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Bob Miller · July 21st 06, 02:36 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna

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

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