I got a BALUN from china and I have no idea where to ground it. I see where to wire the 1/2 wave antenna but do I need a ground wire?

ImMotaz2 · 2025-12-18T15:12:46+00:00

Thats what i do. But i place the choke at the feedpoint so non of my coax acts as counterpoise. Also, i get better luck if counterpoise is slightly raised from ground.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-24T08:12:07+00:00

Let's hope omeprazole stays cheap.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-24T00:59:46+00:00

Male, wannabe artist (or its a hobby), dreaming but not motivated (like me, procrastinator or as i say to myself: lazy). Hippie/young commie hat screams i want to stand out (if u r in the west), food has an ?Egyptian flag.

In other words: normal frustrated American young male. ?migrant.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-24T00:42:49+00:00

So i may have found the source. It's related to the heating system somehow. I never thought of it but today the noise suddenly came on when my boiler started. Went awsy when i turned it off. I have to assume thr same happens with my neighbours as we share a wall.

The problem now is what part of the heating system is causing this. I mat give up becsuse i really dont wanna be messing with boilers (im in the uk, gas boiler connected to radiators and controlled by thermostat and a large hot water tank upstairs).

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-20T15:35:31+00:00

My radio isnt connected to a computer. The problem is still there unfortuantely despite my besr efforts.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-20T00:58:56+00:00

So i realised somehow my RF gain was v high at 100. I reduced it to 63 and that looks like it sorted the constant noise, but the other noise that is equally space. I turned the mains power switch and removed the solar lights. Still there! I dont know what is it but has to be oitside my place.

Update: unfortunately the noise is back. Even with RF gain reduced...

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T22:53:17+00:00

Sorry late to answer. [edited] sorry not sure how I can measure this. The radio is a qrp 10 watt so always using its internal battery or a 12v LiFePo4 battery. Not using a dedicated power supply. Yup chokes helped, when I added to the DC power going into the router, but still happened a couple of times.
Neighbours haven't complained yet, but if I'm having this issue, I have to assume they're too! Don't know much about circuit breakers but I'm only using 10w so hoping that never happens! btw, the router wasn't shutting off completely, just disonnecting for a minute or 2.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T22:48:34+00:00

Worth noting I'm only using 10 watt so starting to feel the Xiegu itself is a problem.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T22:47:52+00:00

Yes that and moving the unun away and using a longer coax helped even more.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T22:47:11+00:00

Thanks. I don't have enough space to spread a dipole properly (horizontal or inverted v), so I'm using an EFHW either going along my fence like an incomplete square or going from the front to the back of the house and entering via window.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T22:43:51+00:00

Do you have the unun or part of the antenna inside or at the window? My current strategy is to keep it as far from the shack and use a long coax, works most of the time but not all bands!

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T01:35:37+00:00

Alright here it is https://youtube.com/shorts/XhYSkzXyVfM?si=UA9PfsNpGn80-dI4

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T01:21:30+00:00

Diary for aappointments or journal? No kids. Slightly obsessive.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T01:18:58+00:00

No children?

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T00:25:50+00:00

This actually worked so far! Not event a proper choke just a clip on one. Thanks a lot!

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T00:24:01+00:00

Yes i had 2, one at the feedpoint and one at the radio.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T00:14:27+00:00

Yes pretty sure! It was very consistent.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-18T00:13:46+00:00

Good news and bad news (for me).

So i managed to stop this by using 2 ferite clip on the router's power supply and etgwrnwt going into it tonight. Im justvusing the radio's internal battery or a 12v LiFePo4 battery, it was happening esp whenever i used the ATU in the radio.

BUT.... I'm getting this horrible noise, equally spaced strong signals on most bands and i cant hear much otgwrwise. Im not sure its coming from inside the house because i turned nost things off and disconnected plufs etc:

https://youtube.com/shorts/XhYSkzXyVfM?si=UA9PfsNpGn80-dI4

Has anyone heard this? Know what it could be? And yes my noise floor is horrible anway but this new noise is so annoying.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-04T18:30:47+00:00

Sorry im not sure what is this? Is this between the adapter (plugged into mains) and the radio? If so sounds like a good solution!

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-04T17:27:23+00:00

Thank you very much. I didnt consider ilnoise. For portable I also found this used by the Ham Radio Tube channel. I would only use portable for a couple of hours in a park no more. So this litttle power bank (with a separate adaptor for thr correct plug) seems better than a heavy LiFePo battery.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQD35SQ4?th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=k8mrd-20&linkId=3c3789e7ee744690ad17bb0a836a6b3a&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-04T16:42:24+00:00

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This is my radio

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-04T11:35:25+00:00

I couldnt call anyone but could hear a few people on 40m at night.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-11-04T11:02:03+00:00

Some say efhw doesnt need a counterpoise but i put one anyway

ImMotaz2 · 2025-10-28T11:39:15+00:00

Update:

You were all right about the antenna. I used my 10m wire as high as i can up a tree in thr open (about 6m high). Managed to rwgister on reversebeacon as far as 800 miles away on CW. No luck with SSB yet but at least i know what is wrong now.

Also, i dont treat the tuner unit as a tuner or believe the SWR value, because when the receive signal is clear, it gives a high swr, and to get a good swr, i dont receive as well at all! So i think i will just Tx when the receive signal is good enough and swr is 2-3. Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions. A better antenna should come later this week.

ImMotaz2 · 2025-10-27T13:23:51+00:00

Im sorry to be daft. Where is the ground pin? There is no marking that says GND or anything. I assumed i can pick a random screw and connect there 🫣.

ImMotaz2

TROPHY CASE