here's the short and sweet:

- RF grounding is a very different thing than AC grid power grounding.

- You probably ought to have, at the very least, a safety ground. Doubly so if you're operating off of wall-plug power. A connection to your shack's power ground may be enough, or maybe not, depending on the type of antenna and how much power you're running.

- If you're using a balanced antenna, say a dipole, your grounding requirements are greatly reduced. For fairly low power (< 100w) you may get away with no grounding at all. In a sense, one leg of the dipole is the "ground." (not exactly true, but it is one way to think of it)

- If you're using an unbalanced antenna, like say a random wire, your RF ground serves as the other half of the antenna system. THEN you'll need a really good ground, or you get to meet our friend R.F. Burns.

Example: I frequently operate portable with a battery pack, sometimes with a dipole, sometimes with a random wire and a tuner. With the dipole, it's no problem to set up and operate without a ground. With a random wire antenna, I run another wire –*a counterpoise –*out along the ground more-or-less in the other direction of the antenna. That serves as a crude RF ground. Either way, there's no ground rod involved.

 

[wb6uqa]

I run a quarter wave wire for each band wire to ground. can be bundled.