TOWER GROUNDING

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 96-06-04 11:36:02 EDT, you write:

>Wasn't sure if I should ask my question here or on the new tower
>reflector.  Guess someone will chastise me if I should have posted
>elsewhere.  I am putting up a 50 footer and currently have 2 ground
>wires with ground rods.  These wires are about 30 feet long.  I will
>be adding more in the near future.  My problem is, all of our utilities
>are buried.  The only ground wire I can find near the electrical service
>entry runs from the breaker box to a nearby outside water faucet.  Since
>I believe the experts recommend all grounds be connected to get them
>at the same potential, am I going to have to use the incoming water line
>as a connection point?  What have others done about grounding with
>underground utilities?
>
>Any ideas certainly appreciated,

Hello, OM --

      I have a draft copy of an article that I wrote on grounding for amateur
stations.  It was researched pretty thoroughly and will give you food for
thought.  Send me your postal address and I'll be happy to drop one in the
mail for you.

73,  Steve   K7LXC

   TOWER TECH -- professional tower supplies and services for amateurs

>From thompson at mindspring.com (David L. Thompson)  Thu Jun  6 14:48:58 1996
From: thompson at mindspring.com (David L. Thompson) (David L. Thompson)
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 1996 09:48:58 -0400
Subject: Concrete
Message-ID: <199606061439.KAA02981 at borg.mindspring.com>

Many of us have towers in places a concrete truck cannot reach.   This is
the 4th location for my Tristao 71 foot crank up and the second where a
truck could not get within 50 feet with concrete.  Concrete was and is still
cheap and usually you can get some left overs if you are in an area of new
construction (homes ,offices).   I found a small company who does nothing
but concrete work.  They quickly dug the "big hole" for over 3 cu yards
required by the crank up and when the truck arrived they used two big wheel
barrows never stopping until they filled the hole and form.   As one
smoothed down the tower base the other used the remaining concrete to fill
in the area under my deck.  Total cost was $400 including the concrete which
would be $800 or so today.

I would never attempt to mix concrete for such a project.  Give the concrete
mix folks and or the contractor the specs and let them assure you that the
concrete mix and foundation are correct.

Dave K4JRB


>From k7fr at ncw.net (Gary Nieborsky)  Thu Jun  6 16:07:01 1996
From: k7fr at ncw.net (Gary Nieborsky) (Gary Nieborsky)
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 08:07:01 -0700
Subject: Gate 1
Message-ID: <199606061507.IAA19714 at bing.ncw.net>

Browsing through the QRZ daily updates shows the first Gate 1 calls coming
out.  The FCC is moving rather briskly on this.  Anyone heard how big the
pile was for Gate 1's?  My Dad applied for his old W6 call and is starting
to get fidgety.......geez.....you'd think he was a 8 year old.

73 Gary K7FR....original issue...not gonna change.


>From aa4lr at radio.org (Bill Coleman AA4LR)  Thu Jun  6 16:28:36 1996
From: aa4lr at radio.org (Bill Coleman AA4LR) (Bill Coleman AA4LR)
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 11:28:36 -0400
Subject: testing Q&A
Message-ID: <v01540b01addca6ae9dd5@[198.242.115.141]>

>This says nothing about the exemptions given by doctors for CW, and help
>given by instructors. We are either becoming a pretty unhealthy society, or
>people are cheating and lying to get out of the CW exam. Look at the nuber of
>exemptions then and now!

The FCC never had medical exemptions for the CW test until recently. It
came about because of a lawsuit. Their solution is less than desirable.

As a VE, I personally have handled two medical exemptions for the CW. In my
judgement, neither were deserved (one was bogus, the other could have been
accomidated easily). But, since I'm not permitted to judge the eligibility
of the applicants, I just filled out the paperwork and passed it on.

Fortunately, we haven't seen that many medical exemptions for CW. It is
rare at our testing sessions to come across one.




Bill Coleman, AA4LR, AA96LR      Mail: aa4lr at radio.org
Quote: "Not in a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901



>From Henry.Knoll-1 at tc.umn.edu (Henry Knoll)  Thu Jun  6 12:22:59 1996
From: Henry.Knoll-1 at tc.umn.edu (Henry Knoll) (Henry Knoll)
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 11:22:59
Subject: No subject
Message-ID: <31b706753086442 at mhub0.tc.umn.edu>

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