“Ground Is a Myth”—Until You Name the Current Path
“Ground Is a Myth”—Until You Name the Current Path
Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, is right to challenge “ground” as a magical zero-volt sink. Mark, K3ZD—Ham Florida Man—then asks the question every station builder must answer: if an earth rod is not an RF cure, what jobs do protective earth, bonding, static control and lightning protection actually perform?
My objection is not to earth, electrodes or bonding. It is to calling every conductor “ground” and expecting it to solve every problem. RF return current, electric-shock protection, electrostatic charge control and lightning protection are different engineering functions. They can meet at deliberate boundaries, but they do not become interchangeable.
The Talk—and the Practical Station Response
In the ARRL National Convention presentation Ground Is a Myth!, Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, uses field and circuit examples to show why an undefined “ground” is a poor RF model. Voltage is measured between points, and every current needs a complete path through conductors, fields or both.
Mark, K3ZD—Ham Florida Man—brings that argument into the shack. His video rejects the lone “RF ground” rod as a universal cure, keeps the mains safety conductor intact, points operators back to the antenna and cable current paths, and treats lightning protection as a coordinated system rather than one rod or one small protective part.
That conversation is worth preserving because it attacks a dangerous habit: moving a conductor until the symptom changes without first stating which current, frequency range, fault or transient the conductor is meant to control.
“Ground” Is a Label, Not a Circuit Model
A circuit diagram may choose one node as the reference and call it ground. That does not make the node an infinite reservoir that swallows current. It simply defines the voltage reference for that analysis. A real installation contains conductor resistance and inductance, capacitance between objects, coupling to soil and structures, and frequency-dependent current paths.
At RF, the return can run on an intentional second conductor, radial or counterpoise. It can also use the inside of a coax shield, the outside of that same shield, control wiring, mains wiring, a mast, nearby metal and displacement current through surrounding capacitance. The path closes even when it is difficult to see.
Joeri’s rule: never ask whether a station is “grounded” until you can finish the sentence. Grounded for which current, at which frequency, along which path, to operate which protective device or to survive which transient?
The RF Return Path Belongs to the Antenna System
A dipole intends equal-and-opposite conductor currents. A monopole needs an intentional return structure. An end-fed or asymmetric antenna still needs a second terminal in electromagnetic terms, even when that terminal is distributed through a counterpoise, coax exterior and capacitance to the environment.
If the intended conductors do not carry the required return current, the installation will recruit something else. Exterior coax current can alter the pattern, carry transmit RF into the shack and couple local noise into the receiver. An earth rod may change that current division, but a changed SWR or quieter receiver does not prove that it created a good RF return. It may simply have moved current to another lossy or noisy path.
Control this problem where the unwanted mode is launched. Define the antenna’s return structure, route conductors deliberately, and measure current on the coax exterior and connected wiring. Use a suitable choke where a current boundary is required. Do not remove a protective-earth conductor to make an RF symptom disappear.
Protective Earth Is About Fault Protection
Protective earth is a safety conductor, not an antenna accessory. Its job is to keep accessible conductive parts within the protective scheme of the electrical installation and to support automatic disconnection when a fault energizes exposed metal. The required conductors, bonding, electrodes and protective devices depend on the supply arrangement and local electrical rules.
An RCD compares the currents in the live conductors passing through it. When the residual difference exceeds its operating threshold under the specified conditions, it disconnects. A fuse or circuit breaker responds to overcurrent and therefore needs a fault loop whose impedance allows the required disconnection time. An earth electrode by itself is not guaranteed to carry enough current to operate an overcurrent device.
Never lift protective earth to solve RF. Do not defeat a three-wire mains cord, protective bonding or an RCD. If touching equipment produces a shock, burn or RF sensation, stop transmitting and correct the antenna, bonding and unwanted-current paths without dismantling the safety system.
Neutral-to-earth connections are part of a defined supply system; they are not improvised at radio equipment. In Belgium, the current RGIE/AREI publications from FPS Economy are the controlling national reference. Elsewhere, use the applicable local code and a qualified installer. IEC 60364-5-54 provides the international framework for earthing arrangements and protective conductors, but national implementation still governs the installation.
Static Control Is a Third Problem
A DC-isolated radiator can accumulate charge from precipitation, wind-driven particles or nearby electric fields. The remedy is a defined bleed or discharge path selected for the antenna voltage, receiver protection, environmental exposure and expected transient energy. That path might include a high-value resistor, choke, transformer winding, gas-discharge device or a coordinated combination.
A continuity reading at DC does not predict RF behaviour, and an RF choke does not automatically provide surge protection. Conversely, a component that drains slow charge is not a lightning-protection system. Verify the DC path, RF loading, voltage rating, failure mode and connection to the wider bonding and surge-protection architecture.
Lightning Protection Is a Coordinated System
A direct or nearby lightning event is not ordinary RF and not a slow static discharge. The relevant system includes the structure, air-termination and down-conductor arrangements where required, bonding, earth-termination network, routing, separation, surge protective devices, and every metallic service entering the building.
The IEC 62305 series treats protection as a risk-managed set of measures for people, structures and internal electrical systems. One rod outside the shack, one coax arrestor or one switch does not certify that system. Separate electrodes can create dangerous potential differences when they are not integrated as the applicable rules require. Arbitrary spacing folklore is not a substitute for a designed and bonded installation.
Disconnecting equipment may reduce ordinary exposure only when every relevant conductor and service is handled safely and the disconnected conductors cannot flash over into occupied space or equipment. It does not turn an uncoordinated installation into a certified lightning-protection system.
Four Questions Before Adding Any Conductor
Map differential antenna current, feed-line exterior current and coupling to every connected cable over the operating bands.
Follow the supply arrangement, conductor requirements and disconnection rules. Do not improvise neutral or protective-earth bonds.
Specify the bleed path, component voltage, surge coordination, weather exposure, failure mode and effect on RF.
Coordinate structure protection, entry bonding, all services, SPDs, routing, separation and the earth-termination network.
A Better Station Audit
- Draw the complete installation. Include antenna conductors, coax shields, control cables, mains, network, mast, building steel, electrodes and entry panels.
- Use different colours for different jobs. Mark intended RF current, unwanted common mode, normal mains current, fault current, static bleed and lightning transient paths separately.
- Measure the RF paths. Record complex impedance at named planes and map exterior cable current before and after any change.
- Keep safety immutable. Treat PE, bonding and protective devices as code-governed; do not experiment around shock protection.
- Inspect every building entry. A protection boundary is incomplete when coax is treated but mains, network or control wiring crosses elsewhere.
- Document assumptions. Soil, conductor route, bonding length, device ratings and the installation standard all matter.
Sources and Engineering Context
- ARRL — Kristen McIntyre, K6WX: Ground Is a Myth!: the field-and-circuit presentation that frames “ground” as a reference and current-path problem.
- Mark the Ham Florida Man — Every Station Should Be Grounded?: the practical shack discussion of RF symptoms, safety earth and whole-system lightning protection.
- ARRL — Grounding and Bonding for the Amateur: separates AC safety, lightning protection and RF-current management.
- IEC 60364-5-54 — Earthing Arrangements and Protective Conductors: the international installation-safety framework for earthing and protective conductors.
- FPS Economy — RGIE/AREI Books: the official current Belgian electrical-installation rules and revisions.
- IEC 62305 series — Protection Against Lightning: risk assessment, external protection, internal systems and coordinated measures.
Joeri’s Bottom Line
K6WX’s title is a useful provocation, not permission to ignore safety. “Ground” becomes meaningful only after the job and current path are named. Design the RF return as part of the antenna. Preserve protective earth and fault protection. Give static charge a rated path. Treat lightning as a coordinated, code-compliant system. One word cannot do all four jobs, and one rod certainly cannot prove that it does.
Mini-FAQ
- Does every RF station need a separate “RF ground” rod? No. The antenna needs a defined return-current structure, but a rod outside the shack is not a universal RF-current or noise cure and may complicate the protection system.
- Can I disconnect protective earth to stop RF in the shack? No. Keep the safety conductor and protective devices intact; correct the antenna, feed-line exterior current, bonding and cable-coupling paths instead.
- Does an earth rod guarantee that a breaker will trip? No. Automatic disconnection depends on the complete fault loop, supply arrangement, protective conductor and protective device. Follow the applicable electrical rules.
- Is a static-bleed resistor the same as lightning protection? No. It can drain slow charge when properly selected, but lightning protection requires coordinated bonding, routing, surge protection and an earth-termination system.
- Can several independent rods be left unbonded to avoid ground loops? Do not apply that rule. Separate electrodes can develop dangerous potential differences; integrate and bond them as the applicable electrical and lightning standards require.
- What should I measure when an added earth connection changes reception or SWR? Measure complex impedance at named planes, feed-line exterior current, cable coupling, received SNR and repeatability. A changed meter reading alone does not identify the new current path.