[160m] Beverage ground rods

[Ford Peterson]

> What does theory say and experience say:
> 
> Is it imperative to ground a Beverage at each end; in this case several 
> ground rods configured around the feed/terminating ends?
> Going further:
> Should  the different circuits (9:1 Xfmr, preamp)  within the Beverage feed 
> point be grounded separate and not tied to a mutual ground?
> Is there a spacing requirement for these ground rods?
> 
> Thanks, Mike, K5UO 

Mike,

The notion of 'ground' is somewhat illusive without a substantial ground screen system.  So your mileage may vary depending on conditions.  You don't describe what you have in terms of soils.  Rock? Sand? Salty marsh?  Obviously, these will all play quite a bit different.

If you really want to know your conditions, you can measure the effectiveness of whatever ground you intend to use.  W8JI has some good information for his soils in GA.  I have also taken the time to document my ground here.  Go to www.mndx.org and click on the technical tab.  I have an article about my bidirectional beverage that describes what I did to identify my ground conditions.  Be patient as my server is a bit slow in coughing up the pictures.  With a well supplied junque box and some patience, you can build a ground and measure it using techniques described towards the end of  that article.

As it turns out, my loamy black top soil on top of wet clay with 2 - 8' ground rods 10' apart is very comparable to Tom's multiple rods with multiple 1/4wL radials in his sandy soils.  As has been said here and elsewhere many times, you want a stable ground and then match the beverage to that.  You are not pumping power into it, so the extra resistance is just that--no big deal--just factor it into your matching network.

Ground systems are like everything else in this world.  Buy the best you can afford.  No room?  Build what you can and live with it.  No energy for the massive work involved?  Build what you have the time and patience to build and live with it.  Don't look back.  Make it better if you can and you will be 'living in the best of all possible worlds.'

Ford-N0FP
ford at cmgate.com