[Elecraft] (OT) Grounding Mat

[Don Wilhelm]

All,

Another point worth considering about the fully conducting work surface 
is that it can actually damage components just as easily as no 
anti-static mat at all.
If the component already has a charge, when it is placed on that fully 
conducting surface, the discharge will be instantaneous, and the rate of 
discharge can kill the part.

A real anti-static mat will provide a slower discharge (even though it 
is in fractions of a second) and the part will not be damaged.

73,
Don W3FPR

Lew Phelps K6LMP wrote:
> For myself, since I had it handy, I use a large sheet of copper that is connected by copper braid to the ground bus in my shack --a 2" diameter copper pipe, about 3 feet long, which in turn is connected by 4/0 cable to a series of copper stakes driven six feet into the ground, and also tied (at the far end from the shack) to the ground wire on the household distribution panel. (NOT to the white wire or neutral side of the electrical lines -- to the heavy wire that connects the breaker box to actual "earth" ground. At a very minimum the mat should be connected either to a metal cold water pipe that is known to provide a good ground, or to the "green wire" on an electrical outlet, or to a station ground as I described.
>   
>