john_q
Well-Known Member
Not wanting to hijack the existing thread on SSB aerials, so a new Post
Background
I have a steel boat and an ICOM 802 with DSC fitted to it.
The vessel has a negative floating DC supply (i.e. No DC current flowing through the hull).
I was having a problem with the earth connections on the 802 leaking current to the hull. (When you power off the control head on the 802, this DOES NOT disconnect the 12 volt supply to the 802 so it was leaking the whole time and I believe these caused issues with Zinc anodes and steel plates)
On the advise of Bob Smith – Sailcom Marine I have fitted a grounding isolation bridge between the ATU earth and the hull and disconnected the earth for the Black box, this has solved the problem.
The cable I am using for an earth on the ATU is a piece of alternator cable bolted to the steel hull.
The cable I am using for the aerial connection from the ATU to the backstay is also alternator cable.
I am running the NW Caribbean SSB net at the moment and everyone is telling me that I am putting out a very strong signal, however, on receive, I seem to be picking up a lot more noise than some other people, .i.e. they are right next to me and are able to pick up a station that to me is buried in the static (my settings are Clarity = 0, RF Gain = 9).
Questions
If I changed to Coax for the connection from the ATU aerial to the backstay, would this improve the receive quality?
And if the answer to the above is yes, exactly how would I earth the shield at one end?
Thanks
Background
I have a steel boat and an ICOM 802 with DSC fitted to it.
The vessel has a negative floating DC supply (i.e. No DC current flowing through the hull).
I was having a problem with the earth connections on the 802 leaking current to the hull. (When you power off the control head on the 802, this DOES NOT disconnect the 12 volt supply to the 802 so it was leaking the whole time and I believe these caused issues with Zinc anodes and steel plates)
On the advise of Bob Smith – Sailcom Marine I have fitted a grounding isolation bridge between the ATU earth and the hull and disconnected the earth for the Black box, this has solved the problem.
The cable I am using for an earth on the ATU is a piece of alternator cable bolted to the steel hull.
The cable I am using for the aerial connection from the ATU to the backstay is also alternator cable.
I am running the NW Caribbean SSB net at the moment and everyone is telling me that I am putting out a very strong signal, however, on receive, I seem to be picking up a lot more noise than some other people, .i.e. they are right next to me and are able to pick up a station that to me is buried in the static (my settings are Clarity = 0, RF Gain = 9).
Questions
If I changed to Coax for the connection from the ATU aerial to the backstay, would this improve the receive quality?
And if the answer to the above is yes, exactly how would I earth the shield at one end?
Thanks