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Old 30-Nov-2013, 6:10 AM   #23
GroundUrMast
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Greater Seattle Area
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Amateur radio and CB'ers and radio and Tv stations and federal government and the milatary have been using separate ground rod and rods since the beginning of electromagnetic communications many years ago.
That doesn't mean their system is safe in the event some source of fault current comes in contact with the system that is supposedly grounded. An isolated radio/antenna ground system, separate from the power ground sets up the operator to be hurt or killed if the antenna ground system is forced to a high voltage relative to the power ground during a fault condition. I'm grateful the majority of the people that installed isolated grounds suffered no harm... that doesn't change the fact that they could have had a safer installation, in some cases, cheaper as well.

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I'm pretty sure a separate ground rod would effectively reduce the chance of a lightning strike.
The purpose of grounding is not to reduce the chance of a lighting strike. It's to reduce the possibility that dangerous voltages could appear on the chassis of equipment if a lightning strike or other fault current source comes in contact with your electrical system.

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I also found in the NEC where supplemental ground rods not bonded are allowed in some instances.
Can you cite the chapter and section? I'm always willing to learn more on the subject.
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...the shield of the coax goes to my 3 televisions. That shield is grounded to my household electrical ground.
In the unlikely event that some electrical fault occurs, do you want that current flowing through your TV set(s)? I prefer to connect the mast and coax grounding conductors to the electrical service ground so that the path of least resistance is known, and known to be capable of handling a large amount of current with little voltage drop.
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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.)

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Last edited by GroundUrMast; 30-Nov-2013 at 6:18 AM. Reason: just another thought or two
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