[TowerTalk] grounding radials: solid or stranded?

[Tom Rauch]

> An interesting thought - what about 3/4" copper plumbing
tubing as a ground
> conductor?  I suppose if it took a lightning hit, and even
if you
> silver-soldered any joints, you would still blow out the
solder, but if you
> could get it in a coil....

Many of my grounds are just regular old soldered 3/4" copper
pipe. My shop ground exiting through the wall is copper
pipe. It ties a 4" wide copper flashing buss along the
benches and my breaker panel to an entrance ground for
coaxial cables and telco/alarm lines and the perimeter
ground of 3/16 inch soft copper tubing.

My towers take hits several times a year and I have NEVER
had a case where any properly soldered junction failed, even
coaxial cables that are lead-tin soldered. I've had the
connectors and braids blow apart, but never had anything
desolder.

I can't imagine how the tightly fitted couplings would
unsolder. They don't get any warmer than the pipe with
hundreds of amperes of RF current in test fixtures I use.

While I silver solder radials for life (corrosion
resistance), I've never had any of them unsolder when using
regular solder during hits. Of course I almost always use 40
or more radials on anything.

Anyone ever hear of a water pipe joint blowing apart in a
lightning storm?

73 Tom