Should your RF ground connect all the way to the SMA jack?
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:11 am
I like to listen to HF with my SDR so I set up a 58' long wire that runs out my 2nd floor window and goes almost level to a tree in the back yard. It ties to the tree about 10' off the ground, A nice straight wire running 45' away from the house . At the window the wire connects to the center pin of a 30' length of coax that goes though the house to the SDR. Directly under the window is a 2'X 1" copper ground rod, that connects to the coax at the window via a 20ga wire that is from the same spool as the actual antenna. So its RF grounded until F connector. Since I could not find an adapter I just connected a F connector adapter to a 1" solid bread board wire into the SMA, but the shielding doesn't touch the SMA. Easier to understand after looking at the picture. Should I connect the ground all the way to the SMA? Or will this create noise? I want to check before I try as it was a huge pain to get that little wire to connect the two and adding a ground would require redoing the silicone holding the whole thing together.