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.