[TowerTalk] grounds eta al

[jacobsen_5 at msn.com]

Bill is working on grounding and correct names/references:


"Everything you describe sounds good to me. Please just stop calling it
a "Single Point Ground". I count three separate, individual grounds in
your example. Find a new name for the ground where the coax/rotator
wires enter the house and we can all happily camp together. :-)

Bill W6WRT"

Bill and all,

Google 'single point ground'. Look for the entry listing Mike Holt and mojo news archive.  Good article. Explains it pretty well. 

And I would say that you would have to change the terminology all over the US/world as relates to "Single Point Ground". Might be easier for Bill to accept the term as it stands. I know I, and many others, have "multiple grounds" on/around our stations. Yet they all lead back to a common point. Now if you want to call it a "common point", like I just did, or a "Single point ground" like others do, it's only a name. Still does the same thing.

I know of an instance where a friend had the tower ground, station ground, and the ground from the operating position, all tied together....... like you are supposed to do per the codes. There was a humongous lightening strike in the neighborhood.  You know the kind. You hear it BEFORE you see the flash. Well, his house/gear came out unscathed. Neighbors each side of him lost electronics. Neighbor across the street lost plaster off of walls, some house wiring, and some kitchen appliances. My mind says the hams' inter-connected  ground system helped dissipate the charge and kept the induced voltages the same during the rise and fall of the strike.

Of course, YMMV. And of course, you pay your money and take your chances. Some hams have NO ground system and never get hit. Go figure.  Oh, decisions, decisions!!  What is a Ham to do!!

73 es GDDX to all

K9WN  Jake