Electrical Grounding question

[Dave Martin]

This was kinda covered a few weeks ago, but I'm interested in making the
electrical system, especially the ground in the studio as good as it can
(reasonably) be. At this time, there's one grounding rod, put in when the
building was built. I'd like to look seriously at other options - multiple
rods, a buried grid, or whatever I can to. I doubt seriously that I can
afford the deep grounding thing that Scott pointed me at a year or so ago
(multiple ground rods buried 80-100 feet deep).

Can anyone point me to a web site that gives practical construction advice,
or is this sort of thing too dependent on local soil conditions to
generalize?

Thanks,

--
Dave Martin
Java Jive Studio
Nashville, TN
www.javajivestudio.com

[James Boyk]

It certainly depends on local conditions. The local cable company in Santa
Monica, Cal., uses the ground of Verizon (GTE at the time I was told this),
which goes down something like 250 feet. At Fluke, in a much wetter area up
north, the ground is a metal mesh covering a good portion of the bottom of a
lake on company grounds.


James Boyk

[Kurt Albershardt]

Dave Martin wrote:

> This was kinda covered a few weeks ago, but I'm interested in making the
> electrical system, especially the ground in the studio as good as it can
> (reasonably) be. At this time, there's one grounding rod, put in when the
> building was built. I'd like to look seriously at other options - multiple
> rods, a buried grid, or whatever I can to. I doubt seriously that I can
> afford the deep grounding thing that Scott pointed me at a year or so ago
> (multiple ground rods buried 80-100 feet deep).
>
> Can anyone point me to a web site that gives practical construction advice,
> or is this sort of thing too dependent on local soil conditions to
> generalize?

Generally, it's rather dependent on local soil conditions. More
generally, you want to contact as much of the soil as practical.
Driving several ground rods (soil permitting) is fairly easy without
disturbing things too much. If you're already excavating for another
reason it would behoove you to take advantage of the open earth and lay
in a nice ground field before you fill & compact.

Some knowledge of the local soil geology and salinity would be useful,
and local engineering/testing firms may have specific suggestions.

[BESTnewEnglandDJ]

all you need is 2 - 8 ' ground rods and #4 thhn copper wire. ( 90% of the
time). im a Master Electrician.

[LLLindblad]

>#4 thhn copper wire

I wouldn't use thhn, stranded can cause corrosion, I'd use solid.

but then, im only a journeyman<g>.....

laters
tuna

[BESTnewEnglandDJ]

#4 copper Solid is VERY RARE!. and hard as hell to work with. also seperate the
rods about 8 feet apart. try to stay away from the foundation if you can.

[BESTnewEnglandDJ]

"no loops or bends" is total bull crap. give me a break.
vk

[Scott Dorsey]

BESTnewEnglandDJ > wrote:
>"no loops or bends" is total bull crap. give me a break.

Nope.

Take a look at a typical antenna install and watch the loop in the feedline.
That basically acts as a choke to discourage lightning. You don't want that
in your ground line.

Remember you're talking about stuff in the MHz region here when you are
talking about lightning. It doesn't behave like DC. You want it to follow
the ground line rather than arcing from the ground line to some other nearby
path and blowing a hole in your gutters, etc.

I bet the Staticat web site has some nice information on proper grounding
for lightning protection. You have to think like an RF guy.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."