| Author |
Message |
    
Airplane1
Advanced Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 748
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 8:57 am: | 
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I am moving my setup to the basment in a corner of the house where my breaker box for the house is located. Can I use the ground in this box for all my equipment? or can I just run the ground wire throu the block wall and attach to the house ground rigt outside, it would be less than 9ft to this ground either way and I would not need to put another rod in the ground.
AP |
Tech237
Moderator
Username: Tech237
Post Number: 264
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 12:20 pm: |
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Personally I would not advise grounding directly to teh AC ground. In most cases it will work fine but then something goes wrong and you suddenly have AC on your radio ground.
Play safe and use a separate ground. Of course having said that I know that now several people are going to disagree with me. |
Road_warrior
Senior Member
Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 1323
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 1:05 pm: |
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Hopefully Tech 833 will chime in here.
I read articles to the effect that the
basement is the worst place to be during
a lightning storm because of the cement floors.
But, i can't remember what the article said,
about remedying the situation.
Not sure if this has any merit to it or not.
Hopefully Tech 833 can shed light to whether this is true or false. |
Marconi
Advanced Member
Username: Marconi
Post Number: 639
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 2:54 pm: |
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As a practical matter the more ground rods the better. They need to be hooked together and spaced some distance apart, but it will not hurt to have more than one ground rod if safety is your issue. It you are just looking for a connection for AC current then hook right in to the existing ground system in the junction box. |
Airplane1
Advanced Member
Username: Airplane1
Post Number: 749
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 5:22 pm: |
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Well I just wanted to ground use the rod in the ground right outside the house, I just thought this would be the easy way. I can run another ground rod but it would have to be tied in to the house ground rod anyway so why not do it?
If connecting to the ac ground could case a problem with ac running on the ground then why tie them togethr to the other grouds in the radio system?
I`m sorry but I am confused on this grounding thing.
It wold be so simple to just connect all equipment to the ground about 8ft to the house ground rod and then over on the other side of the house 28ft from equipment coax enters the house and will be grounded with rod and polyphaser. this ground is connected or tied into the ground of the garage ac ground about 12ft away and the tower antenna ground about 20ft away which is tied to the garage ac ground also about 16ft away.
Does this make any sence?
AP |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 9667
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 6:37 pm: |
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Airplane1,
Maybe this other topic and advice from Tech833 will help with your grounding questions.
Ask The Tech
» Antennas
» Galvanized pipe a no-no???
Lon
Tech808
CEF808
N9CEF
CVC#2 |
Chad
Advanced Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 774
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 8:12 pm: |
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IMHO your grounding should be bonded to the home's grounding scheme. This is because the newer grounding rig with more rods should have less resistance to ground then the existing home grounding system if it even still exists in an older home. This will effectively make your radio grounding rig the home ground via the 14 GA wire attached to the 3rd pin of your outlet. Under fault conditions within the home this can be VERY dangerous! Especially considering the fact that neutral and safety ground are bonded at the service and no one knows where the next utility ground could be. In some instances this wire going to the radios (ground) could carry substantial current!
My radio grounding is NOT connected (bonded) to the home grounding. None of my gear attaches to the home ground, I run on batteries and solar. The charger for backup is un-grounded.
Chad |
Road_warrior
Senior Member
Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 1345
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 16, 2006 - 9:43 pm: |
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Below is the article i seen about concrete flooring.
-------------------------------------------------
The basement is the best location for the ham shack. It is closest to ground and will have the lowest inductance connection to the grounding system. Because it is below grade, some magnetic shielding may occur. Most basements have concrete floors. Since concrete is a conductor, your equipment must not sit directly on the concrete. Doing so will allow surge energy to enter the shack and find a ground path through your equipment to the floor. Insulate your equipment with material that does not absorb water. Wood is not a good choice. Polypropylene is better than nylon to use as a full footprint sheet insulator. Obviously, you should not be on the concrete floor touching the equipment when a storm is near! |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1314
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 11:33 am: |
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I have mixed feelings about this.
1- Yes, if you put your station 'under ground' there are some real benefits if your gear has poor shielding.
2- This is the LAST place you want to be in a storm. Insulated or not, makes no difference. Lightning traveling thousands of feet to get to your shack will have no trouble making the extra 1/4 inch to short out through your insulating mat. |
Road_warrior
Senior Member
Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 1346
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 3:17 pm: |
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I won't even go into my basement during a Lightning storm. To much metal, concrete, ect. |
