As ground rod diameter makes little difference, I'd think a
"interconnected network" of bare #2 copper wire would be much more
effective than ground rods laid horizontal. IIRC the NEC recommends
larger, but most of us have budgetary limitations. With bed rock only 2
or 3 feet down, the area covered by the grounding network becomes
important. I have over 600 feet of bare #2 and 32 or 33 ground rods
Cadwelded to the copper in my network. I hasten to add that Copper was
purchased BEFORE the price of copper went up.
Here the soil is much better for creating effective ground systems.
If the soil AND rock are dry (I believe Oregon receives plentiful rain)
the area covered by the grounding system can be "doped" and kept moist.
The larger the area the better as is the amount of heavy wire..
Normally a radial ground is run out from each tower leg up to 75 feet
with ground rods spaced twice their length.. It's reported that little
or nothing is gained going longer than 75 feet.
73
Roger (K8RI)
On 5/1/2016 Sunday 8:24 PM, Kevin Stover wrote:
I have seen 10' x 5/8 rods laid flat in trenches 2 or 3 feet deep in
situations with shallow rock ledges.
On 5/1/2016 3:38 PM, Roger (K8RI) on TT wrote:
Some thoughts:
Much depends on the rock composition and moisture content.
If the soil and rock are primarily dry, the short ground rods
probably offer little protection.
You could pour a large pad of concrete with embedded rerod as a UFER
ground, but that would likely be expensive. The other option would be
a network of buried copper wire which can also get kinda pricey.
I'm no expert on UFER grounds so I don''t know how much would be
adequate.
http://www.psihq.com/iread/ufergrnd.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufer_ground
(Quote below from Wikipedia)
"Ufer grounds, when present, are preferred over the use of grounding
rods. In some areas (like Des Moines, Iowa) Ufer grounds are required
for all residential and commercial buildings.[5] The conductivity of
the soil usually determines if Ufer grounds are required in any
particular area." (
There are usually a number on here well versed in the use of UFER
grounds. Your base for the 25G is far more than what is needed. With
a guyed tower, the base only serves one function: To keep the base of
the tower in place, by preventing the base from skidding sideways and
preventing it from sinking into the soil. If the concrete block is
large enough it can also serve as a UFER ground.
With solid rock only 2 to 3 feet down the sinking is solved. 3 holes
for solid rod (epoxied in) to match the tower legs would solve the
skidding problem
In days gone by, I have had a number of 40 and 50' towers with plain
old "dirt bases" and large antennas. 5L on 20, 6L on 15 with 42'
booms and 7L on 10. (39' boom) Admittedly 40' for 5L on 20 is low,
but it was all I had.
ROHN even sold a "dirt base" for years, but I've not seen it offered
in many years. Whether from abuse, or the lawyers (I suspect the
latter) ROHN considered a dirt base adequate for many 25G
installations. I'd not hesitate to use one for a 25G up to 60, or
possibly 70 feet depending on the load weight and soil composition.
I'd not go beyond that due to the weight as well as guy weight and
tension adding to the weight pushing down. With taller towers the
upper guys are longer and at a steeper angle which puts more of the
tension onto the tower as a vertical load.
73
Roger (K8RI)
On 5/1/2016 Sunday 1:11 PM, David Merchant wrote:
Guys,
I could use some advice. Late last fall, I erected 40' of Rohn 25G
with a
Tilt-over base. It sits on top of a ledge that only has about 2-3
feet of
rocky topsoil. When I dug the hole for the foundation, I excavated
all the
loose fill and I core-drilled the rock below about 36". I then epoxied
4-pieces of rebar in the holes, and poured about 3-1/2 yards of
concrete
with anchor bolts for the base plate. Unfortunately, I didn't think
to bond
any of the rebar or anchor bolts.
Right now, the only grounding the tower has is a connection to a
2-ga ground
wire that runs 120' underground with the conduit that feeds the
power. It's
in-turn mechanically connected to a 2-4' ground rod (the max I could
install) every 15'. The 2-ga wire is also connected to the
Single-Point
Ground where the coax enters the home.
Since lightning season is about to get started, I'm concerned that
this is
insufficient grounding.
I was considering bonding some 2-4" copper strap to each of the
tower legs
and running it along the ground for 50' or so. Also, I do have a
SteppIR
BigIR vertical about 20-feet away that has an extensive ground
plane, albeit
with insulated 12-14-ga wires. This could be bonded as well, but
currently
isn't.
What would you guys recommend I do to augment the existing ground?
73,
Dave
K1DLM
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73
Roger (K8RI)
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