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Grounding the shack

[last updated: 2019-07-18]
go to: ham radio equipment
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As always, what's here is my best guess at this moment, with significant probability of omission if not outright error...

Overview:

Three types of grounds:
- Power ground:
  - Requirements are specified by local electrical codes.
  - Generally all 120vac equipment should have its chassis connected to the ground pin on its 3-prong AC plug.
  - Make sure that the ground pin on the outlet is properly wired to your CB panel. The easiest way to test this is with an outlet tester.
- RF ground:
  - "Grounding per dummies" link below advises using the term "bonding" rather than 'RF grounding'. His point is that 'grounding' implies all things connected are at a zero-point (ie. 'ground') potential. However doing that in your shack would require running separate 'ground' wires from each piece of equipment to your earth ground rod. In practice, it is just as good to create a 'ground bus' inside your shack, run a wire from each piece of your equipment to that bus, then run a single wire from the bus to your earth ground rod. In this case the ground bus is not strictly at 'ground' (ie. zero voltage) level.
  - Some antennas do not need an RF ground. Specifically, "complete" antennas, like a dipole or a ground plane, do not need RF grounds.
  - It appears that shorter antennas, like 1/2-wave or 1/4-wave antennas, require some sort of RF ground.
- Lightning protection

First step: Planning:

What kind of ground you use, what kind of wire to connect to your shack, where you locate your ground - all these things need to be planned in advance, because decisions on one may affect what you need to do on others.
Create a layout. Locate every piece of equipment, including antennas. Decide routing of all I/O wires: power cords, antenna coax, etc.

Second Step:

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Resources:

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