[TowerTalk] Earthing a tower

[Michael Mraz]

My dear old SK friend Al Caplan, who used to manage the Hy-Gain 
amateur division when it was part of Telex, was emphatic about proper 
grounding when I bought my HG-52 crankup. He said that lightning 
could split the concrete around the re-bar if the tower took a direct 
strike. It was a long time ago, but my recollection was that this 
nasty event actually occurred to some unfortunate ham who had to 
abandon the old foundation and install a new one in a different location.

73  Mike  N6MZ

At 17:17 30-12-12, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
>I have a friend who is a ham and is EE with 30+ years of antenna 
>design experience.  He tells me emphatically, "concrete is not a 
>good conductor." Given this, I'd be trying to not depend on concrete 
>as part of a grounding system.  Rebar installed correctly in steel 
>reinforced concrete is probably at least 2 inches under the surface 
>of the concrete on any side, top, or bottom.  Weld plates installed 
>when the concrete was wet (to give you something to anchor to) or 
>bolts or other components set into the concrete are typically NOT in 
>contact with the rebar cage inside the concrete (which is not a good 
>conductor anyway.)  So again, it is better to not rely on the 
>concrete to conduct.
>
>73 Patrick AF5CK