today i had another idea? about my am station i used to have. when i get my commercial-community program hybrid, and streaming started and going, i know what am & fm transmitter what i want to get but my problems with am is that my ground is no good in my location and i tried just about everything, but a spit balled idea hit me? if you have an medium-wave transmitter and antenna on a 50ft-75ft-95ft tower with the grounding wire to the ground attached to the tower, pack tightly with new grass & earth i bought/installed, on my lawn (and watered), and have a second ground wire attached to the tower, and clamped to your grounding rod for your Cable, now if 1 grounding wire rod/ isn’t giving you total efficiency,a second grounding wire rod for more efficiency, and gives you 100 percent efficiency. tell me what you think about it and give me your honest opinion?
Mother Ground
The more ground contact the better. The bigger the surface area of the ground contact is better..ie more ground rods, radials etc.
But a TX mounted up on a pole or tower as you described and its ground connected to that tower even with a short ground lead will turn that tower structure into a radiating element more than the 3 meter long stick at the top that is supposed to be the radiator.
The setup would not be legal.
RFB
Better ground, not height
I am trying out a loaner Radio Systems i.AM transmitter at home. It is carrying a CB-type whip antenna and is cable-tied and grounded to a very low-slung chain-link fence. The total length of both elements (antenna-to-box, box-to-ground) meets the FCC restrictions.
The thing is, the chain link fence is 180 feet long and is pounded into a hillside that is fairly damp year round. This certainly cannot be harming my signal!
Try mounting your xmitter to a low, long metal fence and see what happens.
in theory the iam should use
in theory the iam should use the 60ft coax from atu to tx as ground and a separate ground should not be needed which would mean you can place that thing high up and get good range legally right out of the box.
put the atu/antenna on roof and locate tx in attic. it was certified with that long ground lead so my guess is if the feds ever came calling they would have to pass it.
TH/iAM Ground
Actually I believe that ATU unit has a ground lug for a ground lead. Meaning you can run a ground lead to the mounting structure which can be connected to a ground radial system.
But I will bet anyone here that it does not mean the thing was certified to be placed up on a 75 foot tall pole even if it was not using this ground lug.
We get into the height debate and interpretation of the rules to that effect.
It would be a try it and see if anything bad happens.
RFB
Fence
“The thing is, the chain link fence is 180 feet long and is pounded into a hillside that is fairly damp year round. This certainly cannot be harming my signal!”
I have heard and experienced that anything to do with a fence of metal construction tends to dampen the signal more than it helps, regardless if the fence is attached to the ground path or not.
“Try mounting your xmitter to a low, long metal fence and see what happens.”
I have, and it never proved to be worthwhile, connected or isolated.
RFB
Represented As Part 15 Legal Up A Pole…
Check out THE INFOSPOT. A system based on the I.A.M. (read Talking House) transmitter.
They clearly show the antenna way up a pole. The literature clearly states this system is certified for Part 15 use.
Basically they have housed the Talking House transmitter in a fancy box with some audio support gear. The Talking House ATU remote antenna tuner is placed in another fancy box with the 102″ whip mounted to the box, connected to the ATU.
Very expensive but for the technically challenged very Plug-N-Play.