On Apr 17, 2:21*pm, "Michael" wrote:
"Michael" wrote in message

...

Hiya...

Hiya...

Got the 6' solid brass ground rod and 24' ground strap today from ICE. *We
have clear weather forecast here for Saturday, so I plan to pound it into
the ground. *I'll mount the balun to the foundation low to the ground and
connect the ground strap. *I ordered 100' spool of antenna wire and a 100'
length of coax. *If they arrive in the next day, I'll be able to put it up
Saturday along with the balun and ground spike. *Then I can test it out
Saturday night. *If I don't get the antenna wire and other goodies by the
weekend, it will have to wait another week for completion and testing. * I'm
glad I also have the 102' G5RV to test it against. *That antenna is
currently laying on my roof in the shape of a sigma. *I plan to leave it as
is.

I'd say the 6' brass rod into the earth is a better ground then the brick
chimney, but I don't think it will out perform the whole uncooked chicken.

I'm still not sure if I should also ground the radio in the shack. *The
radio is on the second floor in the house, so any ground wire would have to
be about *75' long to reach the spike, unless I just ground it to the iron
radiator... or a chicken. *I use a six receiver, six radio MFJ- 1700C switch
to go between antennas and my two radios. *The new properly grounded
inverted L will always be hooked up to the switch along with both my radios
and all antennas. *Given that one antenna is well grounded and all items are
hooked up to the same switch via shielded PL-259, will the other radios and
antennas benefit from that one single grounded antenna ???

Forgive me for being a total retard here... My first ever antenna was a roll
of aluminum foil and an alligator clip :-) I'm making some progress...

Mike D


Michael,

In the location where you plan on sticking your Ground Rod :
Take the time today to dig down about a Foot Deep and a
Foot around {Hole} and Fill the Hole with Water Today, Friday
and Saturday {Soak the Ground}. Pounding the Ground Rod
into the Soil should be a little easier. Stop pounding the Rod
into the Soil when you have about 6"~8" above the normal
Soil level left to do. Fill the Whole with Soil and Tamp and
the Soil Down {Walk-On-It}. Pound the Rod a little further
into the ground and leave about 2"~4" of it above the Soil
Level.

READ - Make Your Own 'Special' Ground Rod Soil Mixture
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...b69b219da2de33
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...549154294a4d9b

hope this helps - iane ~ RHF