Shack Ground Project

Step by step walkthrough of home grounding project

About this book
Step by step example of how I grounded
my Shack.
Diagram showing the planned routing.
IC7000 Display mount. The radio, power supply, SWR meter and tuner are in a remote location. Audio is routed
to my mixer and output via a set of studio speakers.
100 feet of 3" copper strap and brackets to attach to ground rods. After research decided not to CAD Weld so
am including valve boxes at each termination so they can be serviced if necessary.
Everyone has a helper
Part of Star Topology left of single point area. First ground rod. All rods driven with the hammer drill which made
it absolutely a piece of cake.
Single Point area which is right next to the utility service. 2nd ground rod. All connections include liberal coating
of antioxidant on all mating surfaces (either copper to copper type or copper to aluminum for control box shown
later). The utility service is connected to this ground rod as well, using a 4AWG wire attached to the ground rod.
Rod 8' in front of the single point ground as part of a Star Topology and to bring a point away from the
foundation. Future antenna connection point as well. 3rd ground rod.
Right of single point ground. 4th ground rod in route to the shack.
In route to shack and 5th ground rod placed 16' from the last rod (twice the 8' length).
6th and final ground rod, then the strap enters the crawl space and is terminated in the control box. Also ran a
4AWG wire from the rod into the shack for the single point bar.
In crawl space 3" strap terminates in the control box, which includes two ICE arresters (one for VHF and one for
HF). Short wire run to the shack ground bar which includes two shorted 259 connectors so the antennas are
grounded as shown when not in use. All shack equipment and power strips are grounded to the ground bar.
Shack Ground - The End

Hope you enjoyed the show! Comments welcome.

Shack Ground