Discone question

[wildbillx]

I have a MFJ-1868 discone antenna that I have up in a tree. "I know that sounds funny" Do I need to ground it for better reception is my question. Thanks
Bill

 

[wbertram]

I have a MFJ-1868 discone antenna that I have up in a tree. "I know that sounds funny" Do I need to ground it for better reception is my question. Thanks
Bill

As far as reception is concerned, no additional grounding should be required.

As far as lightning protection, I would suggest that a good, properly grounded, coax ground protector should be used.

 

[wildbillx]

thanks

thankyou for your quick reply

 

[kf4lne]

ground everything.

 

[kb2vxa]

HUH? What's this "ground everything" stuff? Grounding the shield of the coax where it enters the house is usually sufficient but for more comprehensive if not quite technical info on grounding see http://members.cox.net/pc-usa/station/ground0.htm

If the tree gets hit by lightning all bets are off.

 

[radio10-8]

Ok, I have a similar question because i am in the same situation. Except I have a roof mounted antenna. If lightning hits my house or the antenna what will the grounding do? I am not tryting to be funny or silly. I ask because another member mentioned his house was hit by lightning and it destroyed his roof and caused a fire. I asked him if his antennas were grounded and he replied "It did not matter"

 

[N_Jay]

If you ground it the way a commercial radio site is grounded, nothing.

If you don't, then some damage will be done.

The extent of the damage is not easy to determine, but can include the destruction of all electronics in the house, and even the starting of a fire.

 

[prcguy]

It’s impractical to ground most home scanner/ham/CB antennas to the same extent as commercial repeater sites, etc, which are designed to take direct hits. You would have to design and install the ground system and lightning protection when the house was built. In most cases, ground rods and lightning protectors installed at home will not save your radio or unrelated house full of electronics from a direct hit. They can help survive a close strike by shunting induced voltage to ground, but that’s about it.
prcguy

 

[ka3jjz]

It may be impractical to do it the same way a commercial system does, but it is worth thinking about, at least. Jack Painter's article on grounding and lightning is linked on our Wiki, and well worth the read.

You will find that constructing a good station ground takes work - a single ground rod is likely not to cut it, particularly if you've got rocky and dry soil. The article makes this very clear.

73s Mike