[TenTec] Making a new house "radio friendly"

[Sherrill WATKINS]

Mark:  The reason the neutral of the power line is grounded outside the house at the meter is for safety.  It is to try to keep any lightening strike on the distibution lines from running into your house.  It is a good idea to have at least four ground rods, spaced 8' apart in a square pattern, and connected to the utility ground with heavy copper wire, where the service enters your house, near the meter.  Do not bury ground radials near the septic system.  The chemicals in the water will distroy the copper or anything else metalic. Also, have the utility company install a surge suppressor in the service entrance panel box.  Install at least a 200 ampere service.  Cuttler Hammer makes excellent residential circuit breaker service boxes. Make sure all electrical work conforms to the National Electrical Code including GFI breakers where required.   Have your electrician use metal boxes where all splices are made instead of the cheap plastic boxes. Decide which room will be your ham shack.  Have a separate branch line for the ham equipment with 240 VAC available incase you ever wish to operate a QRO vacuum tube amplifier. When the framing is complete but before the dry wall is installed, run multiple heavy high quality coax lines to a convenient outside point for your antennas.  A little planning now can pay big dividends later. - Corn  k4own


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