On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:54:03 -0400, Jimmie D wrote:

"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:58:46 -0400, "Kenneth Grimm, K4XL"
wrote:

Will the eight 5 ft rods give me the same "ground" as the four 10 ft
rods? Or, do I need to add even more 5 ft rods to achieve the same
ground?

Hi Ken,

Oddly enough, you could as easily lay the rods out in a shallow trench
(say, a foot deep) and get the same grounding, if not better. The only
rule of thumb that might be observed is to not have them in proximity
to one or the other. Proximity would mean about five feet in 10 foot
parallel trenches.

However, to satisfy convention: cut them in half (or research the
archives here for rotary hammers) and keep them isolated, one from the
other, by at least three feet.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

I think the rule of thunb is to separate ground rounds by an amount
equal to their length.

Going by what I read on the Polyphaser site some time back and what BICSI
recommends for telecom grounding, a minimum distance is eight feet
between ground rods. Closer than that and the rods won't be able to
dissipate the energy effectively.

Also, more shorter rods covering a larger surface area of earth is
preferable to fewer deeper rods. Minimum length is considered to be 5
feet.

Finally, be sure to tie the tower, shack, and AC entrance grounds
together for a "single point" ground to avoid ground potential
differences between interconnected equipment.

73, de Nate

--

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds,
the pessimist fears this is true."