wrote in message
...
Okay, since I'm installing an entirely new setup, what I'm looking for
here is the best way to ground my equipment and a large center-fed
wire dipole.

Lets start with the shack first. The radio and speaker are both
connected to the house ground through their power cords. To provide
better RF grounding, I'm thinking of everything (including radio &
speaker) connected with 1" copper braid to two salted (for increased
conductivity) ground rods just outside. Is that sufficient?

Those 2 rods must be connected directly to your house power service ground
with (i think) #4 or larger wire. This is a serious safety issue. This
connection can NOT be through the green wire in the shack, it must be to the
rod/wire that comes into the house.

Note also, this is NOT an 'RF ground'... There really is no such thing as an
RF ground, ground rods are all about power line and lightning safety.
Salting rods is really not necessary unless you are in exceptionally poor
soil, and then its more the water you have to use to keep them moist that
helps the most... even salt in dry soil can't help you.


Next, to reduce the likelihood of lightning reaching the shack, the
only thing I can think of is a lightning arrester inline to two
additional salted ground rods, with the coax disconnected when not
used. I don't believe RF is an issue with a dipole, so is this
sufficient for lighting protection?

again, don't put in separate rods, all rods must be hooked together and to
the service entrance ground. if you have coax lightning arresters they
should be tied to the same ground as everything else where they enter the
shack. disconnecting the coax from the radio can't hurt, but may not help
much either.

Stewart,

The advice Dave gave is good.

There is no perfect grounding installation, every one is a compromise to
some degree. So I will describe a "close to" optimum setup and yours will
be a compromise, but try to make it the minimum compromise you can.

There are three grounds to be aware of. Safety, RF, and lightning or surge.

1. You are already covered for safety with the green wire ground.

2. You don't ground your equipment for RF grounding. Only some antennas
need one, such as a vertical. Your dipole does not.

3. Lightning and surge protection ground - There should be only one
grounding POINT, and it has already been established. It is the ground the
power company uses. Any other ground you establish has to be connected to
that one, as Dave described. The objective of surge protection is to keep
the fireball outside of your house!! If you don't allow surges into your
house it really simplifies the job of equipment protection.

All conductors that come into your house need to be protected with proper
surge devices. That includes telephone, cable tv, your 220 volt power, and
your dipole coax. Ideally you have a plate (some think it has to be copper,
but it can be aluminum as well) mounted right at the ground rod and on it
you have a telephone line protector, a cable tv protector, and your coax
lightning arrestor. Polyphaser and others make such devices. But the most
vital of all is one that goes on your power line. Why ? Because any of
these conductors can bring a lightning surge into your house, but the one
that is most likely is the power line. It is called a whole house protector
and it usually is installed by an electrician at the circuit breaker panel.
The telephone line probably has gas tubes protecting it. Cable TV will have
a little block, hopefully tied in already but it doesn't have gas tubes in
it so it can use help.

In the way of compromises, usually you have to bring in the coax at some
other point. If you do, you ground the coax shield with the lightning
arrestor to a ground rod, but as Dave described that rod has to be tied to
the power company ground. Etc. etc.

If you had residual surges that you were concerned with, AFTER you did all
the above, then the next step is to bond all of your equipment together and
tie it to the ground point.

As you now know, if your shack is not located next to the ground point
mentioned above, you have to provide a good and short conductor to that
point.

Good luck.



Rick K2XT