[TowerTalk] Tower grounding cable...???

[Bill Winkis]

We know for good protection we want the path of least resistant for a 
charge to make it to ground dissipation......

Point #1 ......I know for RF it's NG to use stranded cabling for 
ground rod tie ins etc....usually most Hams would use solid 4.0 for 
tie ins...but is there some point that a stranded cable would equal
a solid cable...for instance would a number 2 stranded equal a 4" 
solid....?????

Point #2 ......We see an awful lot of low inductance braided flat 
tinned copper ....from 1/2 inch and up to 2 inch plus being sold as 
RF grounding cable...so what's  the difference flat or round????...

Point 3 ..... How do we think/plan for a lightning ground protection 
system versus a  RF radial reflective ground system when they are all 
tied to Mother Earth in one fashion or another...??

I have a new tower ready for the grounding system .....  plan is to 
set up a spark gap on each tower leg.....from the gap run #4 solid 
copper to an 8 foot copper clad rod ...then out 16 feet to another 
copper rod....now on the this rod 2000 feet of # 14 copper stranded 
will be laid in 60 foot fan.....(one of these radial fans will meet a 
similar radial system under a Hygain HyTower.....so it ends up being 
a 240 foot radial patter....

Why the spark gap?? Dissimilar metals...

But instead of that #4 solid copper I sure would like to use 5/8 inch 
diameter #1 or 2 stranded copper.....

Comments..???

-Bill
kc4pe at bellsouth.net