Hi Pete -
I have given up on the idea of 'perfect safety 24/7' and espouse the
disconnect everything philosophy. I'm only 6-10" above ground.
73, Mike NF4L
Pete Smith wrote:
> It pains me to see hams with imperfect above-ground shack locations
> thinking about installing hundreds of dollars' worth of Polyphasers in
> pursuit of the wrong Holy Grail -- 24/7 antenna availability.
>
> My shack is on the second floor. Fifteen years ago, after a lot of
> thought, I decided that I would not be able to get a low-enough ground
> inductance, and decided to go another route. I simply disconnect all
> the conductors coming from the tower at the shack entry panel. Three
> years ago, I took a direct hit on my 40m yagi. The barrel connectors in
> the entry panel arced (very loud, scary noise) but nothing went any further.
>
> I'm aware of the theoretical possibility of bonding everything in the
> shack to a common ground, so that the whole thing rises above earth
> ground during an "event" and then subsides, presumably without damage.
> I'm not willing to risk it. 30 seconds unplugging three coax cables and
> 6 control cables seemed (and seems today) like a more reliable solution.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> New Articles Daily - the Contesting Compendium at http://wiki.contesting.com
> The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
> The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net
>
>
> On 11/3/2009 11:59 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:00:11 -0500, Mike wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> Would it be a reasonable idea to pull a ground out of the breaker box,
>>> and tie it to the tower and bring it into the shack also to tie all this
>>> together?
>>>
>>>
>> Yes, BUT: Don't use that circuitous route through the attic, because
>> lightning won't follow it. Lighting will take the lowest impedance path,
>> which is usually the shortest one. DO bond everything together by the
>> shortest practical path, more connections are better. DO bond the tower
>> directly to the electric service ground by the shortest practical path.
>> Also, be sure to also bond together the telephone ground, and the CATV
>> ground, the satellite dish ground with the electrical ground and the tower
>> ground.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Jim K9YC
>>
>>
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