Bill Turner wrote:

As has been explained here many times before, you can not "RF ground"
your coax in the sense of connecting it to earth ground. The
wavelength of the ground wire prevents a true ground from happening.

You do need a safety ground (for the AC mains) and a "ground" to your
radio chassis, but that's all. I put "ground" in quotes because it
isn't really connected to earth. The word "common" would be more
accurate, but most hams think of their chassis as "ground". So be it,
as long as the true condition is understood.


"Ground" is one of the most misued terms among amateurs that I
encounter. Somehow, labeling something "ground" imparts magic properties
-- "grounded" things don't radiate, you can't get a shock or rf burn
from "grounded" items, "grounded" items are free from the same rules
that all other conductors must follow. None are true.

If your rig is mains-powered, you need a mains safety ground, as Bill
said. This effectively connects the equipment to the Earth at mains
frequency. If lightning is a threat, you also need a lightning ground,
which effectively connects your antenna to the Earth when lighning
strikes the antenna or nearby. Making an effective safety ground is
simple; making a lightning ground is an art and science in itself.

If you have a balanced load for your rig (for example, a coax or
twinlead feedline with equal and opposite currents on the two
conductors), you don't need a "radio ground", that is, a low impedance
connection between your radio and the Earth at radio frequencies. The
only time you need one is if you've managed to make your rig a part of
the antenna by allowing currents on the outside of a coax feedline, or
unbalanced currents on a twinlead feedline. And getting this low
impedance connection can be difficult -- or impossible, if multiple
frequency bands are involved.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL