The plans for the new QTH proceed apace... many thanks to all who have tried
mightily to set me straight! I learn more from this list than any other.
In the past one of my favorite all-around antennas has been a dipole (as
long and as high as I can get it, more or less straight) fed in the center
with ladder line and used through a tuner. With the new automatic tuners
with memories and the proper rig interface this is darned near an effortless
all-band setup.
In my current New England QTH (less than 10 lightning-days per year) all I
have bothered to do is screw a hook into the outside wall of the house and
hook a ladder line opening over the hook, then run the ladder line into the
house to the tuner. Alternatively, I have also hooked a balun to the wall,
running ladder line to the balun and coax inside. Moving to an area with
around 60 lightning-days per year that may not be sufficient!
I think what I need to do is run the ladder line to the balun, then coax
inside as before, but where do I attach the lightning protection? It should
be at ground level - I can use either the ladder line version or the coax
version but how do I physically attach the ladder line to the house? I
can't bury ladder line, can I? Seems to me I still have to hook the ladder
line to the house at some overhead height and that seems to compromise my
protection. After all, a lightning strike is unlikely to make a 90-degree
turn upon reaching the house to head down to the grounding location. It is
more likely to go straight into the house.
I know, photons are massless so they can't have momentum or inertia. But,
maybe they are stubborn, in the same way quarks can be strange or charmed.
It seems unlikely the strike will make that turn. Inductance will cause it
to build up a potential and maybe the insulating value of the house will be
less than the breakdown voltage.
It seems I have some unworkable choices:
1. Bury the ladder line as if it were coax. Don't know if this works.
2. Hang the ladder line as before, live with possibility of large fireball
inside house.
3. Feed antenna with coax, live with large losses at high SWR.
4. Don't use wire antennas. Lots of 50+ foot tall trees at new QTH. Too
tempting to not.
Certainly others in lightning-prone areas use wire antennas. I think I must
be missing something. Some would say that is my normal state of affairs, of
course! What is the norm?
73,
=======================
Chuck Chandler
WS1L
chchandler@adelphia.net
=======================
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|