Bob McGraw - K4TAX writes...
> As to station ground rods, just be sure that you have a #6 AWG copper or
> larger connected between the station grounds and the electrical ground at
> the service entrance.
Is there any reason why lightning protection devices can't be mounted
right on the electrical service ground? My hamshack is in the basement
less than 10 feet from the service entrance. I have been using the
electrical service ground rod for the station safety ground, and to
ground the short metal mast I use for a VHF antenna, which is also
within a few feet. My main antenna is a dipole, but I will be adding a
hexbeam-style antenna on an AB-577 mast very soon. My plan is to sink
a ground rod at the base of that tower, and bond the tower launcher
base to it. The screw-in anchors should provide their own ground for
the guys (which are stainless steel cable--not the vinyl-covered guys
supplied by the military). The tower will be 150 feet from the house.
Bonding the ground rod at the tower should be no problem using #6
wire, but it will have to hang in the air with the feedline and
control cable.
I am constructing a solid aluminum panel on which I will mount
lightning protection devices (Polyphaser and ICE) for the antennas and
control cable. That will be attached directly to the top of the
electrical service ground, which is just outside the window to the
hamshack.
This is separate from the common-mode choke I will install at the
feedpoint and at that lightning panel (because it's convenient),
though I've never had RF problems in the shack.
Am I on the right track with this approach?
Rick, KR9D
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