[ccelectro]

To say that putting a ground rod in the ground is the same as the ground on the service is far from true, the service ground is mainly for the lightning protection for your service. when you add equipment that has a signal and dc current that generates that signal, it is best to keep your ground connected directly to your service ground to keep out " noise" generated by other electrical equipment, that can alter the signal. just putting in a ground rod out in the yard does not guarantee this.