I use 4 foot to 8 foot long, half inch dia., copper pipe put into the
ground with the use of a water hose clamped to the top of the pipe and
a pump - this hydraulically drills the pipe into the soil... They are
laid out in a grid around the towers and along the back side of the
shack with 16 feet separation... They are all interconnected with bare
copper #2 gauge, stranded ground wire (mostly) which is slit into the
ground an inch or so to keep it away from the mower blades... All of
this creates a large area of metal in contact with the soil..

All of this agonizing over contact of hydraulically driven pipe versus
pounded stakes, etc., etc., amounts to counting the number of angels
dancing on the head of a pin... Just get in as many ground pipes/
stakes as you can on 16 foot centers, interconnect them in a grid with
bare wire slit into the soil, run heavy gauge wire from the stake just
outside of wall of the house/shack to the buss bar behind the radio,
and be happy...

I also competely isolate the radios and amps when they are not in
use...

denny / k8do