Junior,

Here's what I've heard.  And if it is crap, it's widely believed crap. 
It's not that they cancel each other out, it's more that being too close 
together, they become redundant.

The idea is that the rod has a diameter  of coverage equal to it's depth 
below ground.  So  an 8 foot rod also has a coverage area of 8 feet 
diameter around it.  All this has more to do with lightening protection, 
I'm not sure how it affects RF grounding.

I know that some guys with monster towers with extensive ground systems 
for  lightening protection will put ground rods along   the length  of 
the radials.  Since nobody wants to drive in more rods than needed, they 
will space them at 16 ft. intervals, the idea being that the  8 foot 
coverage diameter of each rod means they can be spaced at 16 ft. 
without "overlapping" the coverage area of the rods.  Of course I'm sure 
that local conditions such as soil type, moisture, and other junk will 
have an effect on all this.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

73, Steve KW3A





On 1/7/2012 8:37 AM, Junior Lolley wrote:
> A grounding question for some of you more experienced hams.
> I had a phone company tech tell me that if two ground rods were less than 8
> foot a part they canceled each other out.
> And then wasn't really any good.
> Is this correct?
> And if so what is the proper distance for 2 ground rods to be a par?
> I want to get the best ground possible for my tower and radio.
> I just don't have that much experience in grounding.
> I would appreciate any help on this.
>
>
> Junior Lolley KG4itd
> Liberty County Emergency Coordinator
>
>
>