TV and lights go crazy

[ih2425]

I have a yeasu rig and a mfj versa tunner when i transmit cw and turn my power up my tv goes crazy and downstairs the china cabinet lights blink. my antenna is a end fed dipole connected to the wire terminal to my versa tuner i have a ground rod connected to my versa tunner and my yeasu i take it this is a grounding problem my shack is on the top floor i have a 2 story brick house and the cable goes out the window down to the ground rod so i presume since the tuner is grounded this should take care of the end fed cable. so far i can not feel any hot spots while i tne my rig or tuner.

 

[W5LZ]

You are running into the common problem with any end fed antenna and a lack of a good ground system. Being on the second floor doesn't help either. A single ground rod is seldom good for much except for a safety ground. If you can run a few ground radials from that ground rod you will find that things will settle down a bit. How long should those ground radials be? As long as possible. If you don't have as much wire in the ground as in the air, expect to have problems (more ground wire is better). Also expect that ground wire running down to that ground rod to radiate. Keeping it as far from electrical stuff as the antenna is a good idea if at all possible. There's no way of shielding that ground wire, so expect to have 'fun' managing it.
I think you may be getting an idea of why a center fed dipole is more common than an end fed one...?
- 'Doc

 

[Moleculo]

Hey, if the china cabinets blink at least you get a free light show .

You said it's an end fed dipole connected to the wire terminal of the antenna tuner. Can you tell us more about the antenna and how it's installed? Doc pretty much told you everything that can be said to fix the problem, but you might find that you can do something different with the antenna that will resolve this if you can tell us what you're working with, how much space you have, etc. for the antenna.

 

[Wire Weasel]

And if you are using an "end fed" as you describe, then it's not a dipole. Dipoles are center fed by definition. A simple end fed piece of wire is either a Random Wire or a Long Wire. And as you are discovering, these antennas have issues. I like wire antennas very much. I use an horizontal Loop cut for 80 meters and it works on all bands above 80 right up to 6 meters.

Pick a band and try a traditional center fed dipole and put one of those 1:1 balun center connector combos at the feedpoint with coax coming back to the shack. Your stray RF will suddenly disappear. Viola'

 

[n8fgb]

I would say it is your antenna. My station is also on the scond floor. Ground rod is directly below my window. also have a counterpoise wire going around the front of the house. My antenna is an inverted v feed with twin lead thru my tuner. Can run over a KW and have no problems with interference.
Rich