8ft Grounding rod: copper or galvanized

[Blackcat630]

I used 2 solid copper wire off each leg of my tower to its own 8 ft copper clad rod. Kept each ground as short as possible.

At work we coil 2 solid put it under the butt of the pole. Throw about 6 inches of dirt on top.. it then runs up the pole hole to about 18 inches above grade. We then nico press sleeve it to 7 #10 copper clad up the pole. It is bonded directly to the transformer and system neutral. For larger devices and higher current applications.. (xformer banks, regulators, inteleruptors, vipers, ocr's) we use #2 stranded copper up the pole. They claim the 7 #10 wire works "as good" as real copper... less theft losses.

 

[Radiomatrix]

This is what I do for my tower and masts.

AME-25 Radio Tower project

Whoa! Outstanding!

 

[Radiomatrix]

Can I spray paint the stranded wire running up my pole? The pole and antenna are painted forrest green so it disappears against the trees, the highlights are showing, but it is all green. Braided copper I would afix on the backside with zip ties….the buryflex goes into pvc and runs underground to the house via fittings through the wall.

 

[Radiomatrix]

Sounds like what was used on our lightning rods, woven and round. Not quite half an inch on ours though, but the three lightning rods we have (two on roof peak and one on chimney) are tied into the same wire that goes across the roof and down both sides to ground rods. The electrical has its own ground, but nowhere near as robust.
.View attachment 65321

What do i do with any excess braided copper ? Bind it in the ground rod clamp?

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

What do i do with any excess braided copper ? Bind it in the ground rod clamp?

Ummmmm......cut it off at the proper length? Just a radical suggestion, mind you.

 

[Radiomatrix]

Ummmmm......cut it off at the proper length? Just a radical suggestion, mind you.

Yeah, very funny-har,har…….now for the rest of you, is there a practical reason to want to bulk up at the top of the antenna or down at the grounding rod attachment With any excess if any?

 

[W4KVW]

I never understood if Lightning is looking for a Ground then why am I providing it's Target? WE had a Lightning strike here at our home 7 weeks ago & looking at the blown fuses it appears the strike came in through the Ground of our home. Not a single fuse on any piece of gear that I lost had a blown fuse on the Hot leads all on the ground leads. My tower base is the only ground I have & I will not be adding more.

 

[brandon7861]

I never understood if Lightning is looking for a Ground then why am I providing it's Target? WE had a Lightning strike here at our home 7 weeks ago & looking at the blown fuses it appears the strike came in through the Ground of our home. Not a single fuse on any piece of gear that I lost had a blown fuse on the Hot leads all on the ground leads. My tower base is the only ground I have & I will not be adding more.

Link cuts right to the good part...

Lightning doesn't "look for" a ground, it just arcs when the potential between the cloud and ground builds up enough. The lightning rod helps dissipate the charge separation as it approaches.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I never understood if Lightning is looking for a Ground then why am I providing it's Target? WE had a Lightning strike here at our home 7 weeks ago & looking at the blown fuses it appears the strike came in through the Ground of our home. Not a single fuse on any piece of gear that I lost had a blown fuse on the Hot leads all on the ground leads. My tower base is the only ground I have & I will not be adding more.

Do what you want to but I suggest you find out a little bit more about just what causes damage. Lightning will NOT "come in on the ground lead" HOWEVER it WILL cause damage when not all grounds are tied together. This means the tower ground, station ground, and electrical entrance ground MUST all be tied together in a single common point and then that common point is used to ground your gear. If this is not done, one ground location WILL vary in electrical potential from the others and current WILL flow from one ground to the other through equipment chassis, causing the damage. Not all grounds remain at the same voltage potential during a strike but as long as they are tied together they WILL remain the same and no current can possibly flow from one ground to another.Commercial installations grounded in this manner can continue to remain on the air even when taking a direct strike.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Yeah, very funny-har,har…….now for the rest of you, is there a practical reason to want to bulk up at the top of the antenna or down at the grounding rod attachment With any excess if any?

Glad you found it funny. Go ahead, use braided ground strap (solid is FAR better as there is less inductance). Don't forget to roll up the excess ground lead as you may need to extend it later.(HUGE NO-NO as it adds inductance which will impede the current flow) and lastly make sure you have as many 90 degree bends in it as possible to slow down the lightning current flow. Do what you want too but I HIGHLY suggest you go with my first suggestion above about making it as short as possible. It's your station......and home. For 22 years I worked in commercial broadcasting and the only time we lost equipment was one time the three phase high voltage power supply blew all the rectifiers in the old Harris FM-5H FM transmitter. Current flow was between the tower, through the transmitter chassis, and out to the power line.The grounds were not done properly originally. They were after that incident.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

My tower base is the only ground I have & I will not be adding more.

You also have a ground at your electrical entrance panel. The fact you did not have any blown fuses tells me current flowed from the antenna, through the equipment chassis and out to the AC electrical ground.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I used 2 solid copper wire off each leg of my tower to its own 8 ft copper clad rod. Kept each ground as short as possible.

At work we coil 2 solid put it under the butt of the pole. Throw about 6 inches of dirt on top.. it then runs up the pole hole to about 18 inches above grade. We then nico press sleeve it to 7 #10 copper clad up the pole. It is bonded directly to the transformer and system neutral. For larger devices and higher current applications.. (xformer banks, regulators, inteleruptors, vipers, ocr's) we use #2 stranded copper up the pole. They claim the 7 #10 wire works "as good" as real copper... less theft losses.

7 strands of #10 is equivalent to #4 gauge.

 

[Blackcat630]

7 strands of #10 is equivalent to #4 gauge.

Yes it is. Grab a role of "seven number ten" is just the work slang for what we use..

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Yes it is. Grab a role of "seven number ten" is just the work slang for what we use..

Basic rule is in order to double the cross sectional area you need to drop three numbers. Two pieces of #4 is equal to one piece of #1 gauge. Two pieces of #12 is equal to #9 etc.

 

[Radiomatrix]

Glad you found it funny. Go ahead, use braided ground strap (solid is FAR better as there is less inductance). Don't forget to roll up the excess ground lead as you may need to extend it later.(HUGE NO-NO as it adds inductance which will impede the current flow) and lastly make sure you have as many 90 degree bends in it as possible to slow down the lightning current flow. Do what you want too but I HIGHLY suggest you go with my first suggestion above about making it as short as possible. It's your station......and home. For 22 years I worked in commercial broadcasting and the only time we lost equipment was one time the three phase high voltage power supply blew all the rectifiers in the old Harris FM-5H FM transmitter. Current flow was between the tower, through the transmitter chassis, and out to the power line.The grounds were not done properly originally. They were after that incident.

I cannot tell if you are being serious with your recommendations.