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8ft Grounding rod: copper or galvanized

Captain Kilowatt said:
Do what you want to but I suggest you find out a little bit more about just what causes damage. Lightning will NOT "come in on the ground lead" HOWEVER it WILL cause damage when not all grounds are tied together. This means the tower ground, station ground, and electrical entrance ground MUST all be tied together in a single common point and then that common point is used to ground your gear. If this is not done, one ground location WILL vary in electrical potential from the others and current WILL flow from one ground to the other through equipment chassis, causing the damage. Not all grounds remain at the same voltage potential during a strike but as long as they are tied together they WILL remain the same and no current can possibly flow from one ground to another.Commercial installations grounded in this manner can continue to remain on the air even when taking a direct strike.
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Captain, Help me understand how to "tie all grounds together"
1-I am putting up a new tower & will be utilizing 8' X 3/4" Copper Rod placed close proximity to ground tower w/ #4 AWG Copper Wire bout 12" long.
2-I get the Coax ground but want to come off of pole & under eave at about 8' Above grade. So do I bracket the PolyPhaser Coaxial Lightning Protector to the Steel Pole at 9' tuck under the eave then into garage where shack is. How do I ground the Coax? Do I have to meet Tower ground at base of tower?
Maybe I am overthinking this but want to do it right.
Station Ground I have none other than the Electrical System in the House.?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank You
 
So, LMR 400 MidSpan grounded to 40' tower at top. total Coax length from TOT to shack is approx. 90'

Coax Goes to Poly Phaser Coax Lightening protector in enclosure on Alum Plate.
#6 Solid attached to Alum Plate & Run 12-16" to 3/4" X 8' Ground Rod.

#6 Solid attached to single Leg of Tower & Run 12-16" to same 3/4" Ground Rod.
CadWeld the 2 #6 Solid ground wires to 3/4" X 8' Ground Rod placed close proximity to tower. These #6 Solid Ground Wires are less than 12-16" long & straight as can.

8' Ground Rod is placed within a PVC Sleeve thru 5' Deep Concrete/Rebar Tower Footing. Ground Rod to extend 12" above concrete.

LMR400 comes out of the enclosure after Poly Phaser LP & into sleeve under concrete heads into shack.

Tower is apprx. 4' from Attached Garage.

Suggestions? What did I miss.
 
Crawdad7 said:
It was a thought. Should I not
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Been in construction all my life used to s l e e v i n g through walls floors footings Etc I forgot to mention the tower is a single schedule 40 four and a half inch outer diameter carbon steel pipe carrying a 39 ft schedule 40 three and a half inch outer diameter 21 ft long carbon steel pipe with a 10 gauge inch and a quarter 16 ft pipe inserted and welded Within to reach 39 ft it is a tilt over Tower I will send pictures once it's built it is the second of its design this one beefier than the one in Kansas at my folks. Just trying to do things right and talks to folks who know more than me
 
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Xracerx13 said:
Ground rod needs to be in dirt. Going through 5ft of concrete even in a sleeve, gives your rod 2ft in dirt. It should be in the dirt with no covering with about 6" sticking up. That's how I do it.
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I was concerned about that that's why I put it out there. So I will put it outside of the footing area it will still be through concrete but only 4 to 6 in of concrete and I will stub it out about 6 in that's all I need anyway. Thank you for the feedback
 
Here is how I grounded my tower and push up masts. About every 5 years I have refreshed the grounds on the masts by taking it all apart then cleaning and re-greasing. This year I used 'cold galvanizing compound' aka spray on zinc since I had a lot of rust forming.
vlcsnap-2022-04-06-19h43m40s030.png20220521_191942.jpg20220617_130740.jpg20220601_130921.jpg
 
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Nice, You know it is helpful to see these pics. I like the rebar!
I am working on the details now, hopefully have some pics soon.

Thank You for the info!
 

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