www.devilfinder.com How to build a loop antenna for shortwave radio

The dead chickens wont help, cook them and eat them.
cuhulin

In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4 to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the radio, up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the house to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

The ICE BALUN is really an UNUN in this case. Unbalanced antenna to
Unbalanced transmission line.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article ,
wrote:

www.devilfinder.com How to build a loop antenna for shortwave radio

The dead chickens wont help, cook them and eat them.

Since you are puttering around in the backyard putting up an antenna you
might as well have a barbecue.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof
after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take
off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money
on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4 to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is
isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything
above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the radio,
up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the house
to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron
bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

The ICE BALUN is really an UNUN in this case. Unbalanced antenna to
Unbalanced transmission line.


For the inverted L, what tap on the the ICE-180 should I use ??? 300, 450,
600 or 800

Michael

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof
after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take
off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money
on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4 to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is
isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything
above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the radio,
up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the house
to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron
bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

You know... That is probably why my ill conceived long wire was so noisy.
It got a lot of signal, but a lot of noise too. I'm betting the the Inverted
L with it's own ground will now be pretty decent as far as noise goes. As
for the radio, I'm going to ground it in the shack to a radiator. Or, i can
forgoe that and ground the antenna/receiver switch to the radiator instead.

Michael

Michael wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof
after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take
off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money
on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4 to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is
isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything
above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the radio,
up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the house
to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron
bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

The ICE BALUN is really an UNUN in this case. Unbalanced antenna to
Unbalanced transmission line.


For the inverted L, what tap on the the ICE-180 should I use ??? 300, 450,
600 or 800

Off the top of my pointed head, if you'd want to convert the wire to 50 Ohms I'd go
with the 450 Ohm tap.

However, not knowing the true design of the ICE-180, it may be to your benefit to
experiment with the other taps.

In fact, with most any particular design, whether it be an antenna or a matching
transformer/balun, it always pays to experiment, because your particular
location/circumstances might be different from that of others.

dxAce
Michigan
USA



Michael

In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message

et.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof
after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take
off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money
on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4 to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is
isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything
above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the radio,
up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the house
to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron
bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

The ICE BALUN is really an UNUN in this case. Unbalanced antenna to
Unbalanced transmission line.


For the inverted L, what tap on the the ICE-180 should I use ??? 300, 450,
600 or 800

I would expect the lowest value to work the best. You could easily
experiment with this setting. In addition I would try a direct
connection to the coax. If that works the best then I would make a 1:1
toroid transformer for it. Here the antenna and ground would be
connected to one winding and the coax to the other winding with no
direct connection between the two windings.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message

et.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof
after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take
off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money
on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4 to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is
isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything
above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the radio,
up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the house
to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron
bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

You know... That is probably why my ill conceived long wire was so noisy.
It got a lot of signal, but a lot of noise too. I'm betting the the Inverted
L with it's own ground will now be pretty decent as far as noise goes.

That's the theory.

As for the radio, I'm going to ground it in the shack to a radiator.
Or, i can forgoe that and ground the antenna/receiver switch to the
radiator instead.

The bast you can do for the radio if you have modern 3 wire outlets is
to get a filtered power conditioning strip to plug the radio into.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in
message

et.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the worst
choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head with a
dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a ground
to
operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm building a
second
antenna because my current 150' long wire has fallen apart on the roof
after
being up there for three years. I have an ICE-180 balun that I can
take
off
of that mess, so I figured I'd use that in the construction of
something
that can make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent
money
on a
new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire. Under 50 bucks
total. Why the hell wont I get an effective ground here with a six
foot
ground rod ??? I always thought the ground here in this area had
great
conductivity. That is why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting on the
retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about the rod for
different soil conditions than what you have. Chances are for you the
water table is about 2 or 3 feet below ground. Chances are you have 4
to
6 inches of top soil then several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common mode
antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded by neighbors
with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10 megahertz. Is
isn't
so good below of above that. My 150' long wire was great for anything
above
10 megahertz. Unbelievably, it was also very good for 3 megahertz to
4
megahertz. I have no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was,
I'm
sure, a poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the
radio,
up
on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then back down the
house
to a
ground rod in the earth. The current ground rod is only 3' long iron
bar.
Don't ask me how, but it worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically significant
length then you do not have a ground wire. What you have is a counter
poise and its electrical length will sum with the characteristics of
the
Random/Long-wire that is the other part of the antenna. The length is
the important consideration not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L. Keep it
as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly can. If you
like the performance, and the coax is traveling across the ground to
get
to your house, you can bury it in a trench. You could protect the coax
in the ground with PVC pipe or buy the type of coax that is designed to
be put in the ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio to the
antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the ICE
BALUN
because the ground at the radio is from the mains and is contaminated
with electrical noise from other devices.

You know... That is probably why my ill conceived long wire was so noisy.
It got a lot of signal, but a lot of noise too. I'm betting the the
Inverted
L with it's own ground will now be pretty decent as far as noise goes.

That's the theory.

As for the radio, I'm going to ground it in the shack to a radiator.
Or, i can forgoe that and ground the antenna/receiver switch to the
radiator instead.

The bast you can do for the radio if you have modern 3 wire outlets is
to get a filtered power conditioning strip to plug the radio into.

Can you send me a link to such a stip ???

Telamon
Ventura, California

In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
.
..
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message

et.
..
In article ,
"Michael" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in
message

y.n
et.
..

Where he lives a common mode antenna is most likely the
worst choice for an antenna anyway.

What antenna would you recommend ??? Besides dead poultry.

People that meet RHF have a tendency to slap him over the head
with a dead chicken in case you were wondering where that came
from.

Anything not a common mode antenna such as a random/long
wire.

Make a dipole or a loop antenna. Those antennas don't need a
ground to operate.


I already have a di-pole. A 102' G5RV on my roof. I'm
building a second antenna because my current 150' long wire has
fallen apart on the roof after being up there for three years.
I have an ICE-180 balun that I can take off of that mess, so I
figured I'd use that in the construction of something that can
make use of it, like an inverted L. So far I just spent money
on a new 6' ground rod and a 20 buck spool of antenna wire.
Under 50 bucks total. Why the hell wont I get an effective
ground here with a six foot ground rod ??? I always thought
the ground here in this area had great conductivity. That is
why there are so many MW transmitters here.

You should get a good ground with a 6 foot rod. I was commenting
on the retard from the San Francisco area spouting advise about
the rod for different soil conditions than what you have.
Chances are for you the water table is about 2 or 3 feet below
ground. Chances are you have 4 to 6 inches of top soil then
several feet of clay.

You were complaining about area noise before this and a common
mode antenna would be the worst way to go if you are surrounded
by neighbors with noise makers.

BTW... My G5RV works very well from 5 megahertz to 10
megahertz. Is isn't so good below of above that. My 150' long
wire was great for anything above 10 megahertz. Unbelievably,
it was also very good for 3 megahertz to 4 megahertz. I have
no idea why. The way I had that one grounded was, I'm sure, a
poor way to do it. I have a 12 gauge wire going from the
radio, up on the roof to the ICE-180 balun's ground, and then
back down the house to a ground rod in the earth. The current
ground rod is only 3' long iron bar. Don't ask me how, but it
worked.

Any time you have a wire in the air of an electrically
significant length then you do not have a ground wire. What you
have is a counter poise and its electrical length will sum with
the characteristics of the Random/Long-wire that is the other
part of the antenna. The length is the important consideration
not the diameter.

You have made the investment so go and install the inverted L.
Keep it as far from your house and the neighbors as you possibly
can. If you like the performance, and the coax is traveling
across the ground to get to your house, you can bury it in a
trench. You could protect the coax in the ground with PVC pipe
or buy the type of coax that is designed to be put in the
ground.

There is no point in running another ground wire from your radio
to the antenna ground point. The coax shield is that connection.

You would want a separate ground for the antenna ground at the
ICE BALUN because the ground at the radio is from the mains and
is contaminated with electrical noise from other devices.

You know... That is probably why my ill conceived long wire was so
noisy. It got a lot of signal, but a lot of noise too. I'm betting
the the Inverted L with it's own ground will now be pretty decent
as far as noise goes.

That's the theory.

As for the radio, I'm going to ground it in the shack to a
radiator. Or, i can forgoe that and ground the antenna/receiver
switch to the radiator instead.

The bast you can do for the radio if you have modern 3 wire outlets
is to get a filtered power conditioning strip to plug the radio
into.

Can you send me a link to such a stip ???

This is what I use.
http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=99

--
Telamon
Ventura, California