[TowerTalk] ground rods for towers

[Pete Smith]

At 09:11 AM 7/31/00 EDT, K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
...
>    Since you're in a spot that gets a significant amount of lightning, I'd 
>be sure to do a decent job. Three ground rods per leg spaced a rod-length 
>apart is a good start.
>
>    This only takes care of the tower - you've still got your cables to take 
>care of also. They should be grounded as the come off the tower towards the 
>shack and then at the building entry. Your whole goal is to keep the 
>lightning transients out of the house. A Single-Point Ground System using
the 
>building entry as the main point is how it's done. 

As I think I've said before, I think this is only true if you have a
requirement for 24/7 operation, and even then, with the inevitable
compromises of home installations, it's hard to argue that you'll approach
"total safety."  For example, my shack is located on the second floor, so
that feedlines and control cables are, of necessity, elevated after they
leave the point beside the house where a good low-inductance single point
ground would be possible.  No reasonable conductor from my shack level to
ground will have low-enough inductance to protect against a direct hit.

I'm not against good safety grounding in the shack and a decent ground
system at the tower, in the hope that it will prevent expensive direct
hits.  But as for potentials coming down feedlines and control cables, I
think it is much simpler, cheaper, and probably safer to disconnect and
ground all such conductors before they get into the house.  A relatively
simple weatherproof panel alongside the house with a few UHF and
Cinch-Jones connectors is all it takes for me to sleep well.  

73, Pete Smith N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database 
is back up and running at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 



--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com