[TowerTalk] Steel Ground Rods

[ValErwin@aol.com]

Towertalkians:

All this talk of grounds rods brings up the following  local curiosity:  In 
the local area (Dallas/Ft. Worth) several of the local power companies and 
their contractors seem to use cadmium plated steel 6 ft. ground rods as 
opposed to the Cu-plated variety. (The cad finish was confirmed by a power 
company contractor.)

Has anyone ever had any experience with these for amateur use? Comparative 
performance?

One thing that I found very interesting was that prior to building my new 
home, the contractor but up a temporary power pole and called the power 
company to hook it up.  When the power company showed up, they sank one of 
these 6 ft. Cad-plated ground rods and hooked up the temporary power 
meter/outlet box for the builder.

After the home was finished, the ground rod was left sticking up, waiting to 
poke a hole in my tractor tire. So, I took an old car jack and removed it.  I 
was amazed that despite the fact that the rod had been in the ground for 
close to 9 months, it was not rusted and  the cad-plating had only slightly 
lost it's sheen.

Hmmmm--

Val
W5PUT

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