wrote
It appears that my cold water pipe is made completely of copper (no
PVC). If I attach to it right where it enters the house (but on the
inside), will this be an effective lightning ground? The electrical
panel connects at this point also.

Thanks,

-JJ

The simple answer is "Yes".

The simple reason is because having a station ground (or any antenna ground)
tied to the same point of the building's electrical ground is mandatory, not
just an option.

As far as the attachment point being "inside the house", that's not the best
arrangement for some situations. It's really phenomenal luck for your
station-ground to be close enough to make the home's service entrance ground
your station's "single point ground". But not so good to route grounding
(down conductor) from a rooftop antenna [inside the house] to reach the same
point.

For your electrical service to be grounded at the cold water pipe, this
implies an inspector approved the connection, and there must be no break in
the bond (all metal continuous) for at least 10' underground. That's an
excellent ground btw, better than any driven (10') ground rod could provide.
If your station equipment is located very close to the service-entrance
ground, you are so lucky! If it's not, like most of us, additional planning
is required to have a safe grounding system.

Remember that anything you connect to ground from a rooftop antenna could
feel hundreds of thousands of volts potential from a strike. That
connection should normally be made straight to an earth-driven grounding
electrode outside the home. You would then bond that grounding electrode to
the service-entrance ground and your station ground, were they separated.

You can review this in greater detail at:
http://members.cox.net/pc-usa/station/ground0.htm

73,
Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia