[TowerTalk] ground rod depth problem due to rocky soil -- solutions?

[David Gilbert]

How is that an "impractical analysis"?  The 1" diameter wire was only 
used by K1TTT to simulate the surface area of the 2" strap that KK1C 
plans to use.  And KK1C stated that he already has 700 feet of the strap.

I'm no expert, and while disconnecting everything from your tower during 
a storm may protect your station, the fact that you don't have anything 
other than five feet of tower base embedded in rock to distribute the 
current from a direct lightning hit sounds very dicey to me.  That 
current will want to find ground one way or another, and the way that 
you have things set up it's going to do it all at one spot.  If the 
porosity/conductivity of the rock you have is particularly poor it seems 
to me that might create an ugly result.

I hope your tower is not close to your house, because if it is the 
lightning might just decide that the path between the tower and your 
presumably well-grounded house is the easier one.

Dave   AB7E



On 11/16/2012 8:28 AM, Michael Goins wrote:
> Impractical analysis because where are you going to get 1" wires and who
> could possibly afford 700 feet of it? Plus the cost of getting it a foot
> down in rock?
>
> I'm on pretty much solid rock here, 1800 feet up on the side of a hill, and
> that would cost a fortune to do.
>
> Still not clear about the need/reason. Why not just totally disconnect and
> reconnect the tower when you operate? That's what I do here and the tower
> is not grounded other than by its proximity due to the factory base 5 feet
> deep in solid rock. My station is completely broken from the tower when I
> am not operating and I don't operate in storms. There is nowhere for
> lightning to go that would harm my station.
>
> Michael Goins, k5wmg
> Professor, Writing
> University of Texas at San Antonio
>
>