Amateur Radio Tower Grounding.

[@KevinModz65]

Just an FYI for anyone installing ground rods in the future, if you leave a garden hose running at the base of the ground rod to keep the soil wet it will hammer in like butter verses having to beat it into dry ground. Source: My uncle taught me that trick when I was young

[@rickjames302]

smart man your uncle was. true statement!

[@ScooterMakGavin]

I genuinely appreciate this! Thanks for sharing his knowledge 🙏

[@derrickbaranowsky5715]

Do you need to saturate the soil down several feet first by letting the rater run a while before pounding inn the ground rod, or do you mean just turn the water on and immediately begin to pound the rod in?

[@KevinModz65]

@@derrickbaranowsky5715 It would all be depending on the current moisture content of the soil. For example where I reside in southern Illinois the soil is wet all winter and spring, so running water is usually not needed, but in the summer and fall we let it stream the whole time we hammer the rod into the ground

[@harleyd2572]

Nice Video. A couple of points to mention: First, ground wires outside should be solid and not stranded wires or braid. Each strand of stranded wires and braids tend to oxidize (corrode) insulating them from each other which increases the impedance of the ground system. Second, NEC requires only a single ground wire per clamp unless the clamp is made for more than one wire. I am using the same kind of clamps and have run the ground wire through the clamp (in through the top and out through the bottom) to go on to the next ground rod. Then I use a second clamp for the wire from each leg of the tower to each ground rod. I wouldn't worry much about the clamps but you may wish to check the stranded wires for corrosion. If it happens, the stranded wire can be replaced with solid wire down the road. Good job.

[@SupraRy]

A nice trick is if you have a hammer drill, you can get a bit that goes in the end that is cupped, and put the hammer drill on top of the ground rod and can drive an 8 foot rod in a matter of minutes instead of having to hammer it by hand. It will break through small rocks with ease as well. Im a commercial electrician and in the field while doing grounding rings on buildings we have also used plug in big hammer drills, you put a zip tie on the trigger, put it on the ground rod than tilt the ground rod up with the hammer drill already on it then have someone plug the hammer drill in while you hold the ground rod and it will drive itself down with the weight of the drill, so no need for a ladder. Quite handy in all honesty.

[@ampman1961]

Xothermic or Cadweld one shot's are perfect for permanently bonding the ground conductors to the rod. They come in different configurations. Google the subject. When I was working as an electrician some years ago, I was with a company that contracted to Pacbell and Sprint to build Cell sites. We used Cadwelding to bond #4 solid copper wire to form a "Buss" or Halo ground system. This allowed multiple paths to a central ground so that lightening could exit more effectively. Even the metal fence posts surrounding the pad where the equipment package was contained, were bonded in a like manner. We used a strap on mold made from Graphite to Cadweld to the posts. The same can be done to Tower Legs. Anyway, congrats on a job well done.

[@somuchbull]

Nice job. Good information. I like the way you did your video ... concise and to the point. Now that you have your rods and wire in the ground, you could always add improvements later. It all takes money buy you can never have too much grounding protection.

[@sklise1]

Good info; Ground rounds should be as far away from each other as possible; 8ft should have a 16ft raduis; 10ft ground rod should have 20. Very nicely done video.

[@NA12495]

Steve Klise.... should be separated 1.5 of the length of the ground rod. So my rod is 8' so they will be separated by at least 12'.

[@mshock9637]

Fun stuff. You want to make sure your rods are at least one rod lenth apart. I always cad welded ground rings for lightning systems and transformer pads.

[@dougtaylor7724]

My sympathies to the poor guy that got to play ditch digger. That was a lot of work. Nice job on the ground system.

[@crankabit]

I'm one of those guys who likes to do it "the hard way" too. I bet he is retired and having fun anyway. Thanks for posting the "help" in a nice way.

[@frenchfryfarmer436]

Many folks under estimate the shear overwhelming power of a large lightening strike...it will jump and fill all sorts of gaps and overwhelm ANY attempt of negating it. Old timers say grounding systems attract stikes. I'd say build close enough to a large oak for it to take the strike!!

[@TimTools99]

You are so right! I have learned since I did this that I basically wasted my money. I never grounded my antennas until I got that tower and I thought I better do something but the best thing we can do is unplug our equipment and pray.

[@frenchfryfarmer436]

@@TimTools99 thanks for that. Over my lifetime I have aquired a large "network" pool of ole timers (rural folks and "doers") that I take into account their life experience. I then average and assess. There's LOTS of wisdom out there.

[@kd8opi]

I'm all for good grounding, but the only sure-fire way to protect your equipment from an antenna strike is to disconnect your antenna from your radio. If lightning hits your home and your radio is plugged in, that grounding wont help you. So I say kudos for your efforts, but please unplug your radio and disconnect your antenna when you are off the air.

[@miguelsalami]

Yep disconnect coax and place it in a glass jar to insulate it.

[@mylesl2890]

it can't hurt to unplug, but. it's not true that you have to, if you have a proper ground gear should be fine. emphasis on a proper ground.

[@kd8opi]

@@mylesl2890 Go ahead and take your chances, its your gear. There is only one absolute way to protect your radio from an antenna strike - unplug it. Its also the easiest and the cheapest.

[@mrmrlee]

@@mylesl2890 If the lightning strikes your antenna, travels down the coax and into your home it doesn't matter if your tower "chassis" is grounded! The antenna center conductor is isolated from the braid electrically to carry a signal. It's the only way our radios can work.

[@mylesl2890]

@@mrmrlee no well that is the entire point of having proper grounding and lightning protection, to prevent it from 'going down and to the rig. the idea is to divert it before your rig which is commonly done --plenty of articles from official places on how to do this, think about. all the expensive stacks of gear on super tall buildings that get hit daily v rare. makes it to the gear don't take my word google away.additionally I didn't say to just gnd the twr.

[@Redawg58]

I live in Florida and they get lots of lightning strikes here, I used three 8 ft. ground rods at each tower leg. I used 2 inch braid but should change it to solid copper wire. The tower is 80 ft and guyed at 40 & 80 ft. so the guy-wires also serve as dissipation of build up static and add to the grounding of the tower. A bit of rock-salt in the hole where the tower sits in the sand helps because there is no soil just sand.

[@NA12495]

Redawg58, most people want to try and divert the lightning from going through the base. Epson Salt and water is great along the ground wires and rods.... Increase those impurities.

[@battlebuggy]

Great video, I picked up a few tips off this. I do mostly CB myself. In the CB world, the more grounding, the better. Cuts down on the static..

[@TimTools99]

Yes the static grounding will help for sure. Thanks for watching

[@lifeisgood070]

Looks like an excellent video. If anyone doing this in the future in theory your ground rods should be spaced by the length of the rod at minimum. So in theory I think an 8 foot rod should be 8 feet from another rod. But I'm sure that's not like a big deal or anything.

[@DanielOrtegoUSA]

Very helpful so thanks for posting!🤗

[@q95oldies57]

Looks good. I wouldn't connect it to the utility ground though.

[@waldan1701]

I just have a 9 foot ground rod hammered down only leaving a few inches exposed for clamps. I have a ground block inside the shack grounded to the ground rod with a piece of #6 stranded and all the equipment grounded to the ground block with #12 stranded. No ground on the 35 foot tower at all. Seems to work well.

[@TimTools99]

waldan1701 Yes, I think that is just as good as what I did!

[@JasonBelgarde]

Looks great,Love those Polyphazers.....

[@JasonBelgarde]

I wonder if the scammers ever knew that the cloud burner was doing more damage to themselves than all of us who Obeyed the law.......Right under or near a PGE powerline is asking for serious Smurf trouble.....Study bus-line data transfer :electronic dirty tricks......PPOe,40 meter radio,rolling packets,etc......

[@williampeacock9473]

Enjoyed the video. Appreciate all the information on how to ground my station. 73 AE4OY WILLIAM EM-81UF

[@miguelsalami]

THAT IS ONE HOT MESS !

[@Markinpuff]

Hey, Tim, I'm using no ground on the second floor, except for standard house ground and connecting my equipment to a bus bar. Had a nearby strike 2 years ago, no effect on anything... Radios were still connected, it was a surprise storm. I guess I got lucky. :)

[@TimTools99]

+Markinpuff Thanks for the comment. After I did all this expensive grounding work, I have wondered if it was worth doing at all. There are many theories on the proper way to ground and this quite possibly might not help me at all. I think if I had it to do over again, I would just unplug all my cables from my equipment when not in use.

[@athertop]

@@TimTools99 Even unplugging in a storm does not necessarily negate the risk of damage from a nearby lightening strike. EMF from a strike could easily destroy electronics which is not even plugged in to anything. One case here in the UK, destroyed almost every electrical item in a guys house when his antenna was struck (it was connected) - even things still in their boxes got destroyed by the EMF. I must admit it is a scary thought! Nice detail in the video. Best wishes.

[@TimTools99]

@@athertop Thank you Paul.

[@danielyoung3083]

nice job. i just got a rohn tower 48' im setting it up but id like to know more about how you set your tower up on that pole to be able to raise and lower it. is that something you made yourself? in in central fl and the hurricanes are my concern so being able to lower it would be great. anyway im jabberjaw and im on ch 21 everynight. maybe ill catch you on skip some day.

[@TimTools99]

I did not make it. It was given to me. It is pretty cool the way it works but I am nervous every time I lean the tower over. There is a lot of stress that is put on the cable but it works. Yes, maybe we can talk on skip if good conditions ever happen again!

[@VK2KRR]

Excellent video, thanks

[@mandh14]

Amazing setup!

[@knikk77]

Nice video! The RF-ground is mostly to stop the interference from coming into the shack, and stopping RFI from emitting from your antenna. Have you noticed any difference in interference coming in to the signal?

[@TimTools99]

Thanks. I haven't thought about the RFI improving. The A3s antenna works great on this tower. I'm pretty happy.

[@TimTools99]

Ha ... well after I went to all the trouble and expense, I don't think I would bother if I had to do it again. I got along 20 years without any grounding at all..... just unplug your equipment and take your chances. lol

[@tunnelrat1439]

TimTools99 when grounding your shack,Will i get a groundloop problem if i connect the radio plus antenna plus amp to the same ground....I appreciate the information u provide..thank u

[@kissingbanditt]

you can connect RF ground to house Electric ground? its amazing how many different parts of America have different rules and laws....where iam, both connections RF and electrical ground have and must be seperate....

[@NA12495]

Theo T... NEC says all grounds should be connected.

[@brianbartulis9709]

Well I figure grounding is for lightning for the most part. Ima ignorant of more the merrier for static. I see below a man mentioned Cadweld, of which coincides with what I was told long ago of long term grounding. Simply put, the ol' addage "rust never sleeps". One day corrosion between a screwed in bolt tip and the ground stake will be. ~ Who knows what lightning thinks. I was in gramps old farmhouse when it was struck and least figured; lightning hit the tree, jumped ship to the telephone line, then again to an unused gas line into the house that ended at an open ended flexline...and spent it's left over energy in the room which I was in..kitchen. (fahhhk!) Blah blah, room filled with smoke, melted/buckled some granoleum flooring, ashed the garbage can and microwave hutch, lower wall. Lightning jumping ship ignoring corrosion to ground who knows. But no air entering connection means no corrosion...all utilities grounded with a bolt/screw to pipe. This came to mind seeing all the work done and just bolts used. tips me hat ~

[@brianbartulis9709]

lol, my ground one might ask? I've an old forty foot Radio Shack telescoping job/Antron 99 (58'?) bolted to a fifty foot, old chain link fence. ho hum, Faraday fence? (-:

[@TrueNetworking]

Hello sir, mine is a rooftop tower. Can I connect it to the same ground which I had built for my house?

[@TimTools99]

They say NO. This grounding business is tricky. There are so many conflicting opinions.

[@TE5LA-GAMING]

NEC code actually requires that all grounds be bound to the main electrical ground.

[@LarryBluesScribe]

Great job, N2EWR

[@kd8opi]

Agree completely.

[@tsbrownie]

I did a video on how to make a cheap / easy tool for doing just that. A friend of mine had one while I was helping him with grounding his shack. Can search cP6fglxx7Ps if you're interested. I drove a 3 meter long rod at the mother in law's just last week. Took all of 2 minutes or so and no mushrooming, bending, bad words, etc.

[@ningis21]

All good stuff... But haven't you just created an earth / ground loop... that will also act as a counterpoise ??

[@semperoccultus1969]

There's a tool for pounding those in. Way easier, but still a back breaker. I would hire someone out next time. I would also check that base to make sure it's solid. Looks sketchy.

[@MrTONYSOPRANO69]

it'll only help if you have a nearby strike,a direct hit,there aint enough ground to save nothing

[@sethkorion2250]

Expect to be replacing your buried bare #6 wire after a few years

[@adlcm67]

You could buy a new radio for the cost of all this grounding...?

[@RONALDO-ij6qu]

My Comments are Meant to be Constructive Only! Thats Alot of Work digging trenches all-about the area. Adding Multi Ground Rods as shown in this footage is Null & Void.. YES of course its great to Clamp Each Tower Leg but Only connect to (1) Ground-Rod-Only! You are using #4 & #8 copper wire that is geared towards *Electrical* services only! The wire(s) being used are *ONLY* able to carry 60HZ You *Should* be using 1 Inch Flat Strap Copper Ground Straps as they handle 100,000+ HZ. YES allow the least path of resistance for Lightning but not with 60HZ electrical ground wire. Using Coaxal-Ground-Points are 100% Useless! They only offer you False Sense of Security. As the old saying goes-- Lightning will Do What-Ever-It-Wants-To-Do! We live in South Florida / Lightning Capital of the World.

[@TimTools99]

I learned a lot doing this project about what I did wrong but it seemed like there was no consensus on how to do it. Everybody seemed to have a different idea. If I had it to do over ... I wouldn't bother. Just unplug my gear and hope for the best. lol