Antenna ground or rig ground?
I know that's not the best way but I
don't want to run an 80 foot ground cable to the shack ground.
Thanks for all the good advice. 73 Gary N9ZSV
I see why you want to ground close to the shack for your single point
ground. This is good. But you will then have two grounds. One being the
ground outside your window and the other being the service entrance ground
with all the "green wire" grounds connected to it (the 3rd conductor in all
your ac line cords). When there is a strike there WILL be a potential
difference between these two grounds. That means for those few microseconds
they will NOT act as one ground and therefore there will be currents flowing
between these two points. You don't want this happening. The NEC code
requires you to bond your external grounds together, meaning you should run
a conductor outside your house from the shack ground to the service entrance
ground. It is a good idea to install ground rods every 16 feet along this
run. And the same conductor should be connected to any tower ground you
have as well.
There's tons of information on this subect. The antenna email reflector
archives is a good one, as well as the QST series about 4-5 years ago.
I know you don't want to do it, but the purpose of that 80 feet of wire is
important. Without it, all of your other work could be for naught.
Rick K2XT
|