Hello Everyone,
I am back! I haven't been on the forums in a while. A lot of changes have happened. First of all, I finally got the Taking House ATU. 🙂
I have been testing it out the past few days. It is built very well. I am going to have to mount the ATU on the roof of my house to get good coverage because of the way my house and neighbor is.
One problem I ran into is grounding it. How do you properly ground the ATU? I know that if you ground it properly, it can increase your range.
Here is a clip from the iAM instructions about using the external ATU, available on line at http://www.talkinghouse.com/instructions.php.
QUOTE
6. For best performance, you may want to attach a wire (not supplied,) from the the Ground Wire Connector on the top of the ATU to an earth ground. Some examples of earth grounds are:
• The center screw that holds the cover on a wall electrical outlet.
• Plumbing, water pipes (metal).
• A copper ground rod driven into the earth.
Please note that Part 15 FCC regulations do not allow an antenna in excess of 3 meters in length and most usually the ground wire length must be considered by adding its length to this total antenna measurement calculation.
END QUOTE
Here is a hint: Don't attach any ground to the ATU. The ground lug of the unit is tied to the shield of the RG-6. Use a very short ground wire from the back of the transmitter to ground.
If I unhook the 6-inch ground wire from between the Talking House ATU ground lug and the top of the buried grounding rod, the level on the ATU's built-in meter goes down a whole number (from 8 to 7) and has a very noticeable, negative impact on signal range. Your mileage may vary.
What is the height of your ATU?
Ground level.
@Deano: Buried coax? If so that's why.