Yaesu: HF without ground

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braluca

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Hello,
I would like to buy FT-450D and operate in HF
In my apartment (Germany) there is no ground connection, is it better skip HF project?
 

prcguy

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Very few antennas need a connection to ground to operate effectively. A dipole, center fed, offset fed or complex like the G5RV or ZS6BKW do not require any ground to operate as do most end fed type wire antennas. If you have a vertical it will usually require a ground plane of wire radials or wire mesh below it to be effective but a few have small built in ground radials like the Cushcraft R7, R8 and R9. These can work ok but a similar antenna with lots of wire ground radials will work better. Even these antennas do not require a connection to ground like a ground rod or water pipe to operate and grounding them will have no effect on performance.

In the US we have the National Electrical Code which requires any antenna feedline to be grounded in a certain way when entering the house. This is for human safety and has nothing to do with antenna performance. I suspect your country has similar rules. So get the HF radio, put up an antenna and operate!

Hello,
I would like to buy FT-450D and operate in HF
In my apartment (Germany) there is no ground connection, is it better skip HF project?
 

braluca

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Mar 13, 2020
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Very few antennas need a connection to ground to operate effectively. A dipole, center fed, offset fed or complex like the G5RV or ZS6BKW do not require any ground to operate as do most end fed type wire antennas. If you have a vertical it will usually require a ground plane of wire radials or wire mesh below it to be effective but a few have small built in ground radials like the Cushcraft R7, R8 and R9. These can work ok but a similar antenna with lots of wire ground radials will work better. Even these antennas do not require a connection to ground like a ground rod or water pipe to operate and grounding them will have no effect on performance.

In the US we have the National Electrical Code which requires any antenna feedline to be grounded in a certain way when entering the house. This is for human safety and has nothing to do with antenna performance. I suspect your country has similar rules. So get the HF radio, put up an antenna and operate!
I was referring to the radio itself not to antenna
When I read instruction it is written connect to ground, but I have not
 

prcguy

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The FT-450D only requires 12 volts from a power supply or battery to operate, no separate ground is required for the radio to work. Most radio companies issue a statement to ground the radio separately for electrical safety in case the antenna comes in contact with high voltage power lines or some other situation that would put the user in danger of electrocution. This can protect you but it also protects the radio company from liability or lawsuit if you are injured.

Its also a good idea to ground all the components in your radio system like the radio, power meter, amplifier, antenna tuner, etc, to one central point but if you do not use an amplifier I would not bother with it.

I was referring to the radio itself not to antenna
When I read instruction it is written connect to ground, but I have not
 

K4EET

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Hi @braluca, the Yaesu FT-450D is a very nice radio. I do not own one but it has been on my radar for a long time. Unfortunately, Yaesu has recently announced that the FT-450D has been DISCONTINUED due to parts obsolescence. Here is an article that picked up on the announcement:


If you still want one, you had better buy one soon before the suppliers' stocks run dry. Yeah, I'm sad too... :cry:

73 my friend, Dave K4EET
 

braluca

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Hi @braluca, the Yaesu FT-450D is a very nice radio. I do not own one but it has been on my radar for a long time. Unfortunately, Yaesu has recently announced that the FT-450D has been DISCONTINUED due to parts obsolescence. Here is an article that picked up on the announcement:


If you still want one, you had better buy one soon before the suppliers' stocks run dry. Yeah, I'm sad too... :cry:

73 my friend, Dave K4EET
thanks a lot for info
truly a bad news, my dream now is spoiled
do you know any other similar radio?
It was perfect because little and with ATU inside
 

wa8pyr

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thanks a lot for info
truly a bad news, my dream now is spoiled
do you know any other similar radio?
It was perfect because little and with ATU inside

Don't give up yet! Both Universal Radio and Ham Radio Outlet here in the US are showing them in stock, so I suspect there may be vendors in Germany or the EU which still have stock as well.

For an antenna, think about a decent quality magnetic loop which will handle at least 100 watts on the balcony. Or you could try a 9:1 unun with about 35 feet of wire for a main element and about 10 feet for a counterpoise. There's some very useful info here:

 

wa8pyr

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@braluca, while I do not know anything about this HF radio, a "cousin" to the Yaesu FT-450D might be the Icom IC-718.


It currently sells for USD $549.95 after rebate at GigaParts:

Anybody here have one of these?

We've got one in our EOC. Decent, basic radio, although does not include an internal antenna tuner, so that's at least another $150 in cost to tack on.
 

W5lz

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Connecting your radio to ground is a good idea, but not absolutely necessary.
 

wa8pyr

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Yes, for $100 more, pick up a used IC-7300. It will walk circles around the FT-450.

True, if you can find one used; very popular rig, I wouldn't give mine up for anything.
 

alcahuete

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There's a 450D for sale on QRZ right now with an external autotuner, power supply, and a couple other accessories, for $500 shipped. If you're really interested go get it. You can't beat that price at all for what you get.
 
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