{"id":43077,"date":"2020-04-18T21:59:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T04:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/?p=43077"},"modified":"2023-04-08T19:59:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T02:59:00","slug":"comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Quick Modification!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna as some of the articles had suggested. The CHA-250 owners manual doesn&#8217;t indicate a ground connection. I was following the owners manual when I installed the antenna.  I was curious to see if it would have any effect on performance. So I bought some supplies and started the Comet CHA-250B ground rod installation. I first realized I was missing the ground connection when I found this schematic on the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.g8jnj.net\/cometcha250b.htm\" target=\"_blank\">G8JNJ website<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"375\" height=\"568\" src=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif\" alt=\"CHA-250B Balun Schematic\" class=\"wp-image-43078\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHA-250B Balun Schematic showing ground attached to coax shield.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01683.jpg\" alt=\"CHA-250B Grounding\" class=\"wp-image-43075\" srcset=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01683.jpg 800w, http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01683-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01683-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHA-250B Grounding. I used hose clamps, as I did on all my other coax ends.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The ground wire is connected to the coax shield using a hose clamp. The copper wire under the clamp is doubled over, to make better surface contact. An idea I got from <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/wb3anq.com\/simple-antenna-grounding-system-k3dav\/\" target=\"_blank\">K3DAV&#8217;s website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01687.jpg\" alt=\"CHA-250 Ground Rod\" class=\"wp-image-43076\" srcset=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01687.jpg 800w, http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01687-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/DSC01687-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The CHA-250 Ground Rod has two hose clamp connection points (bottom and middle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>All connections to the copper ground rod were doubled over, and clamped, to create more surface contact I&#8217;ve had success with the clamping idea, so I used those clamps again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Results!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I run FT8 using a Flex 6500 barefoot into the CHA-250B. It puts out 86 watts. The CHA-250B does not disappoint! Over the past two days I have worked JA, UA0, 9Y, SP, OH, VK, UT, and KH6! Just to name a few! I now have thousands of FT8 contacts across 6 bands!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The antenna is a bit quieter, noticeably so on 30m, and the SWR is roughly the same on all bands. I can&#8217;t claim any big improvements.  Static charge build-up, caused by high winds, will go to ground. Installing the Comet CHA-250B ground rod was definitely a worthwhile endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Update: 06\/18\/20<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Since grounding the CHA-250 I&#8217;m noticing European stations in the FT8 monitor panel. Prior to this, I&#8217;d rarely seen any calls from the EU. Either conditions have suddenly improved, or adding the ground has made a significant improvement. With all the complaints I hear on the air about conditions, I have to believe adding this ground to the CHA-250 has caused improved performance. I&#8217;ve worked all through Europe since installing the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\">Back To The Front<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Quick Modification! I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna as some of the articles had suggested. The CHA-250 owners manual doesn&#8217;t indicate a ground connection. I was following the owners manual when I installed the antenna. I was curious to see if it would have &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-new"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation - K6HR SDR Server 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"K6HR SDR Server 2023 - I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna coax shield.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation - K6HR SDR Server 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"K6HR SDR Server 2023 - I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna coax shield.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"K6HR SDR Server 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-19T04:59:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-09T02:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"K6HR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"K6HR\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"K6HR\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24\"},\"headline\":\"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-19T04:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-09T02:59:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif\",\"articleSection\":[\"What's New\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation - K6HR SDR Server 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-19T04:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-09T02:59:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"K6HR SDR Server 2023 - I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna coax shield.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif\",\"width\":375,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"CHA-250B Balun Schematic\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/18\\\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"K6HR SDR Server 2025\",\"description\":\"Flex Radio 6000 Series - TG-XL \\\/ PG-XL\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24\",\"name\":\"K6HR\",\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/image\\\/\"},\"description\":\"Licensed since 1994. Active on HF \\\/ VHF \\\/ UHF \\\/ Satellite.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/k6hr.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation - K6HR SDR Server 2026","description":"K6HR SDR Server 2023 - I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna coax shield.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation - K6HR SDR Server 2026","og_description":"K6HR SDR Server 2023 - I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna coax shield.","og_url":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/","og_site_name":"K6HR SDR Server 2026","article_published_time":"2020-04-19T04:59:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-09T02:59:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"K6HR","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"K6HR","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/"},"author":{"name":"K6HR","@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24"},"headline":"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation","datePublished":"2020-04-19T04:59:05+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-09T02:59:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/"},"wordCount":389,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif","articleSection":["What's New"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/","url":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/","name":"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation - K6HR SDR Server 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif","datePublished":"2020-04-19T04:59:05+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-09T02:59:00+00:00","description":"K6HR SDR Server 2023 - I recently read several articles about CHA-250B installations and realized I had not grounded the antenna coax shield.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif","contentUrl":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Comet-balun-schematic.gif","width":375,"height":568,"caption":"CHA-250B Balun Schematic"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/18\/comet-cha-250b-ground-rod-installation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Comet CHA-250B Ground Rod Installation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/","name":"K6HR SDR Server 2025","description":"Flex Radio 6000 Series - TG-XL \/ PG-XL","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c65191ecdc6b432c91282328288efb24","name":"K6HR","logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Licensed since 1994. Active on HF \/ VHF \/ UHF \/ Satellite.","sameAs":["http:\/\/k6hr.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43077"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44358,"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43077\/revisions\/44358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/k6hr.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}