Thank you N8fgb & Mackmobile43 for your inputs, Yes, I suppose I could try turning off the power again since I have the battery hooked up now. So I will try it in the morning. And good luck to you Mack in regards to that house down the block, Wow! a block away! imagine that rascal! You must have some power behind you to pick up that. As for loosecannon's inputs, I really do appreciate your tenacity in helping me here. Your right maybe in the Imax 2000 being an OK antenna, but it was me just wanting to try a fiberglass deal in spite of all odds & warnings from a lot of posts I've read from quite a few veterans out there. Actually, I do like the antenna. I picked it because it's a 5/8th wave.
I'm going to gratefully try all the things you mentioned. However, I must add that I'm no stranger to the NEC code & I've also recently installed 60 amp underground service from the house out to my garage last summer, so I know a thing or two about grounding.
One of the things I mentioned previously was that there are actually two types of Grounding in a residential home. The ground rod next to the mains meter outside, is not the same ground that's in residential houses for the water pipe.
Although they are indeed bonded together by ground inside my mains box, they are actually two different animals. The ground rod coming from the meter box is actually a Neutral Ground for the mains. In which all the neutral wires & outlet ground wires are attached together inside the main box by way of bonded neutral bus bars.
This Mains Neutral Ground Rod is to keep all the houses on the block in sync like a Grid. This keeps everyone's power flowing smoothly. The ground for the water pipe is only bonded to the ground of the main box. Which is bonded to the neutral bus bars as well. They are connected together, but serve different purposes. The water pipe ground is mainly for lightning protection.
However, they are also tied together for one most important detail. They are bonded together in case there is a break or short in the wiring in the house. Suppose there was a wire, say a neutral or hot wire that had the insulation worn away. Well, if you did not have an alternative route of ground, you risk the chance of electrocution from the breaker not tripping fast enough, or not tripping at all. And in the old days when glass fuses were used, this was a huge problem. So in the early 60's or late 50's, it was mandatory that there were two grounds to everyones electrical service. Having the water pipe ground is also a means to having an alternative path to ground in case of a short.
One of the reasons why I chose a seperate ground bar for my antenna coax & mast ground, is because I suspected a very noisy mains. Not because of what the NEC code seemed to imply or what it said. Although I do try to follow the code at all times, I for one know that by connecting to the Mains neutral ground, (in case of a noisy 220v service), I risked noise leaking into my mast ground cable and therfore into my antenna from being tied into it. And as I mentioned before, most all residential house grounds have the Water pipe (earth) ground & the mains neutral ground rod bonded together at the circuit box.
For example: my wireless modem is currently leaking into my water pipe (earth ground) as we speak, big time. It stops when I turn the modem off and it stops transmitting. Just from my modem transmission mind you. There was no way in h_ll I was going to hook my mast ground into that mess, But I will try it anyways. I'm in no way selling anything or anybody short here.
I've been learning a lot about house wiring and electrical installs for a few years now. I also hold an associates in HVACR and a certificate in Electrical troubleshooting. It's required in my field.
But in no means do I think I know it all. I don't. But I know enough to hold my own. I've looked at the NEC electrical code to follow up on what I thought I knew. Yes, your right, the mast ground cable & the antenna coax feed should be grounded to the same ground rod. But if I'm not mistaken here, the NEC does not state specifically whether it is the Neutral Ground rod from the mains, or the water pipe, (Earth) ground.
The NEC only states, "as I'm reading it right now" Quote: "Suitable Grounding Electrode driven 8' foot into the earth." I did not ground to the house (mains neutral ground rod) for the reason I stated about being afraid that the mains noise would leak into it if I was hooked into it. But now that I know that it's not my mains noise at all I will try grounding to the neutral mains ground anyways. Just to see.
I already had both the antenna coax ground & the mast ground to an 8' seperate copper rod. The only things I didn't have was a couple of anthenol connectors and better & longer coax so I could build a 4" pvc balun for my feed point. I also need to go and buy a few stand off mounting insulators for my mast ground cable on the house. The NEC states they are needed, and I can see why. (The only thing I did not do). Talk about green. See, even my Associates did not help open my eyes on that one, till I went and re-read.
Yes, I need ground radials I suppose & I do agree with you on the RF entering the coax. I do know a little about RF as well. Much more than you assume, but as you already know, it's quite a bit to take in all of these things, and I certaintly don't know everything. But when this is all over, so help me God, I will. My antenna is already at the maximum height of 60'.
The code for the
FCC states that Antennas cannot be higher than 25' of the tallest point of your roof or house. My highest point of the house is 25'. My mast is 10" and my antenna is a whopping 24'.
25+10+24=59 And I got that last extra foot to make it 60' exactly by raising my mast a foot up in the tri-pod. Lord forbid that I was shy just one foot mind you. I would try moving my antenna to another location on my roof, but all other four quadrants of my roof are 4 or 5 foot lower than the middle of my roof. Plus, my house is narrow from side to side, but very long from front to back. It's an 104 year old, double story house. So I'm not moving it because of those issues.
Getting back to the RF issue, Before I even bought my IMAX, I was already reading & studying about Air choke Baluns as I first purchased an 11 meter dip pole antenna. But I do not have an ideal location to mount it as of yet. I brought home a 1' X 4" pvc pipe tonight from work to start building my own Balun. So I'm going to have to buy new coax now because a 1:1 ratio RF balun calls for about 18 to 21 foot more cable to wrap around the PVC.
In which to me sounds like an aweful lot more of coax than it looks like after it's wound. I have been reading a lot for the last two months the many benefits, and a few minor downfalls of the RF Air Choke Balun. But I tell ya what, I know for a fact that it's a lot cheaper to build one than to buy one online from DX Engineering. They want a whopping $100.00 dollars for a aluminum sealed unit that looks like an EMI filter. No thanks. They might perform great, but I'll get greater satisfaction in bulding my own for less. But I may buy the RF isolator though.
Loosecannon, I'm going to try all the things you mentioned. The coax, the polyphaser, grounding to the Neutral mains ground instead of using the seperate ground rod, For all I know, it could still be a ground loop, but I highly doubt it as I mentioned before, that I already totally disconnected my ground cable. I'm going to get the ground plane kit, and when I order the new coax, I'll get the best & the anthenol connectors as you stated. The one thing us radio freaks have in common, is that when it comes to our equipment, Money, all of a sudden becomes no object. LOL!
I will also keep reading up on RF, RF ground, DC grounding and everything I can. I already have not had any sleep for weeks because I'm constantly on the net looking for answers & solutions. It may be some time now before I get back on here to share with you my outcomes on this beast of a problem.
Wish me luck & Thank you ever so kindly for helping me here & taking your time to help a green horn. :-) Thank you to all of you and a special ty for making me feel at home. I would add that you don't know what it means to me, but I know better that you do know what it means. ;-)
Now if I can only keep the wifey at bay as she looks at the funds disappear from our account.
73's! I'm gone!
U 212
THAT'S THE SAME SOUND I HAVE! Identical to the tee. Except mine also has a few blips here and there. But that's dead on! I can;t believe it, but it's true. The same friggen sound! What do we do now? get our rifles out? Become Ninjas and go on a mission? 
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Linear Mode
