Someone started a topic in the reloading forum recently entitled "Forum Small things that can make a difference in your reloading room...." and I thought it would be interesting to start a similar thread for ham radio equipment.  I suppose large items would be acceptable as well but the little things that we can't live without once we know about them is what I'm leaning toward.  Perhaps we should set a limit of around $20 or so.  We all have a shack full of "Stuff" that fits that category so share them for all to know.

I'll start things out with a little one I've always needed and just found.  They are sold by DX  Engineering and called "Paddle Pads".  They are rubber-like pads that stick to the surface of my desk and prevent my CW paddle from sliding around.  While these pads feel sticky and clingy they aren't wet or damp or anything like that.  Much like Post-It notes they just stick to things and my paddle stays right where I put it.  The bottom side sticks solidly to my desk and the top side is textured and sticky so my paddles don't move around at all.

Two sizes are available, 5.4" x 3.4" (small) and  8.3" x 6.2" (large).  I'm real pleased with mine and really do wonder how I got by with out it.  I wasn't sure which size to get so I got the large one and it's just right for me.

Rubber shelf/drawer liner works too, and is a lot cheaper. A 6' roll is about $5 and can be used for a lot of other things.

Magnetic Mic.
Won't have a mobile install without one.

I made my own, but yes I agree

Many of us have a ground bus in the shack tied to at least one ground rod outside.

I have a knife switch in the shack away from the equipment in the ground line going to the outside ground rods so I can isolate the shack ground bus from outside ground system.

This is probably over $20.00 now, but I've been using 75 amp power poles to connect to the feed line right outside the shack. At the same spot there is a ground wire and two power poles. When not operating the antenna feed line is grounded. That a total of 6 power poles, I suppose smaller power poles would work but these stay stuck together no matter how the feed line moves in the wind.

While were at it, the feed line is supported on 10 foot tall pieces of gray electrical PVC held up by "T" posts. On top of the gray posts  are PVC "Tee" connectors to keep the feed line up and out of the way. Oh, I keep the feed line a bit taut with a bungee cord.   hth
73,
Rob

Please post a picture of this setup.

There is nothing special about the $20 number, it's just something I pulled out of the air.  If you have something useful and it cost more than $20 then by all means feel free to share.

I bought a cheap digital watch for this purpose.  It's dual time and 12/24 hrs selectable.  This way I can use it to tell local time, and with a few button presses, change to 24hr and UTC for logging.

Velcro cable ties on a roll. You can get them anywhere Lowes, Amazon etc.
https://a.co/d/eXcHfrL

A label maker would be next on the list.

Those cheap portable VNAs literally changed my life.
I have one in the car, a really nice USB-only one (quite a bit better - and less cheap) for my desk, and the smallest cheapest ones for each radio box or bag.
It's no longer a chore to physically tune an antenna, check an antenna before transmitting, or check a cable to see if it's bad or just measure the loss. Great for fests, too, as you can pick up unlabeled sma bits and easily figure out what they are. I never actually remember to bring one so I usually end up doing that at home, but it would work really well.

Magnetic cup holders on the side of a safe, to hold HTs, hand mics, antennas, etc.

Yeah it's a huge improvement over the MFJ analyzer I have.  I love being able to tune antennas without relying on my radios for the signal.  Probably one of the best price/value ratios in amateur radio.

I forget.

Which one does arf recommend, again?

I'm curious, for what purpose?  If I know a thunderstorm's coming I'll often disconnect my antenna from the radio and connect it instead to ground.  But I can't think of a situation where I'd want to disconnect the equipment ground in the shack from the outside ground rod. Unless maybe for some kind of trouble shooting problem.

I don't know about the whole site, but if money is no object, the Rig Expert stick analyzers are well regarded, but they cost more than the Nano VNA and are one port. The nano has 2 ports so you can check filters and chokes and a bunch of other things besides just analyzing antennas, and the screen is bigger.

Both can be connected to a computer for a much better experience, but I mostly use mine close to the antennas since I am tuning them, and those locations aren't usually computer-friendly so for me the Nano VNAs larger touch screen display and lower cost made it the right choice.  I am told the Rig Experts are more rugged though, so that's another consideration.

Having owned an MFJ analyzer, I would not recommend it now that the aforementioned alternatives are available.

Good question.

Many hams will disconnect antennas and unplug their radios either when not in use or if a thunderstorm is approaching.

The ARRL grounding book talks about isolating everything coming into the shack, antennas, power, rotator cables and grounds because if you get a direct lightning strike someplace on your property ( unless way out on the back 40 ) that energy can be everywhere. It can be on the power lines in the house which includes the green equipment ground wire ( which is also or at least should be connected to your ground bus, on the antennas and cable / coax, and rotator cables and any path coming into your shack and connected to your equipment. That includes your ground, because with a ground strike, that energy will be in the actual ground around your house where our ground rod(s) is / are and it can come into the shack and that very high voltage can be on your ground bus coming in from the ground rod(s).

Any path into your equipment can cause unequal voltages on the equipment as the energy finds a pah or multiple paths of least resistance causing current flow through the equipment and damage. The only way to ensure that doesn't happen is to isolate the shack equipment from the outside the shack world.

That includes isolating your equipment ground bus from the grounding rod(s).

I don't use phasers or other things on my lines coax or entry box into the shack. I use complete isolation when not is use and that includes the grounding system going outside to the ground rods which also connects the coax and masts.

I saw pictures year ago where a guy had built a rig using a drawer glide and a linear actuator, along with some push-on coax adaptors to rig up a disconnect that would slide together or apart using the actuator.  He had like 5 or 6 coax lines, some power and control cables, etc all lined up on this sliding board, and at the flip of a switch, the actuator would slide the connections apart to disconnect them.


In my case, I now have a couple of coax surge arrestors at the shack entrance and about a 4 foot 8 gauge wire running to an 8 foot ground rod as close as I could get it given the soil conditions.  I know you are supposed to run 8 foot rods every 16 feet to the electrical service entrance so they are bonded and at the same potential, but it is highly impractical to do so.  I'm on a slab, have very hard soil, and buried sprinkler lines and utilities.  The shack entrance is on the opposite side of the house from the electrical service entrance so I'd be buying hundreds of dollars of rods, copper and cadweld and then hours of time installing it all, plus having to cross a concrete driveway and a sidewalk.  

Instead, I just unplug the cable at the antenna switch when I hear storms approaching or when I will be away from home for a long time.  My station equipment is not connected to a ground bus.  I haven't had any problems with that so far, but it's just the one radio, power supply and computer.  The layout of the room really needs to be rearranged, but it doubles as a storage room so that is easier said than done.

@K9-Bob
Sorry this took a while, pics were too hard to get right so I went with a diagram and instructions. Remember, this is for open wire or ladder line.

Additionally, the antenna can be worked against ground by connecting the single side of the jumper to the hot side of the BALUN and the double side to the antenna feed line. The ground return for the antenna system is supplied by a ground jumper from the tuner chassis to the ground rod/ system out side the shack. This provides grounding of the tuner under normal circumstances and is connected at all times. Ideally, an antenna worked against ground requires radials, I probably need more than what littlle have. ;)
The boxes represent power pole connectors. When I'm operating the antenna and tuner connectors are together. The jumper remains connected to the ground wire. HTH 73, Rob
Attached File

Thanks for the explanation and taking time post a wiring diagram.  A luddite like me likes pictures or diagrams.

Before I had an amp, I didn't do anything with grounds.

I just operated basically portable, and unplugged and disconnected the radio and antenna when not in use.

I guess I kinda still do that

But after a couple of RF burns, I set up a shack ground buss and it fixed the RF burn thing.