On Aug 3, 3:09*pm, Bruce in alaska wrote:
In article ,



*"KJ4NTS" wrote:
On *3-Aug-2009, Michael Coslo wrote:

http://tinyurl.com/ns7jjd

Is a nice station grounding pdf from Polyphasor. Sorry for the tinyurl,
the original url is a mile long.

Everyone should have a copy, and the writer should get an award for his
or her clarity.

That's a good article, but it is focused on grounding for lightning
protection. *I am interested in
that, but I am also interested in having an effective RF ground.

I've been able to get a total of 16 feet of ground rod down in the form of 4
four-foot rods, but I
have a 50 foot run from my office to the ground rods, and I'm concerned about
RF impedance in that
connection.

The two are pretty much Mutually Exclusive. *What makes for Good
Lightning Protection, really doesn't have ANYTHING to do with RF
Grounding, especially if your using an End Feed Vertical, for an
Antenna. Lightning Protection is a Ground Rod that meets NEC.
Low Impedance RF Grounding System design is a Science and Art all in
itself.

--
Bruce in alaska
add path after fast to reply

Atta boy Bruce!
A ground plane or counterpoise is part and parcel of a antenna all of
which does not necessarily radiate and it is not of the same potential
of the true ground that should be at the lowest potential of them all.
It is for this reason the transmitter chassis is grounded and
separated from the radiator system which has it's own closed circuit
and where the potential is above that of true ground. In this way your
transmitting circuit does not have a ground loop which is the last
thing that you want.
Lightning tries to get to the true ground by the shortest route and
the requirement is for you to not be part of it's route, even if your
radio has to be the sacrificial lamb if you haven't pulled the plug.