[TowerTalk] Ground Rods

w8ji.tom w8ji.tom@MCIONE.com
Sat, 17 Oct 1998 09:29:22 -0400


Hi Lyn,

you wrote:
> Now, I've been wrong before and may be wrong this time, but
> that is my $.02 until I get a chance to examine empirical data which
> proves otherwise.  Guess I may have a little ostrich blood in my
> genes somewhere, but I will try to examine the available evidence
> before I put in my next ground system.

Lightning has almost no "dc" content, it is a rapidly changing voltage and
current.

Skin depth at 1.8 MHz is over 40 feet deep in poor soil, and that "depth"
means 30% of the total current still flows even deeper. No way can we
measure what goes on down there.

Like you, I agree the rod does a hell of a lot more than "connect" at the
first few feet near the surface when in soil. In a near-copper conductivity
plate, only the first few inches would be important. In even the best soil
(or saltwater) you can bet the first ten or twenty feet is darned
important.

73 Tom

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