Comments within your post
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From: Scott Neader KA9FOX[SMTP:neader@QTH.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 1998 8:19 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Attach ground wires to Trylon Tower?
I'm finally ready to correctly ground my Trylon tower. I'll describe my
grounding plan for those that are interested below... but for now, I have a
question:
I am using #2 bare stranded copper wire. I need to figure out a way to
attach these wires to the base of the Trylon tower. I was hoping to find
some sort of lug to crimp onto the end of the wire, and then just use the
large bolts at the base of the tower to attach the lugs to the tower.
>>PolyPhaser sells specialized hose clamps for this (I assume the tower
legs are tubular, but they'll work on angular although their longevity may
be compromised). They have a leaf of stainless steel to prevent copper
from touching the galvanized tower.
I would suggest if you can going to something more substantial than
#2. If you must use round members, try for 2/0. Wide, flat, solid copper
strap is even better. You can get it from a number of sources, let me know
if you need a few.
I visited an electrical supply house today but they don't have any lugs
like that (the bolt holes at the base are quite large compared to the #2
wire). I was hoping to find brass lugs so I didn't have to worry about the
dissimilar metal problem (copper against galvanized steel).
Hey you Trylon Tower owners out there... what did you use to ground your
tower?
Now, as promised, my grounding plan:
* From each of the two legs furthest away from the house, I will run 4 runs
of #2 stranded bare copper wire, fanning away from the tower (and away from
the house), as far as I can go, to the end of the lot line (each run will
be about 40 feet or less).
* Will put a 8 foot 5/8" ground rod about every 16 feet or so.
>>I'd suggest 12' apart. The 2:1 ratio assumes homogenous conductive soil. I
recommended a ratio of 1.5:1.
* I'm using Cad-Weld "One-Shots" to permanently weld the wire to the ground
rods.
..Good!!!
* I plan on only going down a foot or so, despite those saying to do it 4
feet or more. Phooey on that! If you feel it is so important, please come
here and dig all 8 40 feet long trenches. :-) Seriously, I realize it
would be better, but I figure the worst case scenario is I won't be as
protected as I could be in the event of lightning AT THE SAME TIME as the
ground is frozen -- not really all that likely. And I will have so many 8
foot ground rods, they will all certainly be hitting moist ground. Am I
way off base here?
>>No. 18" should suffice; however, you want to get below the point at
which the soil freezes in winter.
You may want to test the pH of the soil at the depth you're installing
the radial system. If it is acidic, use aluminum/tinned/galvanized rather
than copper. If neutral or base (alkaline), stick with the copper.
* I plan on removing a couple panes of my basement window and mounting a
metal plate. I have purchased PolyPhaser bulkhead lightning protectors for
each coax line and will mount the protectors to the metal plate, then run
coax jumpers on the inside to my coax switches. In the summer, I will
probably disconnect the jumpers when rigs are not in use.
* I will run a couple of short runs of #2 stranded copper from the plate to
some ground rods outside the basement window (lengths and number of rods
not set in stone). I will also be contacting the power company and phone
company to see if they can tie their grounds to this ground (is this how it
works?)
>>The phone company will probably tell you "no." Since you're not putting
protection on their lines, you may want to avoid a confrontation. By all means,
bond with power. You need not get their permission - just do it.
* My tower is about 50 feet from the house. From various TowerTalk posts
recently, it sounds like it is NOT a good idea for me to take a run of
copper and ground rods and tie the tower and the bulkhead panel together.
The concept of doing this is complicated further because I would have to
pass over buried electrical cables (and telephone and cable) to do it.
>>At 50' you are getting to the point where the two sites won't "see" each
other. If you have spare material available, you may as well run this bond,
otherwise don't bother. If you do run it, however, do it sans ground rods.
73,
Bob AA0CY
ex PolyPhaser Sr Appl Engr
Scott KA9FOX
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