[ICOM] Grounding

[Tom Norris]

Also remember that in a "lightning ground" or even an
RF ground system, stranded wire is a no-no. Even
4-0 gauge wire. Why? The inductance of the wire.
Think of each strand as a separate inductor, think
of multiple inductors in parallel -- inductors in parallel
*add*, so in a bundle of wire lets say that each
individual wire presents an inductance of 1 microhenry,
a bundle would be much more than that. To a lightning
surge of just a few microseconds, the impedance of that
length of stranded wire may be many thousands of
ohms! Always use solid wire, bussbar or copper strap
if you want a more efficient ground for lighting protection.

I've put in many dozens of ground systems at remote
locations over the years, and this theory appears to
have proven itself true.

I'm sure I'll be yelled at for being wrong, but at least
I got the misinformation from various IEEE publications
and from Polyphaser, so blame them :-).

Tom NU4G