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Old 19-Aug-2019, 2:38 PM   #50
GroundUrMast
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Posts: 4,773
Quote:
Originally Posted by OTAFAN View Post
Do you mean all the electrical wiring in one's home or all the way upstream to the local power company; or both?

Thanks as always.....
Both...

In a typical residential area with above ground poles, you see one or more high voltage lines at the top of the pole. If you look closely, the pole mounted transformer is connected to one of the top lines. Of course, those high voltage line(s) are not directly connected to earth, but the line just below the transformer (the power company neutral) is connected to earth, in some cases at every pole by way of a wire that runs from the neutral down the pole and into the soil. The drop wire that runs from the transformer to your home typically is a set of three wires, one of which is not insulated... This uninsulated wire is connected to the power company neutral (which is tied to earth at multiple locations in their system) and then at your electrical service panel, a connection from the neutral to earth is made via a ground rod, rebar, water pipe, well casing, etc.

So, the neutral lines in your home are connected to the neutral lines in your neighbors homes through the power company neutral. Even if your ground rod (or other grounding option) has high resistance to earth, the many connections to earth made by the power company and your neighbors ensures that the total resistance between the neutral/ground bus in your service panel will be very low and reliable.

All that these connections to earth are intended for is the prevention of static charge buildup between the power grid and earth. The high voltage lines are also protected from static buildup because the power transformer windings have very little DC resistance. Once the neutral terminal of the transformer is connected to a grounded neutral you would be able to measure the DC continuity to ground when you test each of the 'non-grounded' terminals of the transformer.

I know I'm repeating myself, but very few antenna installations actually need a ground rod to be added... Simply bonding to the existing electrical service ground will provide all the ground connection that is needed and also provide protection from shock hazards.
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