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G4C05

AMATEUR RADIO PRACTICES · - Interference to consumer electronics; grounding and bonding

G4C05G4C →

What is a possible cause of high voltages that produce RF burns?

  1. AFlat braid rather than round wire has been used for the ground wire
  2. BInsulated wire has been used for the ground wire
  3. CThe ground rod is resonant
  4. DThe ground wire has high impedance on that frequency
Why A wire is only a good ground at DC and low frequencies. At RF, a ground conductor has inductance and can be an appreciable fraction of a wavelength long, so it presents a high impedance. Current flowing through that impedance develops significant RF voltage on the chassis or 'ground' connection, and touching it gives an RF burn. The cure is short, wide, low-inductance bonding straps, or common-mode chokes and counterpoise to keep RF off the equipment.
Watch out The resonant ground rod choice sounds plausible but it is the wire between the equipment and the rod, not the buried rod, whose length and inductance matter; flat braid is actually better than round wire because it has lower RF inductance.
Ground wires can be hot at RF: short and wide equals low impedance, long and skinny equals RF burns.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
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The rest of G4C

  1. G4C01 Which of the following might be useful in reducing RF interference to audio frequency circuits?
  2. G4C02 Which of the following could be a cause of interference covering a wide range of frequencies?
  3. G4C03 What sound is heard from an audio device experiencing RF interference from a single sideband phone transmitte…
  4. G4C04 What sound is heard from an audio device experiencing RF interference from a CW transmitter?
  5. G4C05 What is a possible cause of high voltages that produce RF burns?
  6. G4C06 What is a possible effect of a resonant ground connection?
  7. G4C07 Why should soldered joints not be used in lightning protection ground connections?
  8. G4C08 Which of the following would reduce RF interference caused by common-mode current on an audio cable?
  9. G4C09 How can the effects of ground loops be minimized?
  10. G4C10 What could be a symptom caused by a ground loop in your station's audio connections?
  11. G4C11 What technique helps to minimize RF "hot spots" in an amateur station?
  12. G4C12 Why must all metal enclosures of station equipment be grounded?
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