K3MRI

FINALLY, a true expert in the field. @W3ESX you could not be in better hands than @W3TDH. I cede 😇

My answer: ✌️😇 Yes to almost all. I'm going to say that it seems like a good idea to connect the arrester directly to the panel with a double barrel (male-male) but I've never done it. I've always added a very very short run of cable, as in inches. Why you ask? My lame excuse is because that's how my dad did it but frankly, why inject another few points of db loss in the connectors. Just make sure your barrel is of high quality and remember that there will be, ever so little of course, but there will be a little bit of 90-degree strain on that connection; which is why, I'm guessing, my dad added the little bit of cable. In his case, it was always today's equivalent of hardline. Again, not sure that it's necessary. Looking forward to seeing photos of the finished project. PS. Yes, safe assumption that the outer part of the SO is grounded to the chassis but, being stupidly overzealous, a nice little ohmmeter moment and beep would never hurt. But yes, they're connected (he says).

Here's my issue. A lightning arrester should be located as close as possible to the equipment that it is expected to protect. In large substations, for instance, arrestors are installed at take-off points of the lines and of the terminal apparatus. Also, it is good practice to have the arrester as close to the point of ingress of a coax into a building. Put those two together and being on the second floor, you have many good reasons to have the arrestors up high.

Hi Jamison. Oooops. Hold on. First, great diagram. Would have been super helpful to better understand. My bad earlier. Wrong approach... Don't shoot 😎 First a question which I should have asked earlier: HF or VHF/UHF? Also, in case I missed it, what type of coax? I ask these two because of signal loss. Based on this diagram, and the fact that you are upstairs, that ground unit has to go up up up and you have to run your grounding wire from upstairs to the ground. This will give you multiple benefits including much less coax. I'll wait for your answer, but basically, I had not realized your shack was on the second floor. 😇

One Jim welcomes another! Welcome!! Jim

Hi Victor. Thanks and the band plan is on its way today with a few extra goodies 😉 Jim

Hi Jamison. Read the post, now I want to visualize and digest for a couple of hours. Minor first jump-off-the-page, I know you want to save, but you can do better than RG-8X and for this level of effort, I would. Another mini orange flag is your raceway. Careful not to build something that ultimately causes condensation. Weather-resistant yes, weather-proof, so to speak, no. My personal preference is to leave the copper exposed. As for the coax, if you get a good outdoor coax, as in the LMR-400 range, even the one that's meant for underground burial (Times Microwave LMR-400 Direct Burial Coaxial Cable - Black) or even the normal one, you won't need to protect it either. Maybe, just to give it a 'blending look' on the side of the house, you can get a long roll of 'house colored' heat shrink and camouflage it that way. I hope I'm visualizing your setup correctly... The real question, and it's a good one that deserves some thought, is the height of the box. I would mount it low, not to save on copper, but to have any current travel less distance to ground. I would not, however, allow for any parallel running. My setup has the ground wire moving away from the coax at 90-degrees in the hope that the current does not decide to travel along with the coax. Last point about the box... I'm repeating what I said above... condensation!!! Make sure your box is very very very well vented. Last little thought as per XYL and house value. One thing I had done for a friend is to build everything into runs of PVC pipe which were a couple of inches away from the wall of the house and simply fastened with three brackets (top/middle/bottom). We had then painted the PVC in the same color as the house. Basically invisible. Just a thought. Hope this kinda/sorta helps. Jim

Hah, you think Ham Census wore you out??? In addition to building it, I must've filled it out a dozen times. I'm so worn out... (I got nuthin'). 😴

Thanks for joining Eric. Truly appreciated!! Jim

Welcome to Ham Community Rob. Great to have you on board!!

Hi Ed. Welcome to Ham Community!!!!! Thanks for joining. Jim

Welcome Rick. Thank you so so much for joining Ham Community. Jim

Hi Anna and welcome to Ham Community. So very happy you're here. Jim

Welcome back Brant. Happy! And again, apologies for the other day!!!!

Gracias Manel. Do you have a central website or is your only link this one (that goes to a file?). Thx. Jim

Fixed. Thanks. Fixed Thanks. IARU HF fixed. Which are VHF contests? Thanks. Stet for now 'Yes' is the first answer: 'I go on distant radio expeditions' One of our team had argued against LoTW being a QSL bureau inasmuch as it was more of a 'logbook that confirms' as opposed to a traditional QSL. I quote from ARRL: "Checking and verifying QSOs is the main purpose of LoTW. As with QSL cards, the aim is to provide trustworthy evidence confirming or proving that logged QSOs really did take place as claimed between duly licensed amateurs." Even they compare themselves with QSL cards without actually saying they are one. So for now, I'll leave as is. Thanks. I reread your comment several times and was about to add an option but decided against it. My reasoning is that if you're in a conversation, you're a ham, and someone else talks about amateur radio, I'm going to assume that all of us will jump in. This question was more about initiation of conversation rather than willingness to partake. I realize there are many more brands, maybe too many. This was the set that the team finally managed to agree on. But you're right, this is only ham radio and not other telecom aspects which are, as you note, in ID405. Let me think about how I can make this clearer. By end-fed I mean a long wire of any length whereas a half-wave is a specific type. Fixed. Thanks. Excellent suggestion. Added: "None yet, but plan to" This is a 'long survey' technique to break up people's boredom. It forces you to think slightly differently. Sorry, not sure what you mean by this one. Good point. It's a wording issue. Probably my bad. The final choice: "consider myself knowledgeable" assumes that you have read it all and are a grand master at national regulations. I won't change it for now, but noted. Thanks. Agreed on both counts and changed. This one I'll just leave as is. One of our team members really wanted this to be about principal choices which is why we went with three choices only. One word: Junkie 😝 - btw, me same. I agree but decided to limit it to what the team thought were the truly big ones. If someone can give me a list of the truly truly 20 largest, I would make that into a separate question. Also, I would need to get Japan, Thailand, EU, and others in there as well. This I realize is necessary. I should probably add a 'regularly' question, but this was really to see if you attend at least one a year. Maybe I'll add. TBD. I left the choices that were there, but I added: "Radio should be taught in schools to encourage STEM". Hope that works. WOW Sterling. Thank you for your diligence. I truly appreciate it. And, hopefully, as you can see, though I don't take 100% of advice given, I take most of it and do so with great appreciation. So again, thank you. I hope that you'll spread the word.

Hi Steve. Thanks so much for joining Ham Community. Jim.

Welcome Paul. Glad you joined.

Hi Ham Community. This coming weekend I'll be giving a presentation on 'Shaping the Future of Ham Radio' on QSO Today. My presentation is on Saturday August 14 from 2200 to 2300 UTC 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Eastern. If you'd like to attend, here is the link to register at QSO Today. If you'd like to discuss anything I say or have any further questions, feel free to do so here.

Thanks Victor. We actually have a bug with the addresses. We're trying to get it fixed but our developer has been ill in recent weeks so... Thanks for your patience and glad to have you aboard. 73 Jim

As band conditions improve and we start to reach further, I am curious how many of us have had QSOs with slightly out-of-the-way countries.

Hey, I'm old and an old-timer and I have much much to learn 😇 That's the beauty of amateur radio, just when you think you know it all, you meet someone else who knows more not to mention something new comes out, a new digital mode, a new antenna theory, a new regulation... it never ends. If you get a chance, it's not short, but you're welcome to fill out Ham Census. Talk soon...

Please add to that lightning strikes, broken springs in CW keys and the invasion of aurora borealis into southern latitudes. Oh wait, and cycle 25 turns out to be the weakest of the millennium.

Do you mean those white specs. They look like they're on the lens??? Which does not make sense because you must've been wide open. Really bizarre. But not the greatest shot, so I'd just move on. But you have to figure out what that is.

Every community needs a scape goat. At your service 😎