Hi guys,

Going to take the license exam on 3/18. Been studying a lot, so I think I will probably do ok. If not, I will keep trying until I succeed; I am persistent to a fault, so will eventually be licensed. It has been really fun to study and learn. I realize that despite my studying, I know almost nothing and will need to continue to learn as I go along, and that suits me just fine. I tend to be very cautious in executing my hobbies, so I am going to go slow when it comes to making sure that everything is safe and in order.

I'm more interested in HF than VHF/UHF, at least at this time. That could change, who knows.

Am thinking about how I want to get everything set up, and that leads right away to antenna(s) and grounding. I am in a suburban almost semi-rural area that has tons of tall trees. I will not be putting up any towers in the near future, as I may be moving from this place in 2-3 years.

So, I was thinking of some kind of horizontally oriented dipole that might be ok for a while. I know there is money to be saved by doing things yourself, but for just getting started, I intend to buy things like antennas that people seem to think work reasonably well, so I will at least know it is right.

What I am thinking is that I could tie a wire dipole up in the tall trees (insulators on ends of dipole), then run coax down to a grounding rod right below with a surge suppresser, then run coax from that over to another grounding rod next to the house with another surge suppresser, and then from that more coax up into the house where the radio will be. In the radio room, I would take all the grounds from everything and put them together and run a copper wire back down out of the house to the nearby grounding rod.

Does this seem like a reasonable way to go? I intend to start off with an icom 7300.



As I said, I realize that I know almost nothing about this stuff, so please don't assume that I must be doing something not mentioned or shown in the little diagram.  Thanks!

Sounds like a plan to me. One of the problems with the OCFD is RF coming down the outside of the coax, the ground rods will get rid of that problem. There may not be any benefit to using two surge suppressors but I'll leave that to some folks with more experience. Only thing I would push for is to tie the station ground into the power system ground. Mine is around the corner and behind the house, I ran some #6 solid and tied in an 8 foot ground rod every 16 feet. hth
73,
Rob

ETA: Nice drawing.

I have an 80m OCFD and I like it OK. I wouldn't buy the MFJ one though, I would (and do) use a Balun Designs 4116 and some copperweld wire. I'm pretty sure the MFJ-2012 isn't using a current balun and you'll need to add a choke somewhere.

Do not run separate ground wires along with coax, by doing so you are creating a ground loop.

I would suggest the Array Solutions surge suppressors.

If you're putting in ground rods and all that you have to use proper single-point connection, and make sure your new grounds are bonded to the house electrical ground.

Thanks, guys. A lot of good stuff so far!



Regarding avoiding creation of a ground loop, you're saying what, to keep the coax coming from the antenna some distance away from the ground wire coming from the shack? How far is necessary, and/or does putting either the ground or coax into a plastic pipe to keep it away from the other one do anything?

I haven't figured out what kind of wire to use to bring the radio and power supply (and whatever else I end up with in there) down to the ground rod yet. Should I like all the ground wires to a copper pipe or buss in the shack and then ru a big fat solid copper wire down to the ground rod? Or should I use something insulated, or...?

Use only one ground rod where the coax enters the house.

The ground rod should be tied to the house service ground, otherwise nearby lightning strikes or power line ground faults could cerate a potential of as much as several thousand volts. Lightning is not to be trifled with. While chances of a neaby strike are relatively low, the consequences of one can be devastating.

FWIW, I live on a hill and lightning can get pretty sporty up here so I disconnect the feedline from the house when the station is not in use.

How long is the coax run?

This book digs deeply into grounding and bonding. It's well worth the cost, if nothing else for the peace of mind. LINK

Since you have several trees, an Inverted Vee antenna might be an option. The one shown in the illustration is a multi-band fan dipole, probably an  Alpha-Delta 80-10 Meter model DX-CC.

Nothing is laid out yet. The antenna will be as close to 30' high as I can get it, so that will be 30' to reach the ground, and then another maybe 50' to get to the shack?

Glad you see you recommend that book; I have it on order. Hope to have it in hand this coming weekend.

Will look at the other things.

Are you saying to NOT use a ground rod over by the antenna AND one by the house?



I will definitely bond any grounding rod(s) I add to the house service ground. Several have mentioned this; I shouldhave acknowledged it sooner.

No, it's exactly what I said. Do not run both coax from radio to a ground rod and a separate "ground wire" between the same two points. To do so is pointless and can create problems.

If you are going to sink ground rods and all that jazz, then ALL the connections to the radio system need to go to a single point at or near that ground rod or else where everything comes into the house.

Those grounds MUST be bonded to the house ground with a heavy gauge conductor OUTSIDE the house, not through the house.

Mutterings from an old timer:  Built a kit, Johnson Viking ll in early 1950, but in Summer 1955 found my self in E. Texas, low wet- ground, very soaked as creek was near.... trees near too!   Got amazing help from local utility pole men, installed me two feeble /worn utility poles near our garage , cut exactly a Dipole for 15 meters, ran twin lead from such into garage,  ground went to one exposed pipe for trans. and recvr....all that was  the house copper water pipe under slab..... exact right angles! no bends / dipole to feed line was a perfect  "T"..... Well, it worked beyond belief..... would often jaw bone w. Australia, New Zealand w. great clarity.... usually late afternoon but, my yak would bleed into fringe area TV owners ( hopes were for Houston stations) told later that the locals found it rather interesting that the Nerd/ TV talker/jammer was praising E. Texas small town to fellows on the far side of Globe..... believe the term was TVI.... it had to be jamming  antenna fringe- TV all over the village..!!!.complaints never came !.. it was a regular exchange , wx permitting.... the skip favored all that joy, big time.....wish I would have kept those QSL cards..... CW was big in those days, not for any DX and me...... had some real Pro,s  could copy it aloud.....guess that went the way of all too too much...!  Enjoy, W5 DPH

Read through this OP.

ALL GROUND RODS MUST MAINTAIN THE SAME GROUND POTENTIAL.

only way to do that is to bond them all together.


the ground rod at the base of the antenna is not needed, and if not bonded to the ground rod at the entrance to the shack AND to the SERVICE ground rod...WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS.

The ground rod at the base of the antenna is not needed.

Everything else you're proposing looks good.
Hang it and get on the air!


73 73

Thanks for the clarity!

Solar Cycle 19 was fantastic! I was running a single 6146 final (~40 Watts out) to a 40 Meter dipole that loaded beautifully on 15 (love those Pi-network finals!).
My shack was on the 2^nd floor with a ground dropped to a stake outside the window. Our house was built in the '30s and the wiring did not include a ground wire. I disconnected the antenna and unplugged the equipment when it was not in use.

Our neighbor had a Dumont TV with a 21 Mhz I.F. That damn set had such a poorly designed front end that one could probably comb their hair near the antenna and  blank out the picture. Even the motors on our garage workshop power tools would mess it up.

CW is still big, there's even a subgroup that specializes in straight keys, bugs, and cootie keys. LINK There are currently over 24,000 members and still growing.

OP, there's some good advice above.  I agree the grounding rod out at the antenna is not needed and would actually be detrimental.  I have almost the exact same setup at my QTH as you're proposing, just with a homebrew 80M long OCFD.  The only big difference with mine is I added a common mode choke where the coax hits the ground (where you proposed the unneeded ground rod) to help tamp down some local noise.  Otherwise, the setup has worked well for me and my setup limitations here.

NEWS FLASH: My house has NO grounding rod.

It appears that the ground wire from the main panel goes to a clamp on the copper pipe bringing in town water from the street. The main house was built in '66. An addition was added on one end of the house in the 1980s. The meter is on the end wall of this addition. The main panel is in the downstairs room of the addition about a foot away from the meter. The main panel feeds a sub-panel with breakers for all the circuits in the main house.

So, what's the best play here? Do I (get an electrician to) run a big fat ground wire from the main panel out through the wall and to a ground rod that he would also install? Or...?

Check with your utility.

If the plumbing out to the street is all metal, it'll be a much better ground than a 10' copper-clad rod driven into the ground next to the house.
If your house has eaves as wide as mine, the ground will likely be mostly powder dry.

Narrow eaves, none on the end where the meter is.

I know the pipe out to the street is all copper because I had it replaced just a few years ago.

If we are thinking that the ground to water pipe thing is good for the house itself(?) my question is what to do about grounding my antenna and station so that they are bonded to the house ground, as so many have urged.

On a related note (not to distract from OP's question), I'm not sure what my home's grounding situation is. The house was built in 1970, but I don't think the third holes work in any of my outlets. I once had a battery back-up (UPS) for my computer and it kept saying there was a ground fault. 99% of the electrical accessories that I use only have two-prong plugs anyway.

Will this affect my Astron RS-35A-AP (haven't unboxed it yet?) I can drive in an 8-foot copper rod anywhere I need to, and connect whatever I need to connect (wall outlet that power supply plugs into, antenna, etc.)

Forget about the coax surge supressor by the antenna. If you still want to install a grounding rod by the antenna base, connect the coax's shield to it and also bond it to all the radials for your vertical.

Install at least one grounding rod by the house's coax entrance. Get a Coax Entrance panel from DX Engineering. Pace the coax protector there, on the flat aluminum plate (supplied with the box). Run a flat copper conductor from the grounding rod to the aluminum plate in the box. I wouldn't bother to connect the power supply and tuner to the grounding. If you do, run an INDIVIDUAL, bare copper conductor from EACH device to the aluminum plate in the coax entrance panel. DO NOT create daisy chain connections between the devices in the shack and the grounding single point connection (the aluminum plate in the box).

Like other mentioned, it's also a good idea to run the 120VAC power (for the radios and devices connected to the radio, amp, runer etc) through the DX Engineering box.

Also, if the house has no grounding rod, add one by the electrical service entrance panel. Connect it to the panel's ground. Run a 4 gauge (2 gauge preferred) BARE copper conductor from the ground at the electrical panel to the aluminum plate at the ham radio coax's entrance panel. Run this wire outside the house. Do not go through walls. Keep runs as short as practical. Do not use conductors made of dissimilar metals at the connections to avoid galvanic corrosion. Use NO-OX grease where the copper wires are connected to the aluminum plate. The grease is sold at Lowes or online. Copper based Anti-Seize works great for copper to copper connections, like at the grounding rod (if CAD Weld can't be used).



Also remember not to make sharp 90 degree bends in the grounding conductors. Bend it like a large radius elbow.

Remember that a poorly designed and incorrectly installed grounding system may, and most likely will, create more problems than no grounding at all. Grounding loops is a big NO-NO! You'd be chasing your tail trying to figure out what's going on. I've seen this happen more times than I can remember, especially if low power analog circuits are involved.  Also remember that RF noise can easily travel through grounding conductors (common mode currents).
Contrary to popular beliefs, I'd advice against using long runs made of flat tinned copper braid conductor. Short connections are ok, especially where flexible conductors are a must but the braided (not smooth) surface will create unneeded RF impedance. Smooth, flat copper tape conductors are best for this. Like I said earlier, avoid making sharp bends.

This system and most other systems installed at AMATEUR radio shacks will not protect the equipment from a direct lightning strike. A grounding system designed for this, will cost more than an average house. The system will protect from high voltage spikes created by nearby strikes. I strongly advice to disconnect your radios when not in use or if a lightning storm is approaching, especially if you have large, wire antennas or a tower that's taller than nearby trees or man made structures.

@Gyprat

This kind of thing? https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-ue-2p

Yes Sir. Install it where the coax enters your house, preferably within 2-6 ft off the ground. Place a grounding rod close to it. If you decide to have a second grounding rod, keep it at about twice the rod's length (~15 ft for 8ft long rods). Placing rods close together won't accomplish much. Avoid using insulated conductors for grounding. Bare copper is best.

A hammer drill with a grounding rod attachment is the easiest way to install grounding rods. Manual, fence post driver can be used too.
Make sure there are no pipes and/or underground electrical cables. Utility companies will do underground utilities survey on your property for free. Google: "Call Before You Dig".

I really like Morgan Manufacturing coax protectors and they are cheaper than Polyphasers. Polyphasers are good too.

Really great info. Thanks! I've been looking at various instructions for how to get a ground rod in the ground.

So, (if I bother) I will have individual copper wires from the radio and power supply and whatever else running down to the aluminum plate. The plate will have the lighting suppresser attached and inline with the coax form the antenna.

Don't I still need to bond the ground rod that is near the house and box to the house ground somehow? Presumably I would want to add a grounding rod near the meter/main box and run thick copper around from my new rod by the coax entry to the rod near the meter that feeds the house? You had said run it to the main panel, not the rod - is that something that makes a difference? That is having a separate wire running to the Main panel from my coax entry rod, as opposed to simply connecting it to the (new) rod near the meter and Main panel?

OP seems to indicate you have plenty of room, any reason you're not getting an antenna capable of 80 meters?

Personally I'd rather use a homebrew fan dipole or else something like a DXCC or DXEE instead of the OCFD or any other implementation of a single-wire multiband dipole.

For reasons discussed here:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/outdoors/Which-HF-Antenna-to-Hang/22-699369/#i11982540

If you have plenty of room as you say I'd consider a dipole for lower bands along with a vertical, for options in signal pattern.

No real reason, other than I don't really know what I am doing yet. I figured I would start off with a simple antenna that might be ok for more than one band, and picked one. I am not opposed to adding or changing to something else after a while. I will read the thread you linked. Thanks!

I'm on about 1.3 acres, about half of which has a lot of tall trees. I don't really want to put anything up in the front yard or right next to the side street. I was thinking of hanging it up where the red line is, more or less.

If you can spare to double the span of the antenna to about 135 feet, you can make it onto 80 meters.  That stands for any halfwave dipole variation, whether its a simple mono-band dipole, OCFD, fan-dipole, etc.  A bit less room would be needed in some designs with loading.  I think one of the Alpha-Delta fan dipoles that Gamma mentioned are full half-wave elements on all bands it covers, except the 80-meter elements are shortened with loading coils.

This?

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alf-dx-cc

Do you just put up something like a 50' tower in the center and make an inverted Y?

@Emoto
I'm curious about the house ground system, are your house outlets actual 3 wire outlets? If they are true 3 wire outlets the ground has to go somewhere. My last QTH (home station) was a rental owned by a college professor. He had mounted metal electrical boxes to the studs and simply attached the ground wire to the box. the wire didn't go to ground anywhere. A house outlet tester on Ebay. New Commercial Electric 398469 GFCI 125VAC Outlet Circuit Tester MS102 This will help you sort out any wiring issues.

I have to add a grounding story, Going back to another rental, I had a metal telescoping pole mounted to the side of the house with a ground rod. I sunk the ground rod missing (intentionally) the copper pipe for the water supply by a few feet. I also didn't bond the that ground wire to the house ground, the grounding info was too new to me at the time. The tower took a lightning strike, the antenna wire was unhooked, but the charges largely went into the water system and blew hell out of our underground water meter out by the street. We got charged for the water leakage.
73,
Rob

I believe they are real 3 wire outlets, but if I am being honest I should say that I have not verified that. Will a $12 gadget like the one at your link really verify if they are? Wouldn't it be better if I could check to see if there was continuity between an outlet's 3rd hole and my copper plumbing somehow? I spent some time today crawling around crawlspaces and shining a flashlight into dark corners to check that the house main panel panel ground wire ends up clamped to the copper pipe where the water enters the house from the street. It seems to. So, that is where the 3rd outlet hole should go, correct?



Yikes!

Yes, tower, tree, etc to make an inverted V would work fine. You want the ends at least high enough that they're not going to touch anything.

The DXCC & DXEE designs aren't anything complicated that one couldn't homebrew, except that they have a trap for the next to lowest frequency so that it's a little shortened at the lowest frequency.

It's best to use flat copper conductors for grounding to minimize inductive impedance. Also, larger diameter round conductors are better than smaller diameter for the same reason. Just use what's practical. Just avoid grounding loops.
Yes, it's a good idea to bond your radio ground to the house's electrical ground. If the DX Engineering plate is your single poit grounding connection, then bond the house ground to it. I'd run a 4 gauge (not smaller), bare copper conductor from the plate to the main electrical panel ground. I don't think it's critical whether you connect of directly to the panel, the grounding rod itself of the conductors between the panel the the rod. Codes vary by municipalities. Just make sure to interconnect both systems. I'd connect it to the panel to minimize chances of corrosion at the rod (unless CAD Weld is used). Don't forget to use No-OX grease on all Aluminum to Copper contact points.

As far as 3 prong receptacles the tester will only show you that none of the wires are reversed and the grounding is connected to the grounding terminal. I've seen people splice Ground and Neutral prongs in the plug. It's a big NO-NO but it happens. The tester won't detect it because by code all typical house panels MUST have neutrals bonded to ground at the main electrical panel (only at the panel).


Like many guys already mentioned. The idea is to have all grounding conductors in the house at the same potential. Voltage itself can't kill or damage equipment. Current does. You see a bird sitting on a live electrical wire with 13,000 volts but the bird doesn't feel it. Why? Because there is hardly any current flowing through the bird. The bird and the wire are at the same electrical potential. Another example is an all metal airplane being hit by a lightning. All parts are interconnected inside the plane and it's not connected to the ground. When the lightning hits, the voltage potential rises equally on all parts of the plane. Since all parts are at the same voltage potential, there is no current (negligible) to damage the equipment or the occupants.
You want the same thing to happen at your house. It's very expensive to install a grounding system capable of taking a direct strike but following the basic principles of a Single Point Grounding will protect your system from a high voltage induced by a nearby strike. This happens a LOT MORE often than a direct strike. It will definitely help to avoid major damages to wiring and plumbing in the house.

@Emoto
The little plug in device will do the job, there is a chart right on the case that represents the pattern of the three lights and the problem indicated. You should be able to get one of those at a near by hardware store. I got mine "new in wrap" from ebay as the price was better. The old one had lasted about 20 years. ;)
73,
Rob

OP,

http://www.w8ji.com/station_ground.htm

This is one of the most accurate and concise information sources available IMO about station grounding. Tom is the guy who designed the Ameritron series of amps for healthkit and Ameritron. I have conversed with him via email and he is a smart to the point guy. Short of reading the entire ARRL Grounding Book ( which I have ) this IMO is the go to source for compact, concise and accurate station grounding info and explains things IMO very well highlighting the many myths of lightning, grounds, power and what is meant by common grounds and explaining the different types of grounds and what they are and why they have changed over the years of ham radio.

Some highlights:

Nothing most people can do will protect your equipment ( or house ) from a direct lightning strike. A bolt is an extremely wide band, ie DC to gigahz high voltage and high current source that just jumped a 3000 foot airgap. The grounding, size of wire, length of cable, single ground rod location, polyphasor use, or anything else you can come up with is not going to make one bit of difference for a direct strike. Everything talked about for lightning protection is not about protecting against a  direct strike, it is about protecting from the very high energy RF pulse from a localized strike in the proximity of your house, as in about 1/4 mile away or closer but not a direct hit on anything attached to your structure or antennas.

Is it physically possible to protect your equipment from a direct strike? Yes. Commercial radio stations do it. It takes an acre of ground rods spaced every 16 feet and large cable / copper pipe connecting all of them together and then underground coax to your house far away or your house located in the middle of that acre of ground rods. The cost is typically several hundred thousand dollars. So in effect, few hams ( there are some, KE5EE comes to mind ) that have done it. So keep that in mind when talking about lightning protection, it is only referenced as the RF pulse, not the actual bolt.

What I do if it matters:



Single point ground bus. I use a 1 inch copper pipe in back of the amps that I threaded holes in and put bolts into for each piece of equipment connected by 1 inch heavy copper plated steel strap. All other equipment is connected by the same strap to a heavy copper bus plate, daisy chained by one connection, ie one piece that runs from box to box to box to ground bus. This minimizes ground loops, not creates them. You will always have ground loops because the coax shield is connected to each case of each piece of equipment and each piece of equipment has a ground strap on the case to the ground buss. there is no way to avoid ground loops. The objective is to make them as physically small as possible with the heaviest wire / strap connection as possible resulting in the smallest impedance as possible. The loop is not the problem, the problem is the high impedance in the loops, ie capacitance and inductance at RF frequencies.  

The station equipment is laid out on 2 desks in an L configuration. The pipe and the buss plate are connected via the same 1 inch strap and are connected by the 1 inch strap to an 8 inch ground rod outside the shack. Note: I do NOT ground any of the coax shields outside the shack. Instead they are all disconnected when not in use.

When the station is not in use:

1. All antennas are disconnected : During thunderstorm season, all disconnections are outside the house.
2. All 120 v ( yes it is 120 volts, not 110 volts. It isn't 1950 anymore ) power connections run to a single heavy duty power strip and when not in use that power strip is unplugged from 120 volts. As a result, the 3rd prong equipment ( safety ground ) ground is also unplugged on everything.
3. The ground bus is connected to a heavy duty knife switch mounted on the concrete wall. that goes to the ground rod outside via 1 inch solid strap,  when the station is not in use, the ground bus is disconnected from the ground rod outside via the knife switch.
4. the 240 volt power for the amps into the shack is disconnected from outside the shack.
5. Al the coax in the shack from radios to tuner to amps all go through coax switches so I can select which amp etc what i want to use and those switches in the off selection ground the center to the shield to the ground bus.

So when not is use, all connections, cables, ladderline ( also via a heavy duty knife switch ), coax, power, safety ground, RF ground, everything is disconnected but all the radio equipment is still connected and bonded together via the ground bus.

The reason why a single or just a couple of ground rods will do nothing for a direct strike:  While a single ground rod will look like a low resistance ground at DC, this is what happens when a bolt finds it way to one. A bolt seeks the path of least resistance ( impedance really which takes into account the capacitive and inductive nature of wire / connections at RF frequencies ). A single ground rod is  a low resistance path to ground until a large voltage and large current hits the ground rod. As the current ges into the ground, the actual dirt starts to accumulate charge just like a capacitor does because dirt is NOT a large copper wire, it is a leaky dielectric material. As the current flows into the ground, it can not flow fast enough for the current and voltage of the bolt and the dirt starts accumulating an electric charge. As it accumulates an electric charge, a capacitive impedance is created and the flow of current slows down just like it does as a capacitor accumulates charge. As this happens, the impedance goes up and it is no longer the path of least resistance for the current to flow. because it still has a very high voltage, the current jumps to anything with a less path of impedance ( which at this point is just about anything  and will jump however far it can based on how much voltage is left, which is a lot. Remember it just jumped 3000 feet across the air to get to your antenna / house / ground rod.  The charge in the ground for a high energy strike is about 8 feet in diameter, which is why ground rods should be spaced every 16 feet. With a lot of ground rods, and very heavy low impedance electrical connections between them the bolt will leave each ground rod it charges and move onto the next one with the current and voltage eventually dissipating enough to eventually go to ground if you have about an acre or so of ground rods, other wise it is going someplace else, even if the path of least resistance is out of the ground and up into a building.

Anyway, read the link. it is good stuff and IMO explains the basics very well. In the end, you are the only one that can decide what you are going to do for a station ground and what measures you will take to mitigate as much as you can given the space, time and money you have. For me it was isolating all connections of the station when not in use.

Again:

ALL GROUND RODS MUST MAINTAIN THE SAME GROUND POTENTIAL.

only way to do that is to bond them all together.

The SERVICE (house) ground, whatever it is, must be bonded to the ground rod at the SHACK ENTRANCE  so that the House ground and the Shack Entrance have the same ground potential.

Adding a ground rod to the SERVICE Entrance sounds like a good Idea but may be unnecessary.  The new ground rod would also need to be bonded to the existing water pipe ground because:

ALL GROUND RODS MUST MAINTAIN THE SAME GROUND POTENTIAL.

only way to do that is to bond them all together.

Actually, they will have the same potential because they will be bonded together. The question is whether that current flows through a bonding conductor, or through your station. You don't want it to be your station.

Are there any concerns if you unplug all equipment when not in use? Obviously you still have things to deal with while running it.

That is easier said than done because that entirely depends on the impedance of the connections as the RF pulse sees them, not the DVM read out.

So if you have a 50 foot # 8 wire from your shack ground rod to the ground rod of the electrical box and a 1 inch strap from the shack ground rod to your shack bus 10 feet away, they most certainly will NOT have the same potential when an RF pulse hits something because they will have vastly different impedances because of the different lengths of connection and the different size of the connector.

If and I say if, because I don't, you connect your shack ground rod to your electrical ground rod, you must have heavy wire or pipe and a ground rod every 16 feet along the way in order to keep that 50 feet of wire / pipe at a low impedance as the RF pulse travels along the wire / pipe or as soon as it starts down that path, the RF impedance will no longer be low as the capacitance and inductance of the wire / pipe comes into play. The RF pulse needs to be going to ground along the way or the potential will not be the same. If you are going to leave you equipment connected, you must provide enough of a low impedance to ground to dissipate it outside so that the RF pulse doesn't come inside to the shack, because once it gets to your equipment, the cases of your equipment will have different impedances due to the different lengths of coax, and the different lengths of the safety ground path back to the ground rod for the electrical box through the house wiring both the 3rd prong ground wire and the current carrying wires. The only way to avoid that is to have enough ground rods connected by big enough conductors that the RF pulse goes to ground outside the shack or completely disconnect everything in the shack including the ground and wall plugs and the antennas.

You do not want a better ground to inside your shack than you do to whatever ground rods you have outside the shack.
The mantra is you have to have them all bonded together, the details are that they must be all bonded together AND have low impedance at RF to dissipate everything outside the shack. That is the only way to prevent damage, or have nothing in the shack connected to outside the shack when not is use.

how much pulse do you need to dissipate? However big it happens to be and you can't predict that, so the more ground rods and the bigger conductors the better.

If nothing is plugged in, no antennas are connected, no cables are connected AND the pulse or strike does not jump the gaps of those disconnections, then it is just like having your stuff in the boxes in the closet. If you disconnect your coax, but it is sitting on the floor 3 feet from your radio and the pulse / strike makes it to the end of that coax and has enough to jump 3 feet into your radio because it is plugged into the wall and the wires in the wall provide a path to ground, then you may sustain damage. If the distance from the radio to the end of the cable is sufficient to have it not jump that gap, then you are ok. But you also have to take into account the distance from the end of the coax to the nearest wall socket with wires connected to it.

Obviously the less equipment there is, the easier that is to execute. When I started out I had a radio, a coax to an antenna, and a power supply. It was easy to just connect everything, including just leaving the coax outside. the more stuff I added the more complicated that became.

You should not be running it during thunderstorms anyway.

Only one other comment - those 3 prong outlet testers -


Example:


They only thing they cannot check for, is a reverse polarity bootleg ground.

Really great info, guys! Am trying to digest it all.

Here is the layout of my place, so you can kind of see what I am working with. Your thoughts and suggestions welcomed.

I have an electrician who is happy to come out and sink a ground rod near the electric meter and hook that to the main panel. I have not given him the green light yet. Should I go ahead and do that?

Shack location: B is preferable to A, but I am not wedded to it. It would take a lot of work to make room "A" ready, as it is a storage room currently.

@mach I get that I would need to put ground rods every 16' and connect them with heavy CU wire until I reach the ground rod that could be installed near the electric meter. Presumably the gas tube lightning suppressor that would live on the coax in the enclosure box on the house wall near my shack would go a fair way toward making the path up to the shack less attractive than the fat copper wire to the next ground rod, right? Also if you don't connect your shack ground to your ground rod, is it just grounded to the house, and doesn't that cause a potential difference? Please pardon my ignorance on this.

Shack location is up to you.  But you will need to place a ground rod at the entrance panel, and bond that to the main electrical ground (copper flat strap is best).  Depending on that distance, may mean multiple rods.

This image is from this site, which illustrates the best method.



Also, ground every chassis in the shack to one point in the shack, and ground that point to the same rod as the entrance panel.  He also mentions to use MOV power strips (like Isobars) to provide AC power for the shack equipment.

That ground connection from the main panel to the water pipe looks like it runs through the house. If so, that's a big red flag. Have the electrician drive in a proper ground rod at the main panel.

Having a professional electician do the installation will raise less eyebrows in case you have to file an insurance claim.

Personally, I like shack location A. My shacks have been in half-underground and I like it that way for several reasons. One big reason is acoustic noise isloation. Your XYL may not appreciate the sounds associated wit ham radio. A second is it looks like a good shop location. As you delve deeper into ham radio, you're probably going to want to do some DIY projects. Man caves don't have to have 70" flatscreens, wet bars, and pool tables. A ham station, workbench, and possibly a small 'fridge will do just as well.

Good link. 0100010 pointed me to that page earlier. I have it bookmarked, and intend to follow the "best by far" diagram. Thanks for mentioning Isobar, those look like an excellent one to use! Will order one later. ETA: Lots of 1-star reviews on Amazon claim the Isobar power strip introduced buzzing sounds, so now I am not so sure about them.



Yes, the ground wire seems to run through the house along the top of the poured concrete foundation sill. I think you are right about the benefit of having a pro electrician install the one for the main panel. Will be speaking with one later today.

Acoustic noise isolation is a non-issue for me since most of the time I'm the only one here. The large grey square to the left of the house is a garage, and that is where I have a big workbench and my toolbox and so forth, so I don't particularly need a shop in the house. Location A would require some effort to clear out a space for radio gear, but it would put the antenna coax entrance to the house much closer to the electric meter and main panel, so it would be less work to bond the rod at the coax entrance to the rod off the main panel. Hmm.

I was thinking more of an small electronics workbench such as an old desk with drawers for all the tools you're going to accumulate. A shelf for future test equipment would be nice, too.

And you though you were going to be satisfied with just a transceiver, power supply, and antenna.

ETA: I do have a small desk with drawers in that room that is currently used as the gun cleaning station and has all the stuff for that on and around it.

If you listen to your radio while cleaning your guns, the guns will be a lot cleaner. It's a proven fact! Just don't spray too much Hoppes 9 on the radio. It doesn't need it. No reason to waste the precious cologne.

BTW, based on thousands of observations by numerous ham operators, your antenna's gain and efficiency will nearly double if you install it during a heavy snow storm. Installation during a heavy rain storm will gain about 87%. It's got something to do with Wave - Particle Duality but I can't remember for sure. I must have slept through that Quantum Physics class.

Also, seasoned hams like to sneak out at night to pee on and around the grounding rods. It can be done during the day if there are no close neighbors. This adds electrolytes to the surrounding soil thus improving soil conductivity. It's a proven fact!
Good luck!