[Antennas] Ground rod questions (Ground currents)

[rbethman]

Phil and Gang,

In my last series of grounding and ground systems, I touched on water 
table issues.

I ran across this in Enewetak, an Atoll in the South Pacific.  Our 
outfit sent a bit over a dozen of us to install and operate a 2MW power 
plant to provide the juice for about 2000 troops and the water 
desalination plant.

We had weird fluctuations whenever a load was put on one side, (120), of 
the 240V drops to each building.  The one load with

The similarities are striking.  Phil, your system does well when it is 
well wetted.  Ours was being on a coral outcropping sticking up out of 
salt water.

Here is MY take.  Your trailer village is located on soil with pathetic 
conductivity.  (Just like crushed coral).  Your power supplier is MOST 
likely depending on the butt grounds for each pole.  The single ground 
for each service does NOT get adequate conductivity in that soil.

So when you put in a GREAT ground, wet it on a regular basis, YOU have 
become THE ground for the entire village.

Hence all the noise and the voltage plus current readings you are seeing.

Unfortunately you can't cure the whole village.  You "might" raise heck 
with the power supplier, show them what you have found and try to prod 
them to improve the entire village power system.

We ended up running an extra conductor on the whole power system, and it 
got right!

Bob - N0DGN

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Bob - NØDGN