Hi Eric. If possible I would like to expand on this subject somewhat. Here
in NY the corrosiveness of the soil ate through my cadwelded #4 stranded
copper wire where it was attached to the copper clad ground rods after 8
years. I replaced the ground rods plus cadwelded solid #4 copper wire. I
assumed the solid wire would last longer than the stranded wire. Is that a
safe assumption? Would I benefit replacing the solid copper wire with 2-3"
wide flashing, both from longevity and better RF and lightning grounding?
The cadwelds are below ground.
N2TK, Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Eric Scace K3NA
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 09:57
To: WarrenWolff@aol.com; Towertalk
Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Site Grounding
Hi Warren --
I would not bury braid for this application. Braid corrodes quickly when
exposed. As others have pointed out, corroded braid
develops a significant impedance at RF, which is not what one wants in a
grounding system.
You would be better off getting some lengths of copper flashing such as
that used for roofs or gutters. 2-3" wide flashing is
fine. This gives a very low impedance ground than solid large-diameter
copper wire, and is much less expensive.
Good luck with your project.
-- Eric K3NA
-----Original Message-----
From: WarrenWolff@aol.com [mailto:WarrenWolff@aol.com]
Sent: 2003 October 21 Tuesday 00:30
To: eric@k3na.org
Cc: WarrenWolff@aol.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Site Grounding
Hi Eric,
I tried to log back on to Tower Talk, but it seems I must have inserted some
strange character in my access info. Could not get in.
Not sure if I was successful in contacting the list administrator for help.
I am retiring at Lake Havasu City AZ in 2005; ground is notoriously poor
there despite what the Antenna Handbook says is "just
poor".
So, I thought as my neighbor was installing a 184 wall with a very deep
foundation and I am butting a 131 foot wall against his, I
could take advantage of these "long" ditches and place a long run
of grounding conductor in the bottom of the ditches. Then, it would be a
short run to either/both of my towers for lightning
protection. I would go ahead and run the multiple short
grounding/dissipators as typically recommended. I would also space some
copper rods along the run. There also
is a lot more lightning there than the handbook says, as well.
One person responded that braid was not a good move. So, I guess I have
more to learn yet. Want to get the most reliable routing
to ground for the lightning protection, first, and then for entire station.
I have printed a bunch of stuff from the Internet for
reading, too.
I am blessed to find that there are no tower height limits at the lake. So
I will achieve my dream of a big 40 m yagi plus some
nice multiband gadget on the other tower.
Thanks for your response to my posting.
Regards, Warren
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
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