Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:32:36 GMT, Bob Miller
Stick 'em in the back side window, over the front passenger seat, stab
'em in on the front floor, blunt end down. Maybe you could also lower
the front seat back. A few towels would protect things.

bob
k5qwg
Flag the end of the rods.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

Bob Miller wrote:
On 20 Jul 2006 16:12:56 -0700, "Brian Kelly" wrote:

I have to transport four U.S. standard 5/8" dia x 8' long ground rods
35 miles in my four door compact car. Do not want to carry them on the
roof. If I cut them to six feet long I can load them inside the car.
Ignoring any code compliance issues would there be any reason the
shortened rods would not work as well as full-length rods for purposes
of ligtning protection and the usual HF station RF grounding? Soil here
is probably very conductive (damp heavy loam). Thanks.

Brian w3rv

Stick 'em in the back side window, over the front passenger seat, stab
'em in on the front floor, blunt end down. Maybe you could also lower
the front seat back. A few towels would protect things.

The brochure for our European subcompact hatchback showed a photograph
with a surf-board inside. They folded down half the rear seat, reclined
the front seat back until it was flat, and then pushed the pointy end of
the board all the way into the glovebox.

It was all highly contrived, and of course "your car may vary", but
maybe some of those ideas will help.


--
73 from Ian GM3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

I have to transport four U.S. standard 5/8" dia x 8' long ground rods
35 miles in my four door compact car. Do not want to carry them on the
roof. If I cut them to six feet long I can load them inside the car.
Ignoring any code compliance issues would there be any reason the
shortened rods would not work as well as full-length rods for purposes
of ligtning protection and the usual HF station RF grounding? Soil here
is probably very conductive (damp heavy loam). Thanks.


What's wrong with putting them on the roof? They are only 8' long, so they
won't overhang. Even without a roof rack it would be a simple matter to
protect the roof and tie the rods down.

Regards
Jeff

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

On 20 Jul 2006 18:20:47 -0700, wrote:


Brian Kelly wrote:
I have to transport four U.S. standard 5/8" dia x 8' long ground rods
35 miles in my four door compact car. Do not want to carry them on the
roof. If I cut them to six feet long I can load them inside the car.
Ignoring any code compliance issues would there be any reason the
shortened rods would not work as well as full-length rods for purposes
of ligtning protection and the usual HF station RF grounding? Soil here
is probably very conductive (damp heavy loam). Thanks.

Brian,

I know this doesn't answer the transport problem, but what are you
going to do with the rods?

Lightning protection comes much more from how you wire things than a
few ground rods...or even a dozen ground rods. As a matter of fact
adding or improving a ground can make things worse if the bonding and
entrance is installed wrong.

The station ground always should attach at the cable entrance point,
and that entrance MUST be bonded to the utilitly entrance ground. Many
people don't do this even though it is critical.

I have virtually no ground rods at all at my shack entrance, I leave
all the cables connected all of the time, I have several tall towers
including one 300 ft tall that gets hit several times a year, I have
virtually no in house lightning arrestors on cables, and I never have
lightning damage inside the house. I do have a cable entrance panel for
all cables, and that panel is bonded to the power mains ground and
telco ground.

You should put up some pictures of your ground installation :-)

bob
k5qwg



The reason I don't have problems, even though the magnetic field from
some hits is so strong it magnetizes the TV screens, is how things
enter and how they are "grounded" to a common point. I haven't even
lost a computer modem.

As for RF, unless you are end feeding an antenna the only way
RF-in-the-shack is an issue is if something is wrong with an antenna
system...either in basic design or layout. Any two conductor feeder,
either balanced or unbalanced, should not produce RF in the shack.

73 Tom

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

Jeff wrote:
I have to transport four U.S. standard 5/8" dia x 8' long ground rods
35 miles in my four door compact car. Do not want to carry them on the
roof. If I cut them to six feet long I can load them inside the car.
Ignoring any code compliance issues would there be any reason the
shortened rods would not work as well as full-length rods for purposes
of ligtning protection and the usual HF station RF grounding? Soil here
is probably very conductive (damp heavy loam). Thanks.


What's wrong with putting them on the roof? They are only 8' long, so they
won't overhang. Even without a roof rack it would be a simple matter to
protect the roof and tie the rods down.

You're right. I gotta go looking for a general-purpose rack. Which
would greatly simplify hauling lumber and 12' lengths of aluminum
tubing too.


Regards
Jeff

Brian w3rv

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

Dave wrote:

open the windows and stick them out for the drive. this works best if you
open both the driver and passenger windows on the front doors and put the
rods sideways across the car, this way they won't rub against any upholstery
and you can keep a close eye on them the whole way.'

"Brian Kelly" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have to transport four U.S. standard 5/8" dia x 8' long ground rods
35 miles in my four door compact car. Do not want to carry them on the
....

Roller skates and a tow line.
Seriously though,
Into the car through the driver side rear window and
across the car to the floor on thepassenger side.
You'll always have a nagging doubt if you cut them.

Irv VE6BP
--
--------------------------------------
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Beating it with diet and exercise!
297/215/210 (to be revised lower)
58"/43"(!)/44" (already lower too!)
--------------------------------------
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--------------------
Irv Finkleman,
Grampa/Ex-Navy/Old Fart/Ham Radio VE6BP
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

Back to finding a pair of cartop cargo carriers which work with these
new-fangled aircraft-style flush doors . .

That will work, and you will get lots of use out of them, and when you
get your pick-up sell them on eBay.
You don't have a sunroof, huh?
We carry two by fours, PVC pipe, etc. all the time in a Honda Civic
with a sunroof. We wrap the things with rags, and we take the back
roads home.
For your 35 miles, it would be a bit expensive but consider Home Depot
rents trucks for $18 per hour. Probably more now with gas prices.
While there get some other stuff you are sure to need for the
inevitable renovation work going on there at the new QTH. But don't
cut the ground rods. Come on now!

Rick K2XT

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

If not on the roof, then go UNDER the vehicle!
secure them with many 1/2 hitches, around the
bundle, and then tie off to the vehicle frame,
on the front , and back bumpers (I'm assumeing
that the roads you are paved (nothing to snag
these on). IF light enough load, have also
laid antennad, grounds, ect, in the saddle of the
rear view mirror, attaching the other end to the
rear bumper. Jim NN7K

Bob Miller wrote:
On 20 Jul 2006 16:12:56 -0700, "Brian Kelly" wrote:


I have to transport four U.S. standard 5/8" dia x 8' long ground rods
35 miles in my four door compact car. Do not want to carry them on the
roof. If I cut them to six feet long I can load them inside the car.
Ignoring any code compliance issues would there be any reason the
shortened rods would not work as well as full-length rods for purposes
of ligtning protection and the usual HF station RF grounding? Soil here
is probably very conductive (damp heavy loam). Thanks.

Brian w3rv

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

Cool - you can cut the rods in half and transport them... since you have
four rods, you'll end up with eight equal lengths once cut, of four feet
long. There are, however some cons here (I'll get to that). Depending
on your local geology and soil content, I would advise checking the
conductivity of the soil in the summer, during a dry spell. Depending on
....[snip]....

Although I can't cite the reference (I read too many magazines from too
many sources), a recent article somewhere gave a fairly-definitive answer
regarding grounding vs. depth of ground. Since I don't plan on digging
any 35-foot holes (I vaguely recall that number from the article), I
didn't even file the article (or if I filed it, I can't find it now!-(

--
--Myron A. Calhoun.
Five boxes preserve our freedoms: soap, ballot, witness, jury, and cartridge
NRA Life Member W0PBV "Barbershop" tenor CDL(PTXS) (785) 539-4448
Certified Instructor (KS Concealed Carry, Rifle, Pistol, Home Firearm Safety)

Question for You Grounding Gurus
 

On 29 Jul 2006 08:20:01 -0500, wrote:

Although I can't cite the reference (I read too many magazines from too
many sources), a recent article somewhere gave a fairly-definitive answer
regarding grounding vs. depth of ground.

Hi All,

In this last regard, consult:
http://www.cpccorp.com/deep.htm

However, depth is not the end-all be-all of the subject. Protection
can be obtained for far less effort as any AM vertical antenna can
give evidence to with its radial system.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC