[TowerTalk] Yet more grounding questions

[Peter Dougherty]

Hi all,

I've been reading a few online articles pertaining to single-point 
ground systems and I need to clarify a few things. I've decided to 
indeed go with a single-point panel and a perimeter ground wire

1): I've driven 18 ground rods in (most went all the way, but 5 or 6 
had about 2 or 3 feet still sticking out of the ground (tree roots or 
boulders under the topsoil, I suspect here). I'm planning to tie all 
of this together with #4 solid. I understand that the "sphere of 
influence" is typically double the ground rod length, but now there 
are sections that are 16 feet apart with only 5 or 6 feet of rod in 
the ground. Is this going to be a problem, do you think? Also, do the 
ends of the buried lightning-protection radials need to be bonded to 
a ground rod or is it OK to go from a 16'-intermediate point ground 
rod to a "free end."

2: I've had a few people tell me that the radials needed for RF 
counterpoise purposes need not be bonded to the lightning protection 
ground, but I ran into one online presentation that deemed it 
mandatory. What is the recommended practice here?

3: UPSs with MOVs. I'm reading that MOV surge suppressors are NOT a 
good thing in terms of lightning protection. On the other hand, UPSs 
are needed for all the PCs in the house. How can I get the UPS 
protection I need and still have solid lightning protection?

4): (related to the above): Where are TVSS (normal-mode) suppressors 
sold? Since there will be about 250' of #4 wire between my SPGP and 
the house's service ground, do I need to get an expensive "whole 
house" device as well as TVSS on the SPGP in the shack? I'm not in a 
heavily-at-risk part of the country (Northern NJ) but we do get some 
good storms every year--and I've got a 70' crank-up which *usually* 
goes down to about 40' or so when there's word of severe weather on the way.



Cheers,

Peter,
W2IRT