YEAH... No kidding. It cost me like $15 bucks - purchased the ground
bus thing from The Wireman at Dayton ... seemed pretty easy and cheap
to me.
I do not expect to survive a direct hit...I suspect lightning goes where
it wants to go, but it seemed so easy to install a ring of ground stakes
just outside the shack, and attach the ground bus so the antennas would
run from the yard, to the bus and back outside into the ground when not
in service. Totally isolates
them from the rest of everything, and no loose ends to arc about.
I have read, and presume, the wiring in the house will pick up plenty of
charge from a direct or nearby strike and energize my whole domestic
electrical system. Hopefully I have grounded the shack properly, with
a single point bonding to the house mains so everything is at same
potential.
Back when I as only into SWL-ing, I read a bunch of articles by a ham
named Jack Painter (who installs grounding systems for power company
transformer sites, and the like) and they were very helpful. Nothing I
have read from credible sources since then has contradicted his advice.
The book of standards I got from the Lightning Protection Institute
confirms everything I have learned from credible sources, and it turns
out to be fairly easy once you get the drift of it.
I think confusion arises for new hams as they try to differentiate
between the different meanings of "ground" for RF/EMI purposes,
"ground" for lightning safety, "ground" for the electrical system,
and "ground" like in "ground plane" or counterpoise/return path, etc.
I see so many guys thinking they need a "ground" on their antenna, and
confuse lightning grounds, and/or RG ground, with the third hole on the
wall socket. SWLs do this a lot. They think they will have a quieter
antenna for their receiver if they run a wire from the antenna terminal
to the third hole in the wall power socket, and wonder why they pick up
every appliance noise and light dimmer buzzzz in the whole house,
sometimes from other houses in neighborhood, the domestic wiring acting
like a big antenna. Somehow they think they are safer that way, also.
It is hard to explain why that is not a good plan, and how that adds
a source of unwanted RFI/EMI to the mix. But the SW radio
instruction guide says to "ground" the antenna, so they think the wall
socket is a good "ground."
I found a new ham in my area trying to "ground" his new vertical by
hooking the coax shield to the third hole in the shack wall socket. Of
course, he says I am nuts, and refuses to read the section of the ARRL
Handbook on grounding... and to make matters worse, it is a
"ground-independent" type vertical ! (e.g., Cushcraft R8 or HyGain
AV-640)
Oh well... to each his own. You cannot always save a guy from himself.
Thanks for the reply. I sure appreciate all the info I get on this
group!
----------------
Happy Trails.
======================= Richards / K8JHR =========================
On 9/14/2011 15:55, Stuart Rohre wrote:
> Richards,
> And now you can have peace of mind, while those local hams may one day
> have pieces of their antennas/ station if they don't ground when not in use.
>
> 73,
> Stuart
> K5KVH
> _______________________________________________
>
..
.
.
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