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[TowerTalk] Ground Rods in rocky soil

To: TOWERTALK@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Ground Rods in rocky soil
From: Cqtestk4xs@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 12:50:06 EST
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
After being spoiled by Florida's sugar sand in which you could dig  a hole 
for a base for holes and anchors by hand and drive a ground rod down  by 
"jetting" it, I now live on one of the biggest rock piles in the world.
 
Most of the Big Island of Hawaii has solid lava rock.   Fortunately, my area 
is a little bit better...a mix of clay, small rocks  and rocks up to a foot 
across, certainly not the kind of stuff easy to get  into.  Sometimes the layer 
of pure clay is just a few inches thick, in  other places it can be ten feet 
deep.  Ground rods and copper are  pretty expensive out here and I don't want 
to experiment losing rods just a  couple of feet into the ground and getting 
stuck at that depth.
 
I know I can use a backhoe to dig the holes and will have one on the  
property to dig the cesspool, but what is the best way to go getting ground 
rods  in? 
 I asked the locals at one of the radio club meetings and they weren't  much 
help.  Responses were.....most guys just drive it in a foot or so and  use 
radials.  Since the station will sit on a hill, I really don't feel too  secure 
putting the rod in only a foot, however I do plan on running the radials,  
since I know it will help.
 
Any ideas?
 
Bill K4XS/KH7XS
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