[TowerTalk] Fwd: Does prevailing grounding scheme promote large ground loop?

Hans Hammarquist hanslg at aol.com
Mon Jul 25 17:44:26 EDT 2016


 Yes, you want the heaviest wired groundloop you can get. It doesn't necessary improve your RF ground (as that really never exist) but it will help out redirecting current in case of a lightning strike in you buildings or nearby.

When you implement it don't forget that you can include you water supply system and your heating system (if you have water carried heat in copper pipes like I have).

I believe the idea is that you try to reduce the voltage differences across your house a much as possible thereby not getting damages from the lightning current.

Imagine if you could build your house on a large, thick metals plate of some good conducting material. That would act like a gigantic, electric island that would reduce and voltage differences between the corners of your house. If you then shields around every electric (and electronic) equipment in the house and connected these shields to the gigantic metal plate under the house you would have the ultimate lightning protection.

Now, the heavy conductor around your house will (try to) act like the gigantic plate and give you some protection.

Needless to say, you connect your tower to that ground loop to include it in the, hopefully so, voltage reduction scheme. 

Good luck in your endeavor and 73 de, 

Hans - N2JFS

 

 


-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dick
Blumenstein
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2016 16:04
To: TowerTalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Does prevailing grounding scheme promote large ground
loop?

 From everything I've read, the prevailing overall grounding technique is to
run a heavy duty copper wire from the grounding system around the tower,
back to the ground rod outside the shack wall as well as to run it to the
ground rod under where your AC power enters the house.

It just occurred to me that the AC ground wire, besides going into the house
and connecting to the chassis ground in the breaker box (where also all the
neutral white wires are connected) then proceeds throughout your house and
also to your ham radio shack equipment. It is here that the ground wire also
connects to all the chassis in your shack as well as the shields on your
coax connectors that also finds it way back outside your shack wall to the
ground rod; one huge ground loop.  I know that there are 2 issues here; RF
grounding and lightning protection. Any comments about that?

Thanks,

Dick, K0CAT




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