"Bill Ogden" wrote

I have several ground rods by the tower and one by the entry to my
basement
shack. The tower-to-entry-point has two #10 wires in the trench (but not
not in the conduit) that connect the nearest of the tower ground rods to
the
entry-point rod. The distance is about 45'.

From the entry point area to the rig is about 10' and has a single #10
wire.
Also from the rig area to the electrical panel is another #10 wire that is
about 40'.

Is this a reasonable arrangement? Is it better than nothing? Worse than
nothing?

Hi Bill, it's reasonable and better than most, providing the following is
also true:

The coax shields grounded at the tower (min. at the bottom, best top and
bottom), and again at the basement entrance single point ground. Shields
must be grounded before connection to an arrestor.

I will shortly place two ICE units at the entry point on the two coax
lines
from the tower. I am still considering what to do with the control
lines --- there are 12 for a SteppIR, 6 for a rotator, and 6 for a remote
coax switch.

Bill
W2WO

ICE also makes protection for control lines. I have no experience with them
in particular, but my six ICE coax arrestors have handled a lot of surge
from several strikes less than 100' away, two of which were within 50' of
antennas.

I would also add that the importance of the bonding between shack single
point ground and AC service entry point ground is critical to prevent ground
potential rise (GPR) from a nearby strike's energy from going through your
equipment via your own ground connections. The path in from ground and out
through the back of your equipment AC power cords will always exist, but
with proper bonding it will not be a destructive connection. Most stations
have this station-ground to mains-ground bonding conductor outside the
station, but I don't see the harm of having it inside either *if* it was a
very short distance [yours is NOT SHORT]. The shorter the route for this
bond the better, whatever path it may take. NEC requires it be less than
20'. Fat chance you say. Alternatives are to provide multiple ground rods
along a 20' path of this critical bond. That means change your bonding
conductor to run outside, from the station single point ground (rod), via a
couple additional rods, to the AC mains service entry ground (rod).

73,
Jack Painter
Virginia Beach VA