View Single Post
Old 23-Aug-2014, 2:42 AM   #24
GroundUrMast
Moderator
 
GroundUrMast's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Posts: 4,773
If the ground rod near the antenna is not bonded to the rest of the electrical service grounding system via #6 AWG copper (or heavier), I would not trust it to provided a reliable low resistance connection to the grounding system in your house. A reliable low resistance connection is vital if you want to avoid undesirable or even dangerous voltage differences between items that connect to the grounding system.

If the rod is bonded correctly, it can serve as the mast ground.

The ideal situation is to connect at a common point. This reduces resistance between different sub systems to nearly zero. I think the term grounding tends to make people think that a connection to earth is some sort of 'be all and end all'. The most important thing you are trying to achieve is not a connection to earth, but rather, a low resistance between each 'grounded' object. A connection to earth is an important, but secondary goal.
__________________
If the well is dry and you don't see rain on the horizon, you'll need to dig the hole deeper. (If the antenna can't get the job done, an amp won't fix it.)

(Please direct account activation inquiries to 'admin')
GroundUrMast is offline   Reply With Quote