I have noticed several replies (and I thank you all) mention attaching the
J-bolts to the rebar cage. In my visits to other tower manufacturers
webpages, the issue of proper grounding was raised.
It seems that there is a danger of the concrete being shattered in a
direct hit if the grounding path is through the concrete, resulting in
collapse of the tower. It was mentioned that J-bolts should NOT be
attached to the rebar cage, and that the cage should not protrude from the
concrete.
In addition, HEAVY ground wire should be bolted to tower feet and run
beyond the perimeter of the foundation to ground rods.
Check out the recent thread by M.G.Brafford. It sounds like he lives on a
hill.
One should also know that his insurance should be paid up, because
lightning just plain wrecks things and kills people no matter what you do.
I don't live anywhere near the top of the hill, but I've been zapped by
just STATIC when the wind blows. The time to disconnect is BEFORE the
storm, not during. Its been interesting to watch the end of the coax to
one of my antennas just dance from not being DC grounded. I'd hate to
think that was being dissipated in the front end of my radio! A low pass
filter may help, by virtue of series L, but caps to ground might not break
down before the first RF stage!
Food for thought.
73 de Jim, ac6tk@cybertime.net
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