Re: [TCML] Grounding a Tesla Coil (Yes, Again)

[jimlux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Brandon Hendershot wrote:
> Hi Everybody,
>
> I live in Arizona and the ground is extremely dry here, being that it's 
> a desert and all. So trying to sink a 8 foot pool into the ground just 
> seems irrational. I was wondering if there would be any significant 
> performance drawbacks from using several (like 5) shorter 2-3 foot 
> copper pipes spread out over a 3 foot radius. Has anybody ever tried 
> setting up a grounding system like this one before?

In fact, that's what a gentleman named Herb Ufer did a half century 
ago.. he was trying to develop a way to do good earth grounds for ammo 
bunkers and the like.  His final best solution was what's known as the 
Concrete Encased Grounding Electrode, or Ufer Ground for short, and it 
is what the electrical code requires these days for just about everywhere.

But in your case, for a TC, many short rods over an area is probably 
better than one deep one, especially if your coil is operating in the 
middle of all those rods.

And, for that matter, a 10x10 foot piece of metal mesh laying on the 
surfae is as good as, if not better, than a bunch of rods. Rods have 
significant inductance, and not all that low a resistance.  The mesh 
acts like one plate of a big capacitor, with low inductance, that 
couples directly to the earth. And even better, if your coil is 
operating above the mesh, the RF currents never even need to go into the 
earth.
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