And, it gets even better!! As most homes now use EITHER Plastic, or Copper
pipes.
Obviously, Plastic is an insulator. What many DON'T appreciate, however, is
that COPPER PLUMBING (to the water main) most likely (and , if it doesn't ,
should be installed) has Insulated UNIONS ! These are placed on the feeds
to prevent electrolysis! With them, copper pipe will survive 20 + Years,
before being eaten thru. Without, more like 5-8 years!! And, even in
OLDER HOMES , with Iron pipes, if the lines have been replaced, you may
encounter this !
Word to the wise: sink a 8 FOOT ground rod!! Better to be safe than
sorry-- Jim NN7K



k1ttt wrote

I haven't read the rest of the thread, but here's something glaringly
obvious...

Grounding will be easy when I get around to it - I have
baseboard hot water radiators that I can ground to.

NEVER ground to hot water pipes - ALWAYS use the cold water pipe,
as it goes directly to the earth outside the building. The hot water
pipes are routed through the hot water heater(s) and are NOT a direct
path to ground.


first a couple of truisms:
NEVER say NEVER.
NEVER believe anyone who asserts an ALWAYS.
In the end an easy job is rarely as easy as you first thought.

RIGHT ON !!!



That being said, NEVER rely on pipes of any kind for safety (either AC or
lightning) grounding of equipment, ALWAYS run your own wire to the proper
ground rod or electrical service connection as required by electrical
codes.

RF "grounds" are another problem. The problem here is to remember that
any
conductor more than a small fraction of a wavelength will have currents
induced in it and thus have a different voltage at one end than the other
when exposed to an HF RF field. The real aim here is two fold: First, to
provide a low resistance path for 'ground' currents back to the antenna
end
of the feedline so the currents in the feedline can be properly balanced.
Second, to keep all equipment and personel in the antenna field near the
same potential to prevent injury and reduce interference.