Good luck to you. I'm out.

Thank you for trying.

 

Wire to ground rod connections are done differently than standard connections.

e.g. CADWELD https://www.borderstates.com/Catalog/1K/1K20/164961

Is this to connect the wire to the ground rod?

 

Is this to connect the wire to the ground rod?

Yes and also wire to wires. See https://www.erico.com/catalog/literature/E1294W-WWEN.pdf There should be youtube videos too.

Corrosion, loose all go away.

It won't help the squirrels sharpening their teeth though. See https://www.dslreports.com/forum/r24575007-Aluminum-Fence-Ties

This https://www.ecmag.com/section/codes-standards/solid-ground-defining-and-understanding-ufer-ground is an aside for interesting reading.

 

Are you saying that if I use a 9 volt battery on the relay coil then the (minimal) amount of current would be coming from the battery? If so then this is acceptable.

Probably a 9 volt battery will not have enough capacity to operate a relay for an adequate length of time. And I think that you may have mentioned it already, but what is the resistance of a ground connection that is adequate for your application? And how much current is likely to be flowing in the ground wire during normal operation of whatever it is? My impression is that it is an electrostatic shielding arrangement that is being grounded, but that may not be the case.