Building a Comm-Center(HAM Shack)

[randy]

So essentially, if you're not using a Bobcat (or more) with an auger, you're not doing it right?
Noted for future reference.

Not so much "not doing it right" as not doing it in the most effective manner possible.

Grounds such as we are discussing here act as part of the antenna system, and "compromise" is a realistic synonym for "antenna". Every system has it's trade-offs.

My station ground, for a number of reasons (including a former neighbor that blacktopped his driveway right up to the side of the house on the shack side of it) is multiple 8 foot ground rods tied together. Plus my tower has multiple grounding points. Not the best or most effective, but good enough for the limited and casual HF operating that I do.

Given space, budget, and an understanding spousal unit, I would absolutely do it differently, and will if I can ever to get a place in the country.

[randy]

Can somebody tell me why I haven't taken my amateur extra yet?

Gee, I don't know, what with cancer, job issues, moving, etc., there's no reason you couldn't have taken the test in your copious amounts of spare time!

[Dinochrome One]

Can somebody tell me why I haven't taken my amateur extra yet?

You seem to have your hands full already! I thought that I was well grounded in electronics until I flunked a couple of practice exams at QRZ.com. There was plenty of theory that they didn't teach to technicians in the Navy in 1969! After taking the practice test for Extra 150 times, every one of the 705 questions in the test pool was an old friend. Even so, I missed one on the test that counted. Besides being able to use every amateur frequency, I don't have to endure fellow hams urging me to upgrade anymore.

I will:
Find some copper sheet for grounding.
Hammer that copper pipe out flat for a grounding bar.
Get a good bond in all connections by soldering. (except for the screw-connections on the equipment.)
Find some eight-gauge well-wire for lead-in.
Lay out some counter-poise radials around my HF vertical.

Thanks for all the info!

[HTRN]

You're only talking about 2x2 plates here, they aren't as expensive as you'd think...

Current price on McMaster for eighth inch 2 foot square 110 copper: 262 dollars.

Admittedly, MC is shall we say, "pricey"? But I still don't think you'll see it much below 200 bucks for that size, let alone what quarter inch will cost. The scrap value alone is something like 2 bucks a pound. This is all assuming you're buying from a retailer, Ebay is bound to be cheaper...

[HTRN]

2x4 isn't a half sheet, it's a quarter sheet. Standard sheet size is 4x8 for metals.

Online Metals/Speedy Metals, et al aren't going to be that much cheaper. Frankly, unless you do regular large orders, you ain't getting copper at less than 8 bucks a pound(2x2x 1/8" is 23lbs) from a "normal" metal suppliers. Scrap guys? Probably 5 bucks a pound.

[HTRN]

Sorry, what I meant was "cut sheet" size. I.E. I can buy it precut from my metals wholesaler.

"Precut"? Is that something people do without waterjets?

[Highspeed]

Do you guys have copper hot water boilers in the US ? it's easy enough to buy a second hand one and unwrap it for the sheet - the economics of doing that in Europe makes a lot of sense, may of course be different your side of the pond.

[HTRN]

No - the typical tank type water heater is lined steel with a heat source, and an Anode, usually some sort of magnesium alloy.

[Rumpshot]

Out here in the old west, copper boilers are still around. They are worth more to collectors than the scrap metal price by quite a bit. HTRN these are the cooking type boilers, not hot water heaters.

[Dinochrome One]

The Ham station; now with more boat-anchors! On the left, a Hammarlund SP-600 receiver, Collins R-388 receiver, and on top, a Hammarlund HQ-140-X. Next to the yellow rack is the Drake TR-4 transceiver and it's power-supply-speaker. Further right is the Icom-735 transceiver on top of the MFJ 3-Kilowatt antenna coupler. On the right end is the Astron 50-amp power supply for the Icom. On top of the power supply is an Icom AT-150 automatic antenna tuner that still needs programming. Thats all HF equipment. Out of frame to the right are two six-foot relay racks with my Azden 2-meter FM transceiver, a Watkins-Johnson wide-band VHF receiver, and a Hammarlund BC-779A HF receiver and it's power supply.
It's shaping up, but I'm still feeding it all with a 20-amp extension cord and the RF grounding system is still not complete. I'll have to move that desk and all that HF gear out of the way so that I can hook up the 30-amp permanent line.