zapped from the knobs

Not true if you are referring to a cap that is not defective.

 

Arrogance? More Like Ignorance. I have admitted on many occasions to being new to boat anchors, and all of what I have learned has been threw self education, help from people like you W9GB, and trial and error. A LOT of what I read or see, or am told is conflicting. There have been TONS of articles I have read about how people love their HF Sets, and how they have gotten so MANY QSO's with just a wire on the floor. Im not saying Its right, Im Just saying that is how it is. Im sorry If I seem like a Hack or something, but Im honestly just trying to learn.

 

Not a problem!! The antenna you are using is a set-up for RF running back down the braid of the coax and getting into your rig and YOU! The way to tell is that RF burns occur while you are transmitting. Some say you haven't been truly indoctrinated into ham radio until you have been bit on the lip by RF from a metal microphone!!

You need to find a way to get an antenna outside, if you can. Otherwise, move it as far away from the shack as you can. Do you have an attic?? That's a possibility for a wire antenna. I personally would never think of trying to operate a ham station with a wire antenna in the same room I was in. It just leads to way too many problems.

.............Bob

 

VA3WPN,

Realizing that a wire draped around the room is the last act of a desperate radioman (I know, I'm working that way presently too with a ceiling loop on my third floor), you are in a tough situation RF-wise.

There are three approaches which you can take to get the RF off the radio and going someplace else, without changing the antenna itself:
-Ground the radio and tuner, and other accessories to a single point, e.g the tuner.

-Attach an insulated 1/4L counterpoise wire (one for each desired band) to the tuner ground point, and run around the base boards. Alternatively, MFJ sells a 'virtual ground" box that electrically replicates a counterpoise.

-Add a ground stake outside with single wire coming in and attaching to your accessorie single point ground, e.g. tuner. Keep in mind as the lead approaches 1/4L long or longer other resonance, hot RF or tuning problems may arise.

-Cabling: Gather and coil up cables and wires in the shack to minimize signal pickup. Consider adding chokes to cables and wires at attach points of equipment.

-Reduce transmitter power to level that doesn't 'bite', or cause metering/control problems.

This is an age old problem for amateurs so don't feel discouraged. I guess it is one of the prime motivators to install better antennas outside or better shack/home locations.

good luck! Bill

 

My setup is as follows :

I have an MFJ-941 with a 10 meter length of 14g wire (Not Coax) looped around the roof of a portion of my room.
The tuner is grounded to the ground bus in the houses main electrical panel. (Probably a bad Idea too).
My Radio is grounded to the Tuner.
My Power Supply (HP-23) is grounded via its plug.

I would like to put up a better antenna, how ever the tower is in no state to climb as its winter here, Im in the process of building a Fan Dipole, but I do have a G5RV that I will also be putting up between two of the trees on my Lot. Once its Habitable to do so.

 

Have you seen the recent TV commercial, State of Disbelief by State Farm Insurance?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmx4twCK3_I

The woman's misinformation summarizes the modern quandary with the Internet as a single informational source.
==
You were fortunate that the RF "Bite" was minor, more serious injuries have occurred with improper installations.
Simple, inexpensive antennas can be properly constructed, there are even educational You Tube videos.

 

I watch probably 45 min of TV in a week. lol. But Im sure its good. I do reference the internet, how ever I own copies of the ARRL Handbook, Operating Guide, Antenna's, and Basic Antenna's books. So I do a lot of reading.

 

Even multiples of λ/4 repeat the impedance. Odd multiples invert the impedance. The idea to use λ/4 "counterpoise" wire(s) or, if operating more than one band, random wire + MFJ Artificial Ground are good suggestions.

AC ground and RF ground aren't necessarily the same thing (see above).

 

Connecting RF to electrical ground is generally not a good idea. You can get away with this some of the time.

Draw out your setup as described above using simple boxes and lines. You will see at least two or three possible ground loops!

*I recommend removing the ground link between the tuner and the electrical system, and see if thing improve.

*If that doesn't improve things, then remove any additional ground link between the radio and the tuner and just depend on the coax jumper for the bonding. [edit]

 

Or, if you can't use an outdoor antenna, lower the power level. 'Taint no fun getting poked by stray RF. Another thought, is to do like I do, use a stealth random wire outside, if you can. I load up my apartment building's rain gutter.

Ellen - AF9J