Antenna for the garage stereo

[fiveohpatrol]

I may have missed it, but what's the preferred way to ground a j pole antenna like this? If you tie it into the existing ground rod for elec service, would that cause interference?

 

[Outlawmws]

I may have missed it, but what's the preferred way to ground a j pole antenna like this? If you tie it into the existing ground rod for elec service, would that cause interference?

A very good question:

The J-Pole is very sensitive to conductive support structures and will achieve best performance with no electrical bonding between antenna conductors and the mounting structure.

And:

The J-pole is somewhat sensitive to surrounding metal objects, and should have at least a quarter wavelength of free space around it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-pole_antenna

 

[fiveohpatrol]

Thanks for the info. Towards the bottom of that wiki link, there's a reference to an interesting arguement against grounding them at all http://www.hamradio.me/antennas/j-pole-antenna-should-i-ground-it.html

I would imagine this thing acting somewhat like a lightning rod on the top of my building. If that is true, wouldn't that strike travel down the co-ax to the radio and fry it?

I know practically nothing about how this stuff works, so feel free to call me an idiot while explaining it to me

 

[nehog]

I would imagine this thing acting somewhat like a lightning rod on the top of my building. If that is true, wouldn't that strike travel down the co-ax to the radio and fry it?

It would not matter if it was grounded or not, if your antenna is hit by lightning, your radio will be fried anyway... No ground would ever be effective enough to absorb all the energy in this case.

 

[Outlawmws]

It would not matter if it was grounded or not, if your antenna is hit by lightning, your radio will be fried anyway... No ground would ever be effective enough to absorb all the energy in this case.

Agreed, if you are in lightning storm prone area, don't you already have a lightning rod? It should be higher than the antenna, and if not...



On the subject of lighting, more electronics is damaged by strikes on the power lines and hammering the gear than by direct strikes on the house it is in. Most guys I know that value their gear unplug it all if a lighting storm comes.