[TowerTalk] Ground System? W8JI input.....please
John Frazier
fraz1 at bellsouth.net
Mon Aug 2 12:13:44 PDT 2010
OK folks......have at it.
I have read all of the info on ground systems I can find. I have received input from one of the most respected frequenters of this reflector, but am seeking additional input.
The conditions here at my QTH make it very difficult to achieve a decent grounding system.
Here's the short story. By choice, I live on a golf course; thus restricted antennas. I use coax fed wires between pine trees at 70 +/- feet. The coax comes straight down from the antenna to ground level and then through 25 feet of BuryFlex to the station ground rod. This is a 5/8 inch , 8 foot long copperclad rod buried to its full length. An ICE suppresser is mounted directly to the rod using a very good clamp, conductive paste, and 4 inches of 4 AWG copper wire.
Now the real bad stuff. I have a 23 foot run of #6 copper wire to the shack buss. I'm on the second floor so that's the way it is. I then have a 65 foot run of 6 AWG copper wire from the station ground rod to the utility ground. The utility ground is not too shabby. It consists of three 10 foot 3/4 inch copperclad rods spaced 16 feet apart in a delta config. The rods are tied together with 1/0 copper wire to the utility meter buss.
Sooooooo....is this thing worth a darn or not?
Thanks and 73.....John W4II
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