[Towertalk] single point ground

[Pete Smith]

At 05:35 AM 7/24/02 -0400, Tom Rauch wrote:
>I agree as far as grounding to earth, but disagree as far as
>lightning protection. I'm doing something in a similar situation for
>a friend of mine right now.
>
>One of the main goals in adding lightning protection is to clamp
>everything to the same potential so everything moves together.
>Grounding is second in importance to having everything entering the
>room tied together.

Tom, are you saying that, in an extreme case, there might be NO ground 
connection in the shack, as long as all the local grounds were tied 
together so that they "move together?"  Doesn't there have to be a 
low-inductance connection between the station's single point ground and the 
AC service ground, to prevent the safety grounds on your equipment from 
upsetting the applecart?

In my very old house, with AC wiring of uncertain configuration, there is a 
distance of some 45 feet from the 2nd-floor shack entry panel to the AC 
service ground, of which 13-14 feet is vertical.  I don't think it is 
possible to connect the two so as to hold the shack and the AC service 
ground to the same potential during a strike, which is why I have assumed 
that disconnection of all conductors from the tower is my only feasible 
option.  Am I wrong?


73, Pete N4ZR

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