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Message |
    
1861
Intermediate Member
Username: 1861
Post Number: 315
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 8:30 am: | 
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I HAVE A ANTENNA ON TRIPOD ON CENTER OF ROOF , WHAT IS BEST WAY OF GROUNDING ANTENNA ? |
Hollowpoint445
Advanced Member
Username: Hollowpoint445
Post Number: 741
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 2:53 pm: |
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For a basic safety ground:
Connect an aluminum ground wire to both the antenna and tripod with galvanized clamps.
Run it the shortest path possible to the soil.
Insert a galvanized ground rod into the soil.
Connect the ground wire to the ground rod with glavanized clamps.
Connect that ground rod to the other ground rod(s) for your home's electrical system and/or telephone,cable, etc. with aluminum ground wire and galvanized clamps.
At each clamping point use an antioxidant compound and try to make the surface area of the connection as large as possible and as weather resistant as possible. |
1861
Intermediate Member
Username: 1861
Post Number: 317
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 4:06 pm: |
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I HAVE ALL THAT DONE EXCEPT CONNECTING IT TO HOUSE GROUND . WHAT I WAS WONDERING , WAS BY THE TIME MY GROUND WIRE GETS TO GROUND FROM ROOF PEAK , IT IS ABOUT 25 FOOT LONG . DON,T KNOW OF ANYWAY TO GET TO GROUND WITH SHORTER . |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 6974
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 6:50 pm: |
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1861,
If 25' is what you have to use then Use 25'.
Also Check you local building codes as around here it is illegal to use aluminum ground wire or galvanized ground rods for grounding purposes and you must use copper.
Also use Pentrox or Noalox on all connections.
Lon
Tech808
CEF808
N9OSN |
1861
Intermediate Member
Username: 1861
Post Number: 318
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 8:42 pm: |
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THANKS , MY GROUND WIRE IS COPPER AND ROD BRASS PLATTED I THINK . WHAT IS PURPOSE OF RUNNING GROUND WIRE FROM ANTENNA GROUND TO ELECTRIC SERVICE GROUND ? |
Hollowpoint445
Advanced Member
Username: Hollowpoint445
Post Number: 742
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2005 - 9:48 am: |
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Good point about the local building code Lon. You should also check to see if you're allowed to make electrical connections yourself or if a licensed electrician must make the ground interconnections.
The point of connecting your electrical system ground to your antenna ground (or any other ground) is safety. The newest ground is probably going to be the better ground. Because it's a better ground than your current electrical system ground, your electrical system is going to use the new ground through your radio equipment. That's very dangerous. By connecting the electrical ground to the antenna ground your equipment won't be used as the electrical system's path to ground. |
1861
Intermediate Member
Username: 1861
Post Number: 320
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2005 - 11:41 am: |
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OK , I DON,T LIVE IN TOWN , SO CODES AREN,T A CONCERN-- SAFETY HOWEVER IS . TO CONNECT MY ANTENNA GROUND ROD TO ELECTRIC SERVICE GROUND RO IS A LITTLE PROBLEM SINCE THEY ARE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF HOUSE .THE SHORTEST ROUTE TO RUN A GROUND WIRE BETWEEN THE TWO WOULD BE DOWN THROUGH MY BASEMENT . WOULD THIS WORK ?? |
Airplane1
Advanced Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 554
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2005 - 2:44 pm: |
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Just run it the shortest way and forget connecting it to the homes grounding system. it will be OK.
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Hollowpoint445
Advanced Member
Username: Hollowpoint445
Post Number: 744
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2005 - 6:04 pm: |
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If you don't want to be electrocuted you should connect it to the ground for the electrical system. It's part of the national electrical code and it's required for safety.
Dont run the wire inside your home, run it around it. In a case like that you could establish a perimeter ground where a ground wire totally circles your house with ground rods driven at the corners. If the distance between rods is greater than 20 feet you can drive one in between. |
Airplane1
Advanced Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 555
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 8:39 am: |
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Well, guess I was wrong, I just dont understand the grounding thing(Stupid me)lol.
So now I need help,I did a search on grounding on this forum and just get more confused.
This is my setup, my tower is on the side of the garage, I ran a ground wire from antenna mast to 10ft ground rod at base of tower. now my garage has a ground rod about 14ft away from my tower, do I need to connect the two ground rods togeter?
My house ground rod is about 30 ft away from the garage ground but they were not connected together when my garage was built. Now do I need to connect all the grounds together.
Anyone willing to let me email them a drawing of my system and tell me exactly what I need to do here?
Airplane |
Hollowpoint445
Advanced Member
Username: Hollowpoint445
Post Number: 747
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 3:39 pm: |
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Yes, all of the grounds should be tied together and it's possible that your house ground and garage ground are connected through your house wiring. Do you have more than one meter?
Ideally, in a situation like yours a perimeter ground would be created around your house and garage, and all of the existing ground rods would be part of it. New ground rods would be placed at each corner and every 10 feet or so on straight runs.
If you want to do as little as possible you can just connect all of the ground rods together in some way. And your coax should definitely be grounded before it enters your home. |
Airplane1
Advanced Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 556
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 5:48 pm: |
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My garage dont have a meter, the power comes from the house and goes under ground through conduit and is 100 amp service. my garage is a detached garage about 10ft away. I cannot connect the house ground and garage ground because I have blacktop between and cant get wire under it.
How can the ground be connected through the house wireing? all I see in the basement is a very thick grey wire comming out of my breaker box in basement and going out through the block three ft below the ground level towards the garage. |
Hollowpoint445
Advanced Member
Username: Hollowpoint445
Post Number: 752
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 8:47 pm: |
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You have a sub-panel going from you main service to the garage. The ground wire is fed through that conduit to the sub-panel in your garage. So yes, the gounds are interconnected and you don't need to connect the ground rods to each other because they already are. Connect your antenna ground to the garage ground and all 3 will be interconnected.
You should consult an electrician to see if you are permitted to make this connection yourself, and if so, how to do it properly. |
Airplane1
Advanced Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 559
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 7:10 am: |
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Thanks alot Hollowpoint445, You answered my question and made sence out of my situation.
Just one more question please, when I ground my radio equipment should I put another ground rod in the ground at the point where the coax enters the house and then tie that ground to the garage ground rod, they will be only about 10-12 ft apart?
Then use a polyphaser there with my equipment grounds.
Thanks, I know I seem stupid but I just want every thing right. I just dont want to get electocute.
Thanks again,
Airplane |
Kj7gs
Junior Member
Username: Kj7gs
Post Number: 32
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 - 12:11 am: |
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Airplane1, the ARRL web site has 3 articles on lightning protection that may be worth a look. Just do a search on "lightning protection". The articles are pretty exhaustive. |
Sinker
Member
Username: Sinker
Post Number: 69
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 6:00 pm: |
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What about a dedicated outlet that also is running a dedicated ground. This should keep the house electrical from feeding through the radio equipment correct???
I am putting in a new outlet on its own dedicated circuit as the room I am in is already running a three computers an AC, TV & Stereo, since I also want to run an amp I figured I better just go ahead and give it all its own dedicated juice as well. Giving it a dedicated ground as well would not be difficult. What do you think??? |
