On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 05:30:19 -0800, "mike sebring"
wrote:

I live in S.E. Alaska on an island that is about 99% solid rock and i am
wondering what would be a good way to get an effective ground for my rig and
my antennas.
I have tried to drive a 4' ground rod in the ground and it will only go down
about a foot and a half till it hits solid rock.
I have considered just burying several strands of heavy bare copper wire and
using that for my ground.
Any sugjestions????
Thanks for any help any of you can give me.

EX WB8RSH soon to be KL7???

Mike


Mike, I live on a rock here in central Texas. My service ground is 75
feet of #6 copper laid in the bottom of the electrical trench. I also
have a 6-foot horizontal ground rod laying on the rock with a few
inches of dirt over it and located where the feed lines pass through a
grounded metal bulkhead in the house wall.

The tower ground is via a couple of horizontal ground rods driven
between a couple of layers of rock near the base of the ower. The
tower is pretty much the highest object within a 0.75 mile radius, and
I've had one hit in the past 15 years. The only serious damage was
the stinger on the 2M Isopole at the top of the tower, and the
processor in the PK-232.

My neighbor had lightning rods installed on her metal-roofed house,
and they brought all of the ground cables down to several 2-foot
square copper plates laid right on the rock and covered with a few
inches of dirt. (Capacitive coupling?)

For RF ground, your best bet is radials and counterpoises.

Good luck,
Ed Bailen - N5KZW