Even better than braid in a lightning dissipation strap is wide flat copper
strap.
Braid could explode if struck at a tower with a direct hit.
When one has a basement, there are ground water table issues, and perhaps
the best RF ground at the shack is quarter wave counterpoise wire insulated
from the other conductors of the basement. 3 feet of ground conductor is
fine for 10 m and lower bands, but would be a problem RF impedance wise at
2m, and close to quarter wave at 6m band.
As someone pointed out, a perimeter ground outside the basement can tie
antenna tower grounds, shack entry discharge grounds, and AC safety ground
to telecoms grounds of the house. Local Utility computed that 200 feet of
10 gauge wire equaled the usual ground rod system on their sub stations.
This was as a perimeter ground around an installation. (We are in a very
rocky, and poor ground conductivity area.)
As someone else pointed out, the perimeter ground can be shallow, as long as
it is below the frost line. Its working theory is providing much linear
length maximizing cross sectional area contact with earth, with a modest
conductor diameter of about 1/10 inch.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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