>>>
>>> My shack is on the first floor of the house and right above the
>>> electrical
>>> service entrance in the basement. For my station RF and DC
>>> ground, I'm
>>> thinking I'll run a 10' wire from the station down to the electrical
>>> entrance ground wire which, of course, runs right out to ground rods
>>> outside the house. Is there any problem with this or should I be
>>> running to a separate ground rod?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any opinions!
>>>
>>> Gary Slagel/N0SXX
>>> Hot Springs, SD
>>>
Gary,
Jim Brown's comments were correct. The chap who said it was a bad
idea was
wrong. Sort of.
You must get everything in the house as close to the same potential
as possible.
You say the shortest path to ground for you is to that ground rod
being used by the electrical
panel. Were it me, I would obtain copper strap, and run that down
there, and bond
it well to the rod. That's what Jim Brown said, basically.
However, Perry said it was a bad idea... that you needed a separate
ground.
WRONG on separate. And wrong as well, in that the shortest path to
earth is the
best path...and the power ground rod appears to be the closest. So
a longer run to
another ground won't be better.
But Perry's RIGHT, in that the power ground rod, by itself, is NOT
SUFFICIENT.
The power ground provides basic electrical safety, not lightning
protection.
(Oh, it'll appear to be just fine... until and unless you get hit by
lightning. Then, you're
going to wonder what happened. And, you'll discover that you can't
have separate grounds,
just two marginal ones connected together by leaky earth. )
You need a more robust system, to dissipate the current from a
strike, should you be
unfortunate enough to have one.
I suggest you read back on threads on the reflector. This is
discussed ad nauseum, every year,
at least once.
Multiple ground rods, connected with heavy cable (not coax braid) or
strap,
and with radials running away from the house are all a good idea.
Or, an array of radials coming
out from the power ground rod, each ending in another ground rod.
Your site and aesthetics, and economics, will dictate what, and how
much, you ultimately do.
You might want to consider a ground system out by the antennas, as
well, if they're some distance
from the house.
n2ea
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