Station Grounding Kit - Build a Chassis Ground System for Ham Radio Applications Grounding your equipment via back panel chassis connectors is simple and easy. This is known as a "common reference potential" or chassis ground. Many ham base transceivers, amplifiers, antenna tuners and accessories will have wing-nut style grounding points on their back panels. By locating a ground bus bar right behind your equipment (wall, desk, or floor mounted) and connected each chassis/equipment ground terminal back to the bus bar with premium ground braid and then connecting the indoor system to an outdoor system of ground rod(s) - you will be building an effective chassis ground.
Building this ground is easy.
1. Choose Your Ground Bus. The ground bus is your vehicle for seamlessly connecting your equipment to your outdoor ground system. 2. Choose Your Braid for Equipment to Bus Connections. Each piece of equipment needs to attach back to the bus with its own short run of ground braid. 3. How Much Earth Wire Do You Need from Bus to Ground Rod? As short as possible is a must here! 4. Purchase Ground Rods. Bonding 1-3 of them together is recommended. We sell 4' ground rods as they are easy to ship and work with (as opposed to 8ft rods). Buying 2 or 3 ground rods and getting them each 3 feet into the ground in a triangle pattern bonded together with heavy duty wire will ensure your system will work as intended. Ground rods should be spaced by at least half the length of the rod. 5. Consult the ARRL Handbook for additional information on properly building chassis grounds.
