[TowerTalk] Shack to service entrance ground

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

> - You could conceivably hook the rod to the "greenwire" ground and
> call it done.
Only if you wish to destroy the majority of your equipment and risk
a shack fire with every thunderstorm.  Connecting the antenna/tower
ground to the power line safety ground (meter ground rod) through
the green wire will guarantee that any difference between tower
"ground" and power "ground" will equalize through the equipment!

At a minimum you will almost certainly destroy the RS232/USB interface
on your rig and the RS232/USB port on the computer.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV

On 8/18/2023 7:42 PM, Lux, Jim wrote:
> On 8/18/23 4:21 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>> On 8/18/2023 4:00 PM, Lux, Jim wrote:
>>> OK - you're in sort of an interesting situation, because your "shack 
>>> ground" electrode isn't part of the required grounding for your house 
>>> - that is, it's not a supplemental grounding electrode.
>>>
>>> Nor is it part of a lightning grounding/dissipation system, so all 
>>> those rules don't matter.
>>
>> There absolutely IS a requirement that all grounds in a premises be 
>> bonded together. If power is fed from one building to another, there 
>> must be an earth electrode in the second building, bonded to the panel 
>> (but NOT bonded to neutral in the second building IF ground is carried 
>> from the first building). Until 10-15 years ago, NEC did not require 
>> ground to be carried between buildings, and my property was built that 
>> way. It was subsequently modified to require that ground be carried, 
>> but existing installations are grandfathered.
> 
> 
> I agree, it's just that the code isn't real clear on the minimum size 
> requirement for that bonding jumper. (as you point out in the next 
> paragraph).  Nor is there a requirement for a separate bonding conductor 
> - You could conceivably hook the rod to the "greenwire" ground and call 
> it done.  In this case I'm not sure the shack isn't at one end of the 
> house and the entrance at the other end
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>
>> The only thing about which I'm uncertain is conductor diameter. It's 
>> always been good engineering practice, especially where antennas are 
>> involved, for buildings to have a perimeter ground, with rods at 
>> various points around the perimeter. AT&T's Long Lines sites were 
>> built that way, and Ward recommends it in his book. I use a 
>> half-perimeter ground in the building that houses my shack; a cement 
>> patio is in the way of full perimeter. There are about 8 rods spaced 
>> along it, at the panel, and outside the shack near my coax entry panels.
> 
> 
> Perimeter or UFER/CEGE.
> 
>