Hello Mark,
I was having a conversation with my Consultant Engineer who is also a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Enforcement Field Agent working under contract. I asked him again about the Chez Procaster having a ground lead longer 3 inches. The antenna is around 104".
He told me to raise that Procaster Transmitter up between 17 to 20 feet with sturdy galvanized pipe. He said that he would drive another copper rod into the ground for me near the galvanized pipe, we will run #6 copper wire from the ground lug of the Chez Procaster to the copper rod. My Consultant Engineer said with the ground conductivity being terrible here, we will hit rock with the copper rod, he said it WILL NOT increase my signal strength. He went in to say the signal strength will remain about the same even if there was no copper wire to a ground rod. He said Gerry was correct, it's just lightning protection, that's all. My Consultant Engineer with the FCC said he could prove it.
Mark. This man has been my Consultant Engineer for about 25 years, has nearly 50 years of experience! He is not going to stear me wrong. He said you can not attach the ground lead to galvanized pipe or a tower like Ken Cartwright did in 2009. My Consultant Engineer said that was wrong and that's why Mr. Nguyen came in to take it off the air. We discussed how Ken would cooperate with Bibh Nguyen when he offered to help get Ken's unlicensed AM operation legal. We'll that's history because Ken has a LPFM that we know of now.
Finally, my Consultant Engineer said he can take readings for me and get it right. He took care of my 1,000 Watt AM Daytime Station for over 20 years, he's build complicated directional arrays, and has filed many AM, FM, LPFM, and FM Translator Applications and the FCC here in the United States has granted all of them.
Mark, I know you are a Retired Consultant Engineer yourself. You understand the rules in Canada and the United States. My Consultant Engineer said not to give up on this. My Consultant Engineer and my Dad were good friends. My Engineer was proud of me getting up and making what I have for now working outside so when me and him raise the Chez Procaster up from 6 feet to between 17 to 20 feet, he said I will be happy!
H. CSI Miami (HA!)
Horatio Caine would never Break The Law, he was "The Law" on TV.
I am not a consultant engineer in any way! But the tittle sounds nice.
The Procaster with the 104" antenna leaves you 14" for a ground lead, not 3".
Interesting about what the agent said about the ground lead and the copper stake not making any difference except for lightning protection.
Just make sure that the Procaster is mounted on top of the galvanized pipe so the Procaster antenna is above it.
Great to have an FCC agent working with you!
I use an elevated ground . My antenna is on a tower above the roof and beside the broadcast antenna are two other antennas that I use for the ground . They don't seem to be radiating but help with sound quality more than anything. My broadcast antenna has a capacitance hat at the top and it is not directly connected to the antenna but connected through the coil that it sits in . I use a coil ,wire wrapped around a pvc pipe that is connected directly to the antenna . I have about a dozen elevated radials ,some aRe over 100 foot long but none are connected to the transmitter. My station plays heavy metal ,all types of metal produced from around the world .
Below is a chart showing the effects of using an antenna system with radiating conductors exceeding the 3-meter FCC limit allowed by U.S. 47CFR §15.219.
It's true but my transmitter isn't directly connected to my radials . They're connected to the metal roof. The two antennas I use for a ground aren't that large and don't radiate a strong signal ,about 93 dbu untuned. They help with sound quality more than anything. I also don't have any more range with them hooked up. My antenna for broadcasting is less than nine feet long ,including feed wire . The capacitance hat also isn't directly connected to antenna . There's less than 100 homes in a mile radius and to the west no homes or farms for almost 3 miles . I use a direction signal southeast and northwest pattern, very little to the west at all.