Earthed my antenna rig...Thoughts??

Brad B · #1 22nd January 2013, 09:03 PM

Well I know nothing about earthing but thanks to Mike Scott and plenty of reading i think I have earthed my entire system. I was getting popped radar boxes due to static, I think the way i have done it will bleed any static to the earth, I ran the cable from the mast down thru the roof in a nice straight wire (used proper earth wire) and connected to the main earth for the house, see the photos and let me know what you think...if it is ok or if it is crap and wont do anything, im open to suggestions

Right now I am feeding the radarbox24 and flightradar 24 network

Brad B · #2 23rd January 2013, 10:05 PM

so, 60 viewers have any opinions?? do you think this will be sufficient earth?

Bernie P · #3 24th January 2013, 06:44 AM

I'm not an electrician, or into the inner workings of the Radar boxes and systems... So whilst I read the post, and saw the pics, I didn't want to offer any comment, about a subject that I knew not much about. I'd suspect, a lot of other readers are in a similar position to myself.

Perhaps, if we have a Licensed Electrician on board, they may like to offer a professional opinion, but otherwise, for anyone else, I would suspect it would be just guessing!

Mark T · #4 24th January 2013, 08:25 AM

Hi Bernie

I hope that you are successful with your earthing. I know nothing about it other than Radar Boxes seem to "pop" way more often than an SBS unit.

Nigel C · #5 24th January 2013, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bernie P

I'm not an electrician, or into the inner workings of the Radar boxes and systems... So whilst I read the post, and saw the pics, I didn't want to offer any comment, about a subject that I knew not much about. I'd suspect, a lot of other readers are in a similar position to myself.

Perhaps, if we have a Licensed Electrician on board, they may like to offer a professional opinion, but otherwise, for anyone else, I would suspect it would be just guessing!

What he said ^^^^^^^^

Grahame Hutchison · #6 24th January 2013, 11:50 AM

Hi Brad,

There was a presentation by Mike Scott, and discussion on "Earthing", at the ADS-B Sydney Message Board workshop day last November (organised by Kurt).

I am not a qualified electrician either, however a couple of points you might like to follow up on are :-

I think the Australian regulations require your earth cable to connect to the House Ground via some type of device (forget what it was called).
From the images it is hard to tell where the earth cable goes. It looks to be connected to the Mast, but I think it also needs to be connected to the earth of the ADS-B Antenna cable.

Maybe Kurt can help with Mike Scott's presentation (even thought the regulations are different overseas), and Phil Henry or Scott Pepper could help out.

Brad B · #7 24th January 2013, 05:28 PM

technically speaking it is connected to the earth of the antenna cable as the cable earth goes to the earth of the antenna that then goes on the alloy mast then the earth connects to the mast that then has earth cable that runs to the earth of the house.

So when u think about it, the earth from the house dows connect to the earth of the cable from the radarbox via the mast.

Mike Scott · #8 25th January 2013, 10:51 AM

Brad, taking a look at the pics it looks like your on the right track...way better than nothing...which is what you had previously. Sorry about delayed response..have just had eye surgery recently and am doing very minimal computer time so not on the board/anything much..thanks to Amsy for the heads up email that there was a query. If you drop me a direct email I will send you a copy of the presentation.

Its very important to be aware of the different electrical regulations between us here in the US and the local ones there...one remains the same in both though...if/when in doubt have an electrician check it out

Best/safest ground that is independent of the house electrical system (no electrician ) is a ground wire straight from the antenna mast to a ground rod buried in the ground at least 3 feet. Then your coax runs down the side of the house to a ground block which is also connected to that same ground rod. From there the coax runs to your receiver location.

The bottom line is to give any electricity (static or otherwise) the most direct and efficient path to ground because that's where it wants to go..we want it to go there too!! ..without going through your receiver

One last thing...if you know there are thunderstorms in your area disconnect your receiver from both the antenna and power....nothing will save your electronics if you take either a direct strike or even something close....the ground you have/are installing will however take care of the daily static electricity that collects on the surfaces of both your antenna and coax...and that's whats been getting you in the past I'm pretty sure.

Best of Luck...don't hesitate to ask any questions you wish.

MS