[TowerTalk] There's 'ground', and then there's 'ground'

[Frank Donovan]

Here's a clarification, pointed out by an attentive towertalkian:

My previous e-mail was not intended to refer to cables that use
a braided shield under a jacket.  A tight jacket compresses 
the braid and it's a very effective RF conductor, provided that
the braid is not corroded.

Rather, my comment was intended to apply to to the 
inappropriate use of braided strap for RF grounding or lightning 
protection.  Its been well proven that braided strap has far too 
much inductance to be of any utility above 2 MHz.

So...   Lets try again:

Discard all forms of "braided" strap. 
Braid is something a girl does to her hair.
Braided strap is a poor RF conductor and it's a terrible conductor
of lightning energy.
 
Use braided strap only for DC and audio applications, its just an 
inductor for RF or lightning protection applications.

Here's an excellent reference from the many industry sources on this topic:
http://members.cox.net/pc-usa/station/ground5.htm

73!
Frank
W3LPL
donovanf at erols.com