General exam question G4C05
Subelement G4, AMATEUR RADIO PRACTICES· Group G4C
What is a possible cause of high voltages that produce RF burns?
- A.Flat braid rather than round wire has been used for the ground wire
- B.Insulated wire has been used for the ground wire
- C.The ground rod is resonant
- D.The ground wire has high impedance on that frequency (correct answer)
WhyHigh voltages that produce RF burns can be caused by a ground wire that has high impedance at the operating frequency. If the station's ground wire presents high impedance at the operating frequency, RF current flowing through it develops a correspondingly high RF voltage along its length, and touching that energized conductor is what produces an RF burn, answer D. Using flat braid, insulated wire, or a resonant ground rod aren't themselves the mechanism that builds up dangerous voltage the way a high-impedance ground path is.
Published 2026-08-28 · Last updated 2026-08-28 · Question text is verbatim from the 2023-2027 NCVEC Element 3 pool (public domain); the explanation above is original writing, see our methodology.
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