Single-point ground plane for antenna lines

I’ve replaced my current system of shack feedline grounding with a single-point ground plane for the antenna lines coming into the station.

Previously, the HF antennas (off-center-fed 80 meter dipole, 6BTV vertical, and 160-meter inverted-L) all terminated in a rotary coax switch. The switch is grounded to the station ground bus that runs along the back of the operating desk, in turn grounded with strap to the ground rods through the basement wall outside. Other antennas, such as the 160-meter receive loop, six meter beam and the VHF-FM antenna in the attic, connect to their respective devices directly.

The new SPGP consists of a heavy piece of aluminum angle stock with feedthrough UHF connectors. It’s mounted to a ceiling joist. The angle stock is grounded to the station strap. Each feedline connects through the panel, with short jumpers from the panel to the next piece of equipment in the path. There are extra holes for future connectors if (when!) I add more antennas.

For the jumpers, I used double-shielded (braid over foil) RG-8X from Wireman, terminated with DX Engineering’s hybrid PL-259s (solder center and crimp shield). Each jumper is color-coded at each end with a piece of colored heat shrink to make identifying cables in the “tangle” easier.

Time will tell if the system improves performance, but at least it’s a safer installation from a grounding standpoint.