Another method many hams use to ground their station equipment is to connect
the ground wire to a cold water pipe, but caution is in order here.  If you
live in an apartment or have your shack in the attic, the cold water pipe
near your transmitter may follow such a long and winding path to the earth
that it may not act as a ground at all.  It may, in fact, act as an antenna,
radiating RF energy, which you do not want it to do.  Beware too, of the
nonmetallic cold water pipes being used more and more.  PVC and other
plastic pipes are effective insulators.  There may be a piece of copper
water pipe running close by your station, but if there is a piece of PVC
pipe connected between that spot and where the water line enters your house
from the street, you will not have a ground connection. +