[Elecraft] Grounding negative side of power supply?

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

Understanding how dangerous voltages can develop on a "GROUND" wire
can sometimes be helped by understanding lightning as a very extreme
surge, a standing wave in electrons looking for some place to go to
dissipate.

The force behind the surge is is the lightning of course, and the
ground conduction as this surge spreads out is EXTREMELY lumpy,
miscellaneous, whatever you want to call it.  If lightning hit a tree
in your back yard, this pulse is trying to move away from it, taking
what ever path it may to get away.

One of the paths of conduction for the surge might be from the ground
up into a ground rod to a conductor at your feedline entrance, to a
"grounding" plate, to the shield of every one of your coax feeds, to
the chassis of all your rigs. At this instance your rig cases are high
against everything else as the surge takes off down the safety ground
wire to the power ground.

Connecting the coax entry ground to the power ground with a straight
large conductor run gives the surge another EASIER way to go. Avoiding
the need for this low impedance shunt path is why a single point
ground works.

One thing that often gets missed is that a house with its foundation
system or basement can be a conduction barrier in the path of the
surge's dissipation pulse. If there is a miscellaneous conduction path
through/under the house, you want it to be a good one where detours up
to sensitive equipment is out of the way and unattractive to the
surge.

73, Guy.