Re: RF ground - what if you can't use a ground rod?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Yurtle Turtle <yurtle_t@xxxxxxxxx>

The last two houses I owned used plastic to get to the
house, then copper inside the house. That's pretty
common around the southeast. Since plastic's much
cheaper than copper, I suspect that's true in most
houses newer than 15 or so.

Adam

--- Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Original poster: "J. Aaron Holmes"
> <jaholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> I was wondering about this problem myself; the
> ground
> is almost impenetrable where I am too.  Ham radio
> antenna books are filled with schemes for buried
> radial systems.  These are often made using fairly
> ordinary copper wire.  Such a thing might make a
> fine
> RF ground for a coil.
>
> Another thought would be to use your water main or
> something.  Where I am, this is usually a large
> metal
> pipe coming up through the cement floor in one
> corner
> of the garage.  This was something I planned to do,
> however something just got me a bit worried about
> this:  My father, who lives just a few miles away,
> has
> a similar arrangement.  Recently, however, he had a
> major water leak in his side yard.  Water was
> bubbling
> up from the ground and created quite a lake there.
> Turns out the water main had broken.  When they dug
> down to fix it, they discovered that the main was
> PVC,
> not metal, and had been broken when tree roots
> crushed
> it.  The house was built in the mid 70s...is this
> common practice?  Is it likely that my water line is
> plastic just a few feet down or even immediately
> under
> the cement floor?  I'm betting so.  Doesn't seem
> like
> it would be such a great ground then, unless the
> water
> conducts RF to the big metal pipes that are out
> there...somewhere.  That probably means my
> connection
> to ground would be, effectively, far too long a
> distance.  Thoughts on this?
>
> Regards,
> Aaron, N7OE
>
> --- Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>  > Original poster: Terry Fritz
>  > <teslalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>  >
>  > At 08:08 PM 6/27/2005, Coyle, Thomas M. wrote:
>  > >Our ground here is solid granite, topped by a
>  > couple feet of rock-hard
>  > >clay, topped by a handful of inches of soil. No
> way
>  > am I going to be
>  > >able to punch in an 8' ground rod for the RF
> ground
>  > (wish I'd thought of
>  > >this before I bought it). Are there any other
>  > alternatives? Can I bury a
>  > >couple square feet worth of copper plate under
> the
>  > soil, maybe?
>  >
>  > Yes,  A sheet of metal in damp soil will do fine.
>  >
>  > >Or maybe
>  > >take the rod and bury it horizontally? Any
>  > suggestions?
>  >
>  > The sheet has more surface area and will have
> lower
>  > resistance.  But the
>  > horizontal rod will probably do just fine too..
>  >
>  > Cheers,
>  >
>  >          Terry
>  >
>  >
>  > >Thanks again,
>  > >
>  > >Tom
>  >
>  >
>  >
>
>
>


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