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The March Hare:
I've heard a rumour that many of my old mates from a place now defunct where the wallpaper was green had migrated here.

For anyone requiring a nudge .. I was JimTheCopierWrench.

A bit scary joining a community as a newb - going from electro-god. And so the majority of you still unaware of my predilection of asking "stupid" questions, though not necessarily entirely stupid I'd like to think, as by definition, any scientifically thought provoking question isn't stupid.

Either way, thanks for having me.

The first Stooopid question posed, to wit:

My proto-"shop", such that it is - is situated in the back of an (isolated from earth) van, in a farmer's field, fed with a 150 foot 14/3 extension missing a ground pin. (Hey man, do your science where you can!)

As I unbox the contents of my former lab, I'm worried about ESD and my collection of beloved 70's date coded components. It's minus 24 here with nothing for RH.

Where to stake a bench to ground reference claim?

I'm thinking literally stake a rod into the earth, bond it to the truck chassis, and tie it to neutral. Then of course tap myself out to "earth" before I much about.

Thoughts?



 



 

Ice-Tea:
Welcome Jim ;)

So, that place finally kicked the bucket, eh?

Putting a stake in the ground is what they did "in the olden days" anyways, so I'd say that should work?

The March Hare:
Aye, she's finally gone s'far as I can tell. Though I hadn't been there much the last while, after being there 30's to 50's there's a definite loss felt.

But hey! Ah matey .. one of many friendly old faces, your reply and very presence the nerdly akin to an ex girlfriend calling a bloke up for a roll under the radar; may your iron be hot and your solder still contain lead :D

I'm squarely back in the game.

How many of "us" are here??

Still having an issue with the algebraic reference though.

If I were to be rocking an old regen or crystal set, then an earth stake on the bottom side of the antenna coil would be .. well, in the schematic.

Neutral is bonded to the panel at the mast, though code says never the twain shall meet on a branch.

If I were to simply bond the truck chassis and (say) the bench surface to hard mother earth, why will my mid 70's NMOS be more grateful than at whatever arbitrary potential they're sitting at presently?


Nusa:
Or you could replace the plug on the extension cord with one that HAS a ground pin.

Ian.M:
Mains power to your van should go through a GFCI,  then local GROUND should be wired to the vehicle chassis, which should also be grounded to a ground stake.  You also need an indicator that shows if LINE and NEUTRAL are reversed.  If you rarely change locations, a plug-in socket tester might be sufficient.  Absolutely do *NOT* bond NEUTRAL to GROUND at your vehicle - that's only permitted by code at the first distribution panel downstream of the utility company's incoming supply.

From the ESD point of view, the vehicle body forms an equipotential zone, and that's your local ground reference, so as long as your antistatic gear is grounded to chassis, it no worse than in a fixed workshop.   The problem is, if the vehicle body isn't actually grounded, then its possible for enough voltage to build up on the body from atmospheric static to punch through the insulation between the primary and secondary sides of PSUs of any devices that are plugged in - even if they are switched off, and that risks the vehicle body becoming live, and your electrocution stepping into or out of it.

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