In places where you can't get an eight foot rod to go down, there are
alternatives. A four foot rod, or driving the rod down at an oblique
angle will add some resistance, but not enough to change much.
Another method is to dig a hole as deep as you can go (two or three
feet), bury a metal plate of some sort with #4 bare wire bolted and
soldered to it, and fill up the hole with dirt, bringing the wire up
for connection. This will certainly be good enough for a beverage
termination. The method is used with some mandatory guidelines as an
alternative for driven rod power company grounds. Some have been
uncomfortable with these in a given situation and have buried two
equal length large bare wires at right angles to the beverage for the
ground. 25 feet either side is probably more than enough most places.
Anything is better than a trip hazard that someone can trip on or fall
on and impale themselves.
I would point out that some types of ground are fairly "transparent"
at MF, and an eight foot vertical driven rod will pick up to some
degree like a rod above ground. More fodder for the "two right angle
short 'radials' at the end" method.
There still is a fair amount of voodoo in this stuff, 80 years since
any serious research money, and none in the era of modern equipment.
73, Guy.
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 12:39 PM, Price Smith <w0rihps@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> not conduct well. If it is not possible to drive a rod all the way in, avoid
>
> leaving a large amount above the ground. (Short metal lengths can pick up
> signals like AM car radio antennas did years ago)
>
>
> Carl and all,
>
> For safety reasons ground rods should NOT stick out of the ground. If one
> would fall on one it would do some serious damage.
> I dig a hole about 1 foot deep and drive the rod to below ground level. They
> go in easy in most soils with a large impact hammer.
>
> 73 Price W0RI
>
> _______________________________________________
> UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
>
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
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