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KG6BAJ > NWSGRP 23.09.09 17:01l 34 Lines 1495 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 11777_N1OES
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: Aluminum as a ground system
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<DB0RES<WA7V<KG6BAJ<KG6BAJ
Sent: 090922/2001Z @:KG6BAJ.#NCA.CA.USA.NOAM #:11777 [Grass Valley] InterGate $
** NEWSGROUP: rec.radio.amateur.antenna
** FROM : Roy Lewallen <w7el@eznec.com>
Ed wrote:
> A new commercial radio hilltop vault is being installed in my area....
> and the contractor has installed the tower and vault ground ring with
> aluminum wire/cable, I have been advised. I do NOT know the gauge of
> the wire, but I am curious what your thoughts are on this issue. I have
> been involved the past 35 years of my career in a number of ground
> installations and every one of those used large copper cable... no
> aluminum anywhere. The last of these I saw was 6 or 7 years ago.
>
> QUESTION: Are aluminum ground systems becoming common? Are they
> reliable, even after absorbing some heavy strikes? Any other comments?
>
> Ed K7AAT on the Oregon Coast
My only experience with an aluminum wire ground system was one I laid
many years ago in Denver, with buried aluminum radials. It was pretty
badly corroded in a few years. But the soil there is alkali, not like
the acid soil you have on the coast. Interestingly, aluminum corrosion
is minimum at a pH of about 5.5 (see
http://www.tpub.com/content/doe/h1015v1/css/h1015v1_121.htm), which is
likely roughly what your soil is. So while there might be a lot of
places where corrosion would be a problem your location might be one of
those where it wouldn't.
Roy Lewallen, W7EL
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