i thank you all for the comments.

to tie into the electirical service will be a pain as the electrical
gound is on the total oposite end of the house from the shack. i'll have to
work something out there. water pipe grounding will not be a problem.

i can see i have much more reading to do.

thanks agian, mike


--
73 de KU4YP "A clean ham shack is the
Mike Prevatt sign of a sick mind....."
Advanced Operator
Bartow, Florida Active HF/VHF/Digital
"Dave" wrote in message
...
'as short as possible' it the important phrase. its not always possible
to
keep it really short. another important part is keeping it as fat as
possible, meaning use heavy wire or, even better, something like copper
flashing, aluminum flashing or angle stock, or something like that.
aluminum
angle stock that you find in 6-8' lengths in hardware stores makes
excellent
ground busses, its easily drilled for connections to equipment, can be
easily bolted together at corners, and makes a nice neat installtion...
use
the 1" or wider stuff if you can get it. do not use multiple ground rods
unless you also connect them all together outside... and if you do drive a
'station' ground rod be sure it is also connected outside with heavy
conductor to your existing power entrance ground. and while you are at it
make sure the power entrance is also connected to your water pipe coming
in,
pool filter ground, outdoor light ground, and anything else grounded
outside
the house.

"ku4yp" wrote in message
news:599_c.677$Va5.488@trnddc01...
i have a question.

in reference to station grounding, i have read keep the grounding
strap
as short as possible and not a multiple of a resonant length on the ham
bands. with that in mind, even if i ground pieces of equipment to
individual
ground rods, won't the complete grounding system be long? in my mind i
am
looking around the room and seeing a grounding system being at least 12
feet
long, if i go along the perimeter of the desks (which are in a "U" shape
in
the room.

trying to grasp this in a practical sense. sorry if it is basic and
i
am
just not understanding it.

not responsible for spelling. :-) any input on this would be most
appreciated.

--
73 de KU4YP "A clean ham shack is the
Mike Prevatt sign of a sick mind....."
Advanced Operator
Bartow, Florida Active HF/VHF/Digital