My buddy said his scanner came with a thing that plugged into back and would ground it. Can someone please tell me what hes talking about, THANKS!
What do I need to ground my scanner
- Thread starter Duramaxman
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W2NJS
Member
His scanner probably has a screw terminal on the back that is intended to be connected with a wire to an earth ground, like a cold water pipe, that's all. If you're using an outside antenna you will need a better ground than that.
Yes, i have outside antennas. Matter of fact I have two combined into one.
I wonder what scanner could that be? That feature sounds like its for shortwave/ham radios.
Duh... Pro 106 my bad
If you ground your scanner, it should be close to the main grounding wire for the power meter. You can buy a bracket that uses a barrel connector and connect two terminated pieces of coax to the bracket which is then attached to the mains ground and use a lightning arrester such as the Diamond 1000 to take care of the center conductor and keep static and near lightning hits from frying your front end of the scanner.
The grn on the back of the scanner can also be connected to the mains ground wire with some #10 wire.
The idea is to keep everything close to the mains ground as long ground runs do no good, it also grounds both the centerconductor and the shield of the coax and the scanner, keeping them all at the same ground potential and all going to one grounding point. Everything gets attached to the ground wire that feeds the power panel, I also have 3 more grounding rods in the ground, spaced at about a half wavelength apart from the main freq I use, all tied togather with #6 ground wire which attaches to the main ground wire that goes to the electrical panel, all are 8' rods.
Seems like a lot of trouble, and it is, but it is the correct way to ground.
Me, I just pounded in an 8" grounding rod and put a Diamond 1000 lightning arrestor to bleed off static as static can damage your scanner.
Nothing is hooked to the mains ground, I just disconnect the cable from the scanner whenever I'm done using it, especially anytime there is lightning. I even un plug my scanner when there is lightning in the area, even 8 to 10 miles away can induce voltage.
My ham equipment is all grounded the correct way, but still gets disconnected.
Not much will survive a direct lightning strike on your antenna, so disconnecting everything keeps all safe.
Grounding is very specialized, read some of the more involved articals about grounding, it can be a real pain done right. Done wrong, it can use the ground wires in your home electrical system as a ground and cause a fire or wiring damage.
It is for that reason that I just protect the front end of the scanner with the lightning arrester and disconnect everything whenever I'm not using the scanner or if ther is even a chance of lightning.
Hope that helps, John
The grn on the back of the scanner can also be connected to the mains ground wire with some #10 wire.
The idea is to keep everything close to the mains ground as long ground runs do no good, it also grounds both the centerconductor and the shield of the coax and the scanner, keeping them all at the same ground potential and all going to one grounding point. Everything gets attached to the ground wire that feeds the power panel, I also have 3 more grounding rods in the ground, spaced at about a half wavelength apart from the main freq I use, all tied togather with #6 ground wire which attaches to the main ground wire that goes to the electrical panel, all are 8' rods.
Seems like a lot of trouble, and it is, but it is the correct way to ground.
Me, I just pounded in an 8" grounding rod and put a Diamond 1000 lightning arrestor to bleed off static as static can damage your scanner.
Nothing is hooked to the mains ground, I just disconnect the cable from the scanner whenever I'm done using it, especially anytime there is lightning. I even un plug my scanner when there is lightning in the area, even 8 to 10 miles away can induce voltage.
My ham equipment is all grounded the correct way, but still gets disconnected.
Not much will survive a direct lightning strike on your antenna, so disconnecting everything keeps all safe.
Grounding is very specialized, read some of the more involved articals about grounding, it can be a real pain done right. Done wrong, it can use the ground wires in your home electrical system as a ground and cause a fire or wiring damage.
It is for that reason that I just protect the front end of the scanner with the lightning arrester and disconnect everything whenever I'm not using the scanner or if ther is even a chance of lightning.
Hope that helps, John
jhooten
Member
There are three jacks on the back of my 106, power, antenna, and speaker. There is a threaded hole for a screw that could be used for grounding, nothing that plugs in.
Grounding
I live in an area that gets very little lightning, does it make that much difference if my scanner antenna is grounded or not? Does grounding make any difference with reception or just for protection of the radio?
I live in an area that gets very little lightning, does it make that much difference if my scanner antenna is grounded or not? Does grounding make any difference with reception or just for protection of the radio?
Just from the sound of it, your friend may be talking about the antenna connector, one side of it is the "ground". No idea what he may have meant though.
If your antenna(s) is of the common variety then it supplies it's own RF ground, the other half of the antenna. The other type of 'ground' is a safety ground, or for lightening etc. That you'd have to supply. It can be a number of things, most not very 'simple' as you might thing. A safety ground is to protect you and the equipment from lightning and other electrical surges. It should be 'healthy' enough to conduct those surges to something other than your equipment and you. Lots of ways of doing that, the best one is what's practical for you. I would suggest looking at the National Electrical Code and grounding. It has much more information than I can give you.
- 'Doc
If your antenna(s) is of the common variety then it supplies it's own RF ground, the other half of the antenna. The other type of 'ground' is a safety ground, or for lightening etc. That you'd have to supply. It can be a number of things, most not very 'simple' as you might thing. A safety ground is to protect you and the equipment from lightning and other electrical surges. It should be 'healthy' enough to conduct those surges to something other than your equipment and you. Lots of ways of doing that, the best one is what's practical for you. I would suggest looking at the National Electrical Code and grounding. It has much more information than I can give you.
- 'Doc
benbenrf
Member
Some points – as rightly raised by other members - could do with been emphasized: receiver/scanner chassis earthing & antenna earthing are 2 VERY DIFFERENT things.
The threaded terminal/connector (seen on occasion as a bolt with a wing-nut) with accompanying earth sign on the back of a scanner/receiver is an electrical earth to accommodate hardware/circuit or wiring failure – and that’s all it is good for.
This is often the configuration for receivers/scanners, in the EU at least, that come with a single pair power cord and twin socket 2 type plug, which connect to a 2 prong chassis mounted power socket i.e. there is no 3rd, or earth wire. Subject to the PSU configuration inside the chassis this is an acceptable EU standard.
Connecting these rear panel mounted earthing points with a suitable length of ac/dc single core cable/wire to any cold water or hot water heater feed-pipe will provide an adequate electrical earth connection (short circuit type) – but is completely inadequate as an earth in the event of a lightening strike.
To protect any receiver/scanner from lightening, a coaxial type lightening arrestor needs to be located between the antenna & receiver/scanner [coax socket] at some point – and the further from the receiver/scanner the better. Complimenting this with a dedicated “earth” (along the lines of that described 3 paragraphs below) is well worth the cost, effort & time invested setting up.
Simply put, lightening arrestors are big fuses or diverters, which isolate the receiver/scanner and “blow” or divert [to earth] power in the event of a strike. Some types of arrestor just “trip” and divert the lightening voltage/amperage to earth, whereas some types will “blow” and be destroyed in the process of protecting your hardware.
In any event, the earth requirements for lightening protection are substantially different to those on the back of your typical receiver/scanner for electrical/circuit type fault earthing.
When earthing a externally mounted antenna, the rule to follow has to be: use as large a diameter rebar/steel pole ….or whatever, as you can afford, and get it into the ground as deep as you can as close as possible to the antenna – in other words, the path to earth should not only be as physically & electricly large as practically can be accommodated and afforded, but also as physically short as possible. Connect the antenna via its specified earthing point to this grounding rebar/pole ….. whatever, with as short as and as thick as a length of steel or copper strap or woven braiding as is possible to use – truck battery to chassis braided earth straps, connected to the rebar/steel pole with 3 or 4 suitably sized hose clamps, do quite well. if its practical to run 2 - 3 lengths of strap in parralell, do so - the larger the surface area for power to run over, the greater the amount of power which can be carried without failure.
Seal the braiding to rebar/steel pole connection with paint on epoxy type rubber coating, self vulcanizing tape or a length of heat shrink tubing (squirting a load of silicone sealant into the heat shrink tubing before heat-shrinking will help fill any inter-weave voids that could otherwise accumulate moisture over time – the silicone will of course cure and consolidate over 24hrs or so). This will, if done properly, prevent corrosion forming over time due to moisture ingress – any resistance in the transfer path is bad news and will increase the potential for path breakdown (otherwise known as “antenna & coax vaporization”!!) in the case of a lightening strike. Painting the entire length of braiding with epoxy rubber paint is a good idea – braiding can soak up moisture like a sponge.
Regards the other end of the braiding i.e. the end connected to the antenna side, or antenna support pole or structure – try to ensure as good (i.e. as large & as secure) connection as was obtained with the braiding end connected to the earthing bar/pole ... or whatever is used.
Having said all this - yes, there are earthing/grounding recommendations/guidelines/standards etc etc ….. on the net, and while certain methods may well be better or offer advantages over other methods in certain cases, as a rule, common across all of them are:
- large grounding path surfaces & diameters – makes complete sense: the greater the lightening strike power, the greater the required conductor surface area needed (current concentrates primarily at/on the surface of a conductor, therefore the larger the surface area offered by a conductor the better ..... etc etc......)
- none of the standards/guidelines/recommendations guarantee 100% protection. Such is the unpredictable nature of lightening it may leave no more than a small burn mark on the one hand one day, whereas on the other hand on another day, a strike may comprehensively destroy or literally vaporise hardware.
In summary: the typical receiver/scanner chassis earth, while adequate as an earth path for mains-line type voltages & currents, is no-where near adequate as an earth path for lightening. Hardware connected to a external antenna, is best isolated and protected by way of a lightening arrestor & dedicated earth setup, if not (and this is even better), physically disconnected from the antenna in the event of conditions favorable to lightening.
The threaded terminal/connector (seen on occasion as a bolt with a wing-nut) with accompanying earth sign on the back of a scanner/receiver is an electrical earth to accommodate hardware/circuit or wiring failure – and that’s all it is good for.
This is often the configuration for receivers/scanners, in the EU at least, that come with a single pair power cord and twin socket 2 type plug, which connect to a 2 prong chassis mounted power socket i.e. there is no 3rd, or earth wire. Subject to the PSU configuration inside the chassis this is an acceptable EU standard.
Connecting these rear panel mounted earthing points with a suitable length of ac/dc single core cable/wire to any cold water or hot water heater feed-pipe will provide an adequate electrical earth connection (short circuit type) – but is completely inadequate as an earth in the event of a lightening strike.
To protect any receiver/scanner from lightening, a coaxial type lightening arrestor needs to be located between the antenna & receiver/scanner [coax socket] at some point – and the further from the receiver/scanner the better. Complimenting this with a dedicated “earth” (along the lines of that described 3 paragraphs below) is well worth the cost, effort & time invested setting up.
Simply put, lightening arrestors are big fuses or diverters, which isolate the receiver/scanner and “blow” or divert [to earth] power in the event of a strike. Some types of arrestor just “trip” and divert the lightening voltage/amperage to earth, whereas some types will “blow” and be destroyed in the process of protecting your hardware.
In any event, the earth requirements for lightening protection are substantially different to those on the back of your typical receiver/scanner for electrical/circuit type fault earthing.
When earthing a externally mounted antenna, the rule to follow has to be: use as large a diameter rebar/steel pole ….or whatever, as you can afford, and get it into the ground as deep as you can as close as possible to the antenna – in other words, the path to earth should not only be as physically & electricly large as practically can be accommodated and afforded, but also as physically short as possible. Connect the antenna via its specified earthing point to this grounding rebar/pole ….. whatever, with as short as and as thick as a length of steel or copper strap or woven braiding as is possible to use – truck battery to chassis braided earth straps, connected to the rebar/steel pole with 3 or 4 suitably sized hose clamps, do quite well. if its practical to run 2 - 3 lengths of strap in parralell, do so - the larger the surface area for power to run over, the greater the amount of power which can be carried without failure.
Seal the braiding to rebar/steel pole connection with paint on epoxy type rubber coating, self vulcanizing tape or a length of heat shrink tubing (squirting a load of silicone sealant into the heat shrink tubing before heat-shrinking will help fill any inter-weave voids that could otherwise accumulate moisture over time – the silicone will of course cure and consolidate over 24hrs or so). This will, if done properly, prevent corrosion forming over time due to moisture ingress – any resistance in the transfer path is bad news and will increase the potential for path breakdown (otherwise known as “antenna & coax vaporization”!!) in the case of a lightening strike. Painting the entire length of braiding with epoxy rubber paint is a good idea – braiding can soak up moisture like a sponge.
Regards the other end of the braiding i.e. the end connected to the antenna side, or antenna support pole or structure – try to ensure as good (i.e. as large & as secure) connection as was obtained with the braiding end connected to the earthing bar/pole ... or whatever is used.
Having said all this - yes, there are earthing/grounding recommendations/guidelines/standards etc etc ….. on the net, and while certain methods may well be better or offer advantages over other methods in certain cases, as a rule, common across all of them are:
- large grounding path surfaces & diameters – makes complete sense: the greater the lightening strike power, the greater the required conductor surface area needed (current concentrates primarily at/on the surface of a conductor, therefore the larger the surface area offered by a conductor the better ..... etc etc......)
- none of the standards/guidelines/recommendations guarantee 100% protection. Such is the unpredictable nature of lightening it may leave no more than a small burn mark on the one hand one day, whereas on the other hand on another day, a strike may comprehensively destroy or literally vaporise hardware.
In summary: the typical receiver/scanner chassis earth, while adequate as an earth path for mains-line type voltages & currents, is no-where near adequate as an earth path for lightening. Hardware connected to a external antenna, is best isolated and protected by way of a lightening arrestor & dedicated earth setup, if not (and this is even better), physically disconnected from the antenna in the event of conditions favorable to lightening.
To have a correct ground, everything has to go to one common grounding point which is the grounding wire going to the power panel. I also have 4 other ground rods, 8' in the ground attached to the ground wire going to the power meter.
Ground wires to your equipment must be a short as possible. My station is located right on the other side of the wall from the power panel.
Lightning arresters should be on every coax, also grounded to the power panel ground.
These will help on a near strike, but a direct strike will blow up your equipment no matter what kind of lightning arrestor you have.
The lightning arrestors perform several funtions. Just wind plowing over your antenna can build up static electricity that can hurt equipment. Lightning strikes 10 miles away still put enough electricity into the air that can be picked up by your equipment and again damage it.
Take some time to really study how to correctly ground your equipment, as was pointed out, grounding for lightning, static electricity etc is far different than grounding for electrical protection from your equipment.
When a storm is near, my antennas are unscrewed at the window panel the cables come through and my station is unplugged. If phone or internet is connected, they should also be disconnected if you want max protection. I transmit on handhelds.
Everything has to go to a common ground, radios, cable/Direct TV, phone, everything for an effective system. If everything goes to a common ground, chances are your equipment will survive most anything except a direct lightning hit. Splitting grounds is asking for trouble because your equipment is still plugged into the wall and the ground in your house wiring then becomes a part of the ground which can go as far as starting your home on fire in a worst case situation. Read about grounding and take it serious.
John
Ground wires to your equipment must be a short as possible. My station is located right on the other side of the wall from the power panel.
Lightning arresters should be on every coax, also grounded to the power panel ground.
These will help on a near strike, but a direct strike will blow up your equipment no matter what kind of lightning arrestor you have.
The lightning arrestors perform several funtions. Just wind plowing over your antenna can build up static electricity that can hurt equipment. Lightning strikes 10 miles away still put enough electricity into the air that can be picked up by your equipment and again damage it.
Take some time to really study how to correctly ground your equipment, as was pointed out, grounding for lightning, static electricity etc is far different than grounding for electrical protection from your equipment.
When a storm is near, my antennas are unscrewed at the window panel the cables come through and my station is unplugged. If phone or internet is connected, they should also be disconnected if you want max protection. I transmit on handhelds.
Everything has to go to a common ground, radios, cable/Direct TV, phone, everything for an effective system. If everything goes to a common ground, chances are your equipment will survive most anything except a direct lightning hit. Splitting grounds is asking for trouble because your equipment is still plugged into the wall and the ground in your house wiring then becomes a part of the ground which can go as far as starting your home on fire in a worst case situation. Read about grounding and take it serious.
John
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the pro-106 a handheld?
majoco
Stirrer
dksac2 said:
As has already been mentioned, this is an electrical safety ground and has nothing to do with an RF ground for reception purposes. Nothing can protect your radio from a lightning strike and running a long wire from your radio back to your service entry ground is liable to make things worse from a safety point of view. You will also pick up interference from equipment in your house as the wire acts like another antenna connected to your isolated radio. If your radio is running from a wall-wart or an isolated 12volt supply then it is not connected to the house ground anywhere, so you can put in a ground rod (or more) at the base of your antenna and connect the braid of your coax cable to it and a lightning arrester if you feel like it. A wire from your radio to the ground rod will be good too, as it will prevent earth currents flowing in the coax cable braid.
KC0CSE
Member
PRO 106.......Yes is a handheld....he must have a PRO 197.....there is no ground for the PRO 106....I have the PRO 197 Have it look to see what's behind it...
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