[TowerTalk] Crank-up grounding

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/13/03 8:23:00 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
ogden at us.ibm.com writes:

> What is a reasonable way to connect ground wires to a tower (a TX-455, in
>  this case, with the tilt-over feature)?  I plan on three ground rods and
>  about 50 radials.  I'll probably use insulated #14 wire (from Home Depot)
>  for the radials and #8 bare for the ground rods.

    Is the grounding for lightning protection or antenna RF ground? Each 
design is different but the ground wire attachment to the tower leg is the same. 
You can attach a ground wire to a bolt on the base fixture. As long as there 
are no sharp angles in the ground wire to the ground rod, it should work FB. 

    A copper-to-zinc galvanizing connection can be problematic so you might 
use the Polyphaser leg clamps that put a patch of stainless steel between the 
aforementioned materials.
>  
>  Also, I believe that the sliding sections cannot be counted on for good
>  connections (when the tower is used as a vertical).  I thought about
>  connecting one of the #14 wires from the top coax arm to the second coax
>  arm and then to the bottom coax arm, with two middle cords to pull the wire
>  out of the way when lowering the tower.  Should these wires be tinned and
>  looped under coax arm bolts?

    The tower is 100% connected at all times due to the cables. I wouldn't 
worry about any other connections between sections. 
>  
>  I am surprised about how little mention there is of practical mechanical
>  problems in the handbooks.

    Well, this is a pretty specialized application. Why don't you write it up?

Cheers,
Steve    K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for commercial and amateur