Stan, good to see that you are serious about grounding.
However I must point out that by driving that rod into the floor INSIDE your
house you risk all sorts of damage.
Everything I read requires that the grounding system be set up to keep ALL
the strike energy OUTSIDE of the structure/dwelling.
This is accomplished by the use of metal plate, an "entrance panel" where
all the radio and antenna connections are returned to ground via a wide
piece of strap (like copper flashing) with no sharp bends in it, connected
to at least a pair of rods, spaced at twice their length apart. That panel
could replace all or part of the window sash.
The radio's power ground (the green wire) should also be connected to that
plate to remove the possibility of any strike energy running up the coax,
over the chassis and out the green wire to the service entrance ground (from
the power company by the fuse/breaker panel). That can be accomplished by
the use of a heavy extension cable, or even a run of Romex with a metal box
to mount the outlet(s). That metal box will be mounted on the inside of the
panel.
The reason that you do that is because any strike current traveling over the
radio's chassis will set up a magnetic field which will induce damaging
voltages into the wiring inside the radio/electronic device which can damage
the sensitive circuits inside.
BTW, if you're going to have a computer tied to the Internet and to your
radio, it too, and its telephone cable need also to be tied to that panel...
again to make sure that you do not have any strike current loops...
anywhere.
Look up a company on the web, PolyPhaser, they wrote the book on the subject
and offer many "white papers" for free reading.
As far as the lightning ground functioning as an RF ground... they are
different! The lightning ground only want's to provide a return for the
energy, doesn't care so much about frequency. An RF ground is a bit
touchier as it actually functions as part of the antenna system.
Stan (the other)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stan Rowe" <shrtuba@chartermi.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 10:45 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Ground Rod Through Basement Floor
> I'm looking for some advice from those who know or have experience with
> getting a good ground in a basement ham shack. My basement shack is
> located
> about 80 feet away from access to the outside so I am considering putting
> a
> ground rod through the basement floor about 8 feet from the back of the
> radios. I'm concerned about whether that will give me an adequate RF
> ground. Also I wouldn't be able to easily tie the new rod to the house
> ground without a long run. I'm also concerned about sealing around the
> new
> ground rod so that I don't have to worry about water leakage up through
> the
> basement floor though I think the likelihood of that is pretty small since
> the house is basically built on a sand hill and drainage is good. What is
> the best way to seal around the rod?
>
>
>
> What advice or experiences can you share?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Stan - K6VWE
>
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