TracPhone F33 Grounding Instructions Manual

TracPhone®F33 Antenna
Cable Grounding Instructions

The following instructions explain how to properly ground the
TracPhone F33 antenna cable.

Grounding Kit Contents

The following parts are included with the grounding kit:

Installation Instructions

Refer to Figure 1 and follow the steps below to ground the
antenna cable using the grounding kit.

Figure 1

Antenna Cable Properly Grounded

1. Disconnect power from the antenna unit.

2. If the antenna cable (“A” in Figure 1) is already connected
to the Below Deck Unit (BDU), disconnect it.

3. Connect the male TNC connector end of the pigtail cable
to the female TNC connector on the BDU (see “B” in
Figure 1). The pigtail cable is only 19.6" (50 cm) long and

must not be extended.

Antenna Cable Grounding Instructions

54-0248 Rev. B

1

Before servicing the antenna unit,
be sure to disconnect vessel power.

Grounding Block

Pigtail Cable

N-to-TNC Adapter

D

C

A

B

C, Close-up

Copper Foil Common Ground

Grounding Kit

4. Connect the antenna cable to the female N-connector end
of the pigtail cable. If the antenna cable has a TNC
connector, use the supplied N-to-TNC adapter to connect
to the pigtail cable (see Figure 2). If the antenna cable has
an N-connector, the adapter is unnecessary.

Figure 2

Using the N-to-TNC Adapter

5. Clamp the N-connector of the pigtail cable to the
grounding block (see Figure 2).

6. Mount the grounding block to the hull or other common
ground (see “C” in Figure 1).

If you cannot access the hull, you can extend the ship’s
ground plan by using copper foil. The foil must be at least

0.0039" (0.1 mm) thick. The maximum length of the foil
depends on the foil’s width:

Attach the foil to the hull using plenty of screws or hard­soldering. Run the foil past the pigtail grounding location
and mount the grounding block on top of the foil.

7. As noted in the TracPhone F33 Installation Manual, be sure
to ground the BDU as well. Connect a ground wire at the
grounding point near the BDU power plug (see “D” in
Figure 1). Secure the wire in place using an M3x6 screw.

54-0248 Rev. B

2

TracPhone F33

N-to-TNC Adapter Antenna CablePigtail Cable

N (female) N (male) TNC (female) TNC (male)

Grounding

Block

Foil Width Max. Length

2" (5 cm) 20" (50 cm)

4" (10 cm) 40" (100 cm)

8" (20 cm) 80" (200 cm)