RS discone ground plane

Status
Not open for further replies.

rvawatch

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
274
I have a RS 20-043 discone that has been up for about a year now. I find it to do very well despite some peoples objections to this antenna. Right now I have it on the side of my wood house on a 6 foot or so metal pole connected with metal brackets to the site of the house, about 2 stories high. I was just thinking about it today, and I don't have any sort of ground plane do I? I've searched and understand ground plane for the most part. I have been meaning to "ground" the antenna to help in case of a lightning strike, but would creating that connection to the ground suffice as my ground plane... or do I not even need a ground plane in this case.

Now that has me to another question... what should I use to "ground" for a lightning strike? A steel rod and some copper wire?

thanks guys
 

KC0QNB

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
730
Location
Gothenburg, NE
A discone does not use a ground plane.
True, but you should ground the antenna/mast if it sits above the house, for lightning protection use an 8 foot ground rod, you can probably find one at Lowes or similar, and some minimum #10 copper wire.
One more thing, have the area you plan to drive the ground rod located for underground surprises, like utility lines, it is usually a free service, it you run into something, I can tell you, it won't be free to repair it, it might even cost you your life.
 

hoser147

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
Messages
4,449
Location
Grand Lake St. Marys Ohio
I agree you need to ground it for lightning protection.........and you will notice a difference in reception when it is properly grounded. I have that same antenna and have had no problems. Hoser
 

kevin390

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
9
Location
Wallkill, NY
True, but you should ground the antenna/mast if it sits above the house, for lightning protection use an 8 foot ground rod, you can probably find one at Lowes or similar, and some minimum #10 copper wire.
One more thing, have the area you plan to drive the ground rod located for underground surprises, like utility lines, it is usually a free service, it you run into something, I can tell you, it won't be free to repair it, it might even cost you your life.

This member is right about underground surprises, The man at the end of my street got a newspaper subscription. The guy just bought his house and the newspaper guy gave him a mailbox looking thing to put the paper in every morning. Well he drove the pole into the ground and cut the cable tv wire in half. What are the odds, the pole is about 1 inch wide. Got the whole block. For me that meant no TV, Phone and Computer for about six hours. For him that got him a nice bill from cablevision. Welcome to the neighborhood.......Ray
 

blueangel-eric

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
824
Location
Emporia, KS
This member is right about underground surprises, The man at the end of my street got a newspaper subscription. The guy just bought his house and the newspaper guy gave him a mailbox looking thing to put the paper in every morning. Well he drove the pole into the ground and cut the cable tv wire in half. What are the odds, the pole is about 1 inch wide. Got the whole block. For me that meant no TV, Phone and Computer for about six hours. For him that got him a nice bill from cablevision. Welcome to the neighborhood.......Ray

I've never heard of cable lines being underground. Around here they are on poles, but on my side of town there's lots of stuff underground out here in the newer part of town now i think about it as there is big power boxes for electricity at each business down the street and at each apartment building around my apartment complex. I guess the cable and phone would be underground too?

I wonder if it's underground in the residential neighborhoods out here. never noticed.
 

KC0QNB

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
730
Location
Gothenburg, NE
I guess there is only one way to find out what might be buried and where huh.
Call and have it located!
This is a serious concern, the guy on the corner with the news paper box got off easy, the next guy, hopefully not you could be KILLED. Let us know if anything is found after you make the call and have the locate done, call today.
 

ampulman

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2006
Messages
915
Location
South Jersey
Poor man's diviner

Two years ago, Verizon started laying the orange conduits for their FIOS service in my development.

Since I'm retired, I became sort of a sidewalk superintendant. Got friendly with the operator of the ditch witch.

One day, they were checking an area for buried lines. He took 2 of the little untility marker flags, stripped off the flags, bent a right angle about 3" from the end, and held one (loosely) in each hand , almost at arm's length, wires pointing straight ahead. He slowly walked, and as he crossed lines, the pointers would turn away (180 degrees) from each other, indicating a buried line.

Of course, I didn't believe it was legitimate, thinking what kind of trickery was he using, until I tried it myself.

So help me, it's true. It really works. Try it.

AM
 

KC0QNB

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
730
Location
Gothenburg, NE
Two years ago, Verizon started laying the orange conduits for their FIOS service in my development.

Since I'm retired, I became sort of a sidewalk superintendant. Got friendly with the operator of the ditch witch.

One day, they were checking an area for buried lines. He took 2 of the little untility marker flags, stripped off the flags, bent a right angle about 3" from the end, and held one (loosely) in each hand , almost at arm's length, wires pointing straight ahead. He slowly walked, and as he crossed lines, the pointers would turn away (180 degrees) from each other, indicating a buried line.

Of course, I didn't believe it was legitimate, thinking what kind of trickery was he using, until I tried it myself.

So help me, it's true. It really works. Try it.

AM
Been there done that, have a full set of "rods" for different applications. But in this case if you miss you loose.
But I would suggest you try it then have your findings verified, it can be fun. But not everyone can do it, and if there is a bias in the users mind it will provide erroneous results.
 

hoser147

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
Messages
4,449
Location
Grand Lake St. Marys Ohio
I agree you need to ground it for lightning protection.........and you will notice a difference in reception when it is properly grounded. I have that same antenna and have had no problems. Hoser

???My brainfart, shouldnt try to multitask on the phone while posting:roll: Thanks for pointing out this mess........Hoser
 

iMONITOR

Silent Key
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
11,156
Location
S.E. Michigan
I've never heard of cable lines being underground. Around here they are on poles, but on my side of town there's lots of stuff underground out here in the newer part of town now i think about it as there is big power boxes for electricity at each business down the street and at each apartment building around my apartment complex. I guess the cable and phone would be underground too?

I wonder if it's underground in the residential neighborhoods out here. never noticed.


At my home all cables are underground, electrical service, telephone, cable TV. Michigan has a service called Miss-Dig that you can call. They'll come out and detect and mark all your underground services, including natural gas, and water. They put different colored small flags identifying the service, and spray paint temporary colored lines on the grass showing where they go. I did this, then took several photographs to have on file for future needs.
 
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
229
I used to be a cable contractor, and I know the drop bury guys would only bury a drop about six inches or so at the most. The hardline was supposed to get buried much deeper than that, but my contractor friends who did all that hardline burial stuff told me stories of the liberties they took to get the job done faster. Their motivation was purely monetary, the faster they dug and the faster they buried, the more peds they could install in a work day.

When you're getting paid by the piece and nobody's checking to see if you're doing it right, well, quality work can take a back seat sometimes. ;)
 

blueangel-eric

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
824
Location
Emporia, KS
Two years ago, Verizon started laying the orange conduits for their FIOS service in my development.

Since I'm retired, I became sort of a sidewalk superintendant. Got friendly with the operator of the ditch witch.

One day, they were checking an area for buried lines. He took 2 of the little untility marker flags, stripped off the flags, bent a right angle about 3" from the end, and held one (loosely) in each hand , almost at arm's length, wires pointing straight ahead. He slowly walked, and as he crossed lines, the pointers would turn away (180 degrees) from each other, indicating a buried line.

Of course, I didn't believe it was legitimate, thinking what kind of trickery was he using, until I tried it myself.

So help me, it's true. It really works. Try it.

AM

you mean dousing? like what psychics use and people looking for oil or water in the ground?
 

Fyrfgtr

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
4
So back to the discussion of the grounding of the antenna. I have the same discone antenna on a 40 tower with a 8ft mast on top. What would be the proper way to ground the antenna/tower? Can I just attach the copper wire to the tower at the bottom and then drive a rod into the ground, attaching the other end of the wire to the rod? Or do I have to attach the antenna directly to the grounding wire. Thanks.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top