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by pixl97 4079 days ago
Like the other poster said, lightning can be dealt with, but I'm very glad I don't have your problem. You are dealing with the worst possible combinations of landscape and expense. My honest answer is you need a specialist with the proper testing equipment measure the resistance to earth at your location. If it is very high you will likely need deep holes dug (reading about one mountain top location that needed 600' to get proper grounding, you shouldn't need anything that extreme). The combination of a chemical grounding system in a well shaft may overcome your grounding issue. But, without that proper ground any lightning protection on your tower is apt not to be the shortest path to earth and will likely fail.

http://www.copper.org/applications/electrical/pq/casestudy/m...
1 comments
stickfigure 4079 days ago
I'm certain there's a perfectly logical answer to this question, but I couldn't find it in 5 minutes of googling:

Why can't the ocean be used as ground?

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emiliobumachar 4079 days ago
Very good question. I've posted it to Stack Exchange, let's see if someone answers.

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/164898/can-th...

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classicsnoot 4079 days ago
Judging from the (limited) SO responses, coupled with what i was told by the guy i am working for, the degradation of the cables makes the idea cost ineffective. Also, and i cannot stress this enough, in Maine you do not fluck with the Lobstermen. You don't even do anything that could be construed as tampering with their routines. Dudes are the hells angels of the small boat world. The thought of trying to explain why i look like i am cooking their profits before they can haul them up gives me the willies...
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ochoseis 4079 days ago
My guess is that it'd be dangerous for those who might be swimming when a storm quickly moves in.
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classicsnoot 4079 days ago
the water is a flat 40 F. average depth is 50' in the center. The Reach has an average flow (in/out) speed of 6 knots (underwater). The Reach moves about 1 trillion gallons of water every 6 hours between high and low (may sound hyperbolic; look up the Moosabec Reach). The tidal variation between high-to-low is ~14'. In a perfect world i would submerge a tidal generator in the deep point and power my island project AND Jonesport-Beals, but as i stated before Lobstermen do not like change, so i am pretty sure a giant underwater propeller is not on the menu... i digressed; the only swimmers are the seals, the sharks, and the daft.
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avn2109 4079 days ago
I too would like to know this.
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