That's one reason why I like to augment a NEC-required mechanical connection
with silver-solder. The mechanical connection will degrade with time but it
will take significantly longer for a silver-soldered connection to degrade,
absent some really acidic soil condition.
Local code here now requires two (2) grounding electrodes at the service entrance spaced
to cover the "sphere of influence." That means two eight-foot rods require 16
ft. spacing. As I recall, the 2008 issue of NEC allows one electrode if one can
demonstrate 25-ohms earthing resistance. Not sure if that's still true with the newest
NEC changes. But what measures 25 ohms today may measure a lot higher as time goes by.
Paul, W9AC
-----Original Message-----
From: Topband [mailto:topband-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Edward
Dba East edwards
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2015 10:28 AM
To: Matt Murphy <matt@nq6n.com>; Tom W8JI <w8ji@w8ji.com>
Cc: Jim Murray <adkmurray@yahoo.com>; low bad reflector <Topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: RFI - and lots of it
I, for one, wonder how good my service entrance ground is...mine is probably 20
years old, and while the top looks ok, there's no way to know what's going on
down 4, 6 and 8 feet...my utlities are underground, if that means anything...
as a starting point, should a guy drive a new one? or 2 or 3, spaced some
distance apart?
( gosh, top band sounds lousy this fall, for me, anyway...sigs are well down
from normal strength..) 73, w5xz, dan
On Thursday, October 29, 2015 8:17 AM, Matt Murphy <matt@nq6n.com> wrote:
I'm in the process of setting up my station in a new QTH and plan to install
a station ground at the cable entrance.
Tom, is there a best practice for bonding to the mains ground? Any approaches
to avoid?
73,
Matt NQ6N
On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 7:07 AM, Tom W8JI <w8ji@w8ji.com> wrote:
I have and electrician coming next week who says he will check things
out
and first of all ground the breaker panel to two ground rods 7 feet apart.
I thought the grounding was put at the meter but he says they don't
do that anymore. I think the old meter, before we had the new one put
in had a ground rod beneath it but nothing now. The only ground I
could find to the panel is a skimpy wire going to a water line. All
of which looks corroded etc.. I know many dollars were spent on
renovation and restoration of this place but I'm afraid to much
emphasis was placed on cosmetic and not enough on electrical as I
look more closely, pretty depressing. >>>>>
Jim,
Just keep in mind when you do the work, the quality of the house
ground to earth is far less important than having everything entering
the house being bonded to act like one common point.
One of the biggest mistakes in amateur radio grounding over the
decades has been having the shack antenna and control cable entrance
ground non-existent, and the common shack desk equipment ground to an
independent ground.
The shack ground must be bonded to the mains ground so everything
entering the house is as close to one potential as you can get it.
Correcting things may not cure your RFI, but it always makes things
much safer and more reliable.
73 Tom
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