Antenna Grounding
This is not a how-to article
This is sharing (parts of) my own experience installing an amateur radio antenna grounding system, but that doesn’t mean the details are right for you.
For hams in North America, a good place to start is the ARRL BOOK on the topic.
Please be sure to consult your local electrical code and seek help from qualified professionals if you have any doubts.
Grounding rod
Nothing says “radio communications” like driving a 10ft steel rod into the ground. A rite of passage for any new ham fortunate enough to live near ground level. I had looked up some advice on how to do this, and was most impressed by the people I saw driving them in by hand using nothing more than a bit of water.
On the left you can see the ground rod leaning menacingly against the wall, trying it’s best to intimidate me. I figured if some water and my 4lb sledge couldn’t handle it, then I’d try a bigger sledge, or maybe rent a rotary hammer drill.
On the right is the rod half way down just moments later with nothing but the hose. The second half did not go as smoothly.
Grinding rod
After the sledge had a turn, things were not looking good for the acorn clamp.
No problem! A few sparks got things back in order.
Equipment test
The post mocked-up and wired for a quick sanity check. I still need to connect this to my main electrical ground.
Connection to electrical ground
The acorn clamp and wire are burried.
It had to cross under my front walkway to come up through the conduit and into the house.
The hole leads right to the panel, and the wire is affixed to the existing ground
Final Form
With all the connections complete, I found an old plastic bin with a window in the side that I popped out to make an enclosure.
Finally all done.
Update - Jun 02 2025
It’s spring time and I finally got my second window passthrough set up so that I run my 20m EFHW and my 6m-70cm quad-band vertical at the same time with no switches or cable swapping.