[TowerTalk] Cadweld vs. clamp

[Rick Kiessig]

I was talking today with the contractor who will be installing my mini-tower
regarding the ground rods and connections between them. The smallest cadweld
molds he has are for #35 cable (about 1cm diam). The alternatives are either
copper wire about 5 or 6mm in diameter, or 1.5" or 2" wide copper strap,
either of which would have to be attached to the ground rods with clamps.

The tower will be located on one side of my asphalt driveway, near the
inside corner of my house and garage. My current plan for grounds is drive
one rod (about 1.8m long) either in or right next to the foundation, then
another one about 4m away in one direction along the house, and another 4m
away 90 degrees from that, next to the garage, and a few meters beyond that
to the existing rod at the service entrance to the house.

The wire/cable/strap will run inside a drain gutter, rather than in the
dirt, to avoid digging up the driveway. I'm also planning to run a short
segment of 2-inch copper strap from the tower to the roof of the house
(about 3m AGL), which is metal.

My questions:

1. Using cadweld will be a fair bit more expensive, due to the much larger
cable that will be needed. Is it worth it?

2. I understand asphalt is conductive at RF, so I'm wondering whether it
might be worth running a segment of 2-inch copper strap from the base of the
tower out into the asphalt driveway. If so, what's a good way to attach it
that hopefully avoids digging up too much? Is there a decent adhesive that
wouldn't also act as an insulator?

73, Rick ZL2HAM