From: Al Simcoe (alsimcoe@alsimcoe.com)
Date: Tue Feb 25 2003 - 15:32:18 EST
Do not ground to the house grounding system !! This is not a good idea
!!
Many factors come into play when you do this.
Go to the pains of using a 10 ft ground rod and run a 4 or 6 AWG ground
wire from the PCR unit to the rod. The thick ground wire will lower the
signal to noise ratio of the input signal. The thicker the better. Even
a small amount of DC resistance can effect the noise that you will hear.
Some of that electrical and rf noise will come from computers and other
digital products in the house or elsewhere in the neighborhood. . It
made a **HUGE** difference in my audio quality.
If you use the house grounding system you will introduce extraneous
noise and most probably hum components due to a difference in ground
potential and other gotchas!!!
Don't even think about it. Don't be lazy. It is worth it on many
levels!!!
Also, before you pound in the ground rod, use a 9 inch post hole digger
and dig out a hole about 30 inches deep or more. Drop in a sono tube 8
inches in diameter and the length that equals the hole depth. You can
cut the sono tube with a saw. You can buy the sono tube at any building
supply center. Now drop the tube into the hole. Now pound the rod to
just below ground level ( don't leave the rod end above the ground so
you do not trip over it over time). This takes some pounding. Live with
it.
You should have already purchased 2 or 3 BIG bags (you will need 2 bags
for sure) of Kitty Litter, the fine sand "Clumping Type", no other. Buy
very big bags. It is cheaper then buying typical consumer size bags.
Pour in the kitty litter 6 inches at a time. For each 6 inch layer then
with a hose pour in water. Take a 3 or 4 ft metal rod and keep on
driving the rod into the mixture. You are doing this to "ENSURE" that
all the water dissolves the Kitty Litter into a slurry. The Kitty Litter
will expand a fair amount. Keep on doing this 6 inch layering until the
slurry reaches the top of the rod.
You must keep driving the rod into the slurry many times to ensure that
the water has dissolved all the Kitty Litter. Oh yes attach the #4
ground wire to the ground rod with the ground clamp prior to doing the
Kitty Litter thing (the reason is obvious).
Ok, now to address the burning question. Why Fine Sand Clumping Kitty
Litter? As the ground that surrounds the ground rod becomes drier in the
hot summer months, the effectiveness of the ground rod becomes *much*
less. The Kitty Litter (all the fine sand type "Clumping" kitty litter
is made from the same stuff) will ensure grounding by increasing the
"Conductivity" of the ground. This procedure is very effective.
Oh yes, try and keep the ground wire running straight down and no sharp
90 degree turns.
So, there you go. You have your mission. There is a chemical name to Non
Clumping Kitty Litter. I forget it. Aluminum something or other.
Don't be lazy with installing a proper ground rod !!!!!
After all this inconvenience, enjoy more consistence in your listening
over a 12 month period. If you choose not to put in all this sweat
equity, you have been warned !!
Al Simcoe
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Al Simcoe (BluMax)
alsimcoe@alsimcoe.com
alsimcoe@simcom-technologies.com
alsimcoe@muskokamug.org
www.alsimcoe.com
ICQ- 53663021
-----Original Message-----
From: pcr-1000-admin@mailman.qth.net
[mailto:pcr-1000-admin@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dimitri Stratton
Vlachos
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 12:51 PM
To: pcr-1000@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [PCR-1000] grounding
I am wondering if anyone has grounded their pcr-1000 to their house
ground
rather than actually grounding it to physical earth? I want to ground
my
receiver, but running a cable to the earth from my room is kind of
impracticle, though I could do it if really need be.
How much of an improvement of reception have people noticed with
grounding?
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