It would seem to me the fast rise time of the lightning pulse makes it similar to any RF good practice concerns....the safety ground path should have low inductive reactance, not just low resistance. It also seems to me that skin effect resistance of braided strap may be lower than the skin effect resistance of stranded large gauge wire because of the increased copper surface area of braid (keeping other things the same). But all the weaving of the tiny braided little strands may present an increase of the inductive effect, unless the strands are not tarnished and act like a solid band -- so that may be why, these days, you see a preference for copper straps that are not braided. So I am not necessarily pushing a conclusion on what is best, but rather "thinking out loud" on why some choices may be better than others.
ROD / W5IE Rod Neumann (832)444-0192 ALLogic Inc. / AdorStore PO Box 217 NEW ULM, TX 78950 On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 12:47 PM John Holmes via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> wrote: > Totally agree and it’s vital to measure the grounding resistance, both my > positions (station and electrical service are linked but 300ft apart) are > sub 1 ohm which is well below code. All my bonding inside in the shack > leads to a common grounding copper bus bar with braided copper cables to > each bit of equipment. You can only do so much but every little helps. > > 73 John W Holmes K4VMG > > ------------------------------ > *From:* BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> on behalf of Robert Polinski via > BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Sent:* Saturday, February 24, 2024 12:37:36 PM > *To:* 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Cc:* Robert Polinski <emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com> > *Subject:* Re: [BVARC] Antenna prewire house > > > The type of wire is not important in bonding applications. The object of > bonding is to prevent potential voltages from 2 different grounds. In the > event of a lightning strike, you want all grounding systems to be at the > same potential. This relates to safety & equipment protection, not RF > grounding. Example, if your electrical service ground has a resistance of 3 > ohms (NEC requires it to be 4 ohms or less) and your ham station ground is > 1 ohm, if lightning strikes the power lines on the next block, the surge > coming in the power line to your home will be seeking your ground rod at > your home. This surge will not be the full current of the strike, as ohms > law is in effect, resistance of the ckt limits the current. If the strike > sees your house ground at 3 ohms, but the ham ground is 1 ohm, It will take > whatever path it needs to that lower resistance ground, that means thru > your radio or any other equipment that has both a electrical ground (3 wire > cord) & a ham station ground (antenna system) The bonding between these 2 > grounds makes the surge see the low resistance of the combined grounds and > greatly lowers the chance it will take a path thru your equipment. Robert > > > > *From:* BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> *On Behalf Of *John Holmes via > BVARC > *Sent:* Saturday, February 24, 2024 11:06 AM > *To:* BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Cc:* John Holmes <k4...@hotmail.com>; Rick Hiller <rickhille...@gmail.com > > > *Subject:* Re: [BVARC] Antenna prewire house > > > > Use braided copper for *bonding* but minimum AWG6 wire for external > grounding and lightning protection. > > Every single *ground* system in the N0AX book suggests wire not braid. > > > > The two are totally different animals > > > > > > *From: *BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> on behalf of Rick Hiller via > BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Date: *Saturday, February 24, 2024 at 10:50 > *To: *BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Cc: *Rick Hiller <rickhille...@gmail.com> > *Subject: *Re: [BVARC] Antenna prewire house > > John is correct....... > > Have a read of ARRL Publication by *H. Ward Silver, N0AX, Grounding > and Bonding for the Radio Amateur * > > *and * > > *The Radio Hotel in the BVARC Beacon Sept 2023 Conductors for Grounding > *written > by the folks at Georgia Copper. > > find it on the BVARC.org Tech Pages at > > https://bvarc.org/rh/rh_2309.pdf > > > > 73...Rick W5RH > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 8:59 PM John Parmalee via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> > wrote: > > I think copper strap is better. Look at any broadcast facility where > there is high power and you will find copper strap.. Check out George > Copper > > > > *From:* BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> *On Behalf Of *Robert Polinski > via BVARC > *Sent:* Friday, February 23, 2024 12:31 PM > *To:* 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Cc:* Robert Polinski <emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com> > *Subject:* Re: [BVARC] Antenna prewire house > > > > Make sure that ether you or your electrician, run a #6 wire from the > electrical ground to any ground rods you install at your ham system. They > need to be bonded together. Robert > > > > *From:* BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> *On Behalf Of *Rod Neumann via > BVARC > *Sent:* Thursday, February 22, 2024 12:37 PM > *To:* BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <bvarc@bvarc.org> > *Cc:* Rod Neumann <i...@adorstore.com> > *Subject:* Re: [BVARC] Antenna prewire house > > > > I'm not answering what you asked, but for a new 2nd story install I will > suggest you put a good deep copper ground rod in the ground directly below > the shack window and run a good copper conductor, I think wide flat > copper braided is best (? is that still the consensus?), and ground all > chassis to that ground. Being up on the second story can present > RF-in-the-shack problems if you don't have a very good low inductance path > to ground. > > ROD / W5IE > > > Rod Neumann (832)444-0192 > ALLogic Inc. / AdorStore > > PO Box 217 > > NEW ULM, TX 78950 > > > > > > > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 10:05 AM Chuck via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org> wrote: > > Building new house 2 story with radio room upstairs was thinking of > bringing cables in under the eve near the peek was looking for any advice > and what type of device with the connectors to buy…..new to ham radio so > not much experience any help appreciated . > > > > Chuck Hale > > KF5UXP > > > > ________________________________________________ > Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club > > BVARC mailing list > BVARC@bvarc.org > http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org > Publicly available archives are available here: > https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/ > > ________________________________________________ > Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club > > BVARC mailing list > BVARC@bvarc.org > http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org > Publicly available archives are available here: > https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/ > > > > > -- > > Rick Hiller > > *e-mail: rickhille...@gmail.com <rickhille...@gmail.com>* > > *Cell/VM/Text: 832-474-3713* > > *Physical: 9031 Troulon Drive* > > * Houston, TX 77036* > ________________________________________________ > Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club > > BVARC mailing list > BVARC@bvarc.org > http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org > Publicly available archives are available here: > https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/ >
________________________________________________ Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Publicly available archives are available here: https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/
