On 12/26/2012 6:14 PM, Jim wrote:
Hello.
I hope I have sent this correctly, as it's my first post.
Is it necessary to earth a tower?
I'm going to answer this in my usual manner so please don't take offense.
Is it necessary? In literal terms, No, but if you have anything of value
connected to it or on it, it would be highly advisable.
Lightning "tends" to strike the highest object around and if this object
is conductive it makes an even better target. Grounding, or earthing
will not prevent strikes, but will "tend" to bleed off the current
"helping" to prevent it from damaging things connected to the tower.
Someone included a link to the polyphaser site. Unfortunately it was
broken at each line return. That site contains a lot of valuable
information on grounding/earthing so it is well worth reading.
It's worth noting that when it comes to lightning we are playing the
odds and lightning is very unpredictable. Each step we take increases
the odds in our favor but never reduces our risk to zero.
My two towers are grounded with a network of 32 or 33 (I forget which) 8
foot ground rods Cadwelded(TM) to over 600 feet of bare #2 copper
wire.(This was done when copper was a LOT cheaper)
I can say that the 100 foot tower has been hit directly at least 17
times (visually verified) with no damage. I did lose a computer, 2-meter
rig and a bunch of coax before installing the ground system.
So I'm a firm believer in a good ground, or earth connection/network.
73 and good luck,
Roger (K8RI)
Regards,
Jim zl2bmh@xtra.co.nz
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