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RE: UPDATE

 * Original msg to: Lisanap-at-cats.ucsc.edu

Quoting Mark Napier:

 MN> Sorry about the chopped message.  Your answers are what I    
 MN> was looking for, though.

Glad I could help!

 MN> I want to get a ground set up so that I can start running    
 MN> the tank and set up some vibration in the cap so that it     
 MN> will bubble out some. I'm trying to stick with the gradual   
 MN> "break-in" described in your archive.

Tried and true. I am not posting to steer people wrong.

 MN> More questions about grounds:

 MN> How much ground do you need for 1KVA? 2KVA?  

OK, you are one of the people who are finally nailing me. Figure
roughly about 500 watts of input power (~.5 kVA) per 8 foot long
copper ground rod.
 
 MN> Is there a correlation between the amount of power and the   
 MN> surface area in the ground? 

Yes.

 MN> If so, then 1" pipe is better than 1/2" rod?

Depends on the soil, and the soil moisture content.

 MN> I understand that there are variances due to moisture and    
 MN> soil, but I am wondering how many rods I have to drive for   
 MN> this particular coil. I will probably be moving within a few 
 MN> months, but I don't want to wait to fire this up.

You don't want to go through the trouble of building an inter-
ference free ground if you are only going to be using it
intermittently for a few months, especially at low power. Make
sure your immediate 60 cycle power ground is NOT connected to the
water pipe by using a VOM, then use the water pipe for low power
testing and tuning.

At power levels below 1 kVA, for short duration intermittent use,
I see no reason to sink $$$ or effort into a heavy ground system.

Richard Quick



... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!
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