[TowerTalk] ground rods and angle...

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

I was just wondering and no, I have no plans on changing my system:  
Yes, I am serious.  The topic of UFER, ground rods and safety ground 
"systems".
Would those of us with good soil benefit from boring a 6, 8, or 10" 
hole, filling it with concrete and sinking the ground rod in it?  The 
contact area is small, but huge compared to the rod accompanied by a low 
inductance.  It seems, at least in theory that the ground system could 
be reduced in size (number of rods) while possibly increasing the 
effectiveness of the system. A mini UFER ground system network. At 
first, it sounds like a lot of effort and cost, but out in the country, 
most of the equipment (Tractor mounted) is relatively common while those 
in the city could put down a much more effective ground system.  
Compared to the price of copper, particularly large copper , concrete is 
relatively cheap.  From a practical approach, it'd be beyond many of us 
for a number of reasons. Availability and cost of equipment.  In 
addition, damage to the yard although temporary could be vetoed by a spouse

Barring math errors:

Instead of many ground rods, how about concrete encased rods, in each 
direction if possible?  The number of rods and the area is limited, so I 
would think this would greatly increase the effectiveness of said, 
limited ground system at a moderate increase in cost.  An 8" diameter 
hole  8' deep would have a surface area of
16.75 sq ft

Surface area = Pi * d * h  Volume =  Pi * 2d * h or Pi * r^2 * h

Circumference = Pi*d 3.14159 X 8  = 25.132 X 8' X 12" =  2414.7412 sq in 
/ 144 sq in (in a sq ft) = 16.755 sq ft of area  A 5/8th in dia Ground 
rod is 5/8  0.624 * Pi = 1.962 * 8 * 12 / 144 = 1.3 sq ft. An  8" hole 
filled with concrete would offer 12.8 times the area while a 10" hole  
(20.0 sq ft offers) offers over 16 times the area.  10", 8' deep is 
roughly 4.4 cubic feet or 0.16 (1/6th) of a cubic yard


73

Roger (K8RI)


On 1/17/2016 Sunday 12:30 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On Sun,1/17/2016 8:01 AM, StellarCAT wrote:
>> I was thinking if I angled the rod at 45 degrees I’d both increase 
>> the area of the ‘coverage’ (out further away from the towers – UFER)
>
> Don't put your rods close to the concrete base to avoid interaction 
> with the UFER ground. Put the first ring of rods at least 4-8 ft from 
> the concrete.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus