>
>My interpretation of the zone of protection would be, if your house
>is anywhere WITHIN that radius, you are MORE likely to be hit than
>if the tower were located further from the house, outside the
>'protection' radius.
MY experience has been just the opposite through a number of
lightning strikes. (I know there is no rule that says there will never
be exceptions and this claim is supported by only a few incidents.)
My house in CO is on a little hill. Probably 25 feet or so above
most of the surrounding area. Also on this hill is my 175 ft
rotating tower, within about 35 ft of the house. The tower is
well grounded with a total of NINE 10ft ground rods and a radial
system interconnecting them.
This was felt necessary because the soil has such poor
conductivity -- being mostly sand and sandy loam.
I also have a steel building that about 200 ft from the tower.
The building is in an low area and the highest points of the
building are well BELOW the level of the earth at the house
and tower.
I have never had any hits to the tower or to the house since
I installed the tower, at least that I know of, and I have never
received any damage to the house or equipment. But the steel
building has been hit a couple of times, the most recent was on
the "arm" that supports the yard light on the end of the building
closest to the tower. Now there is a lot of conduit in the barn
that only has remnants of TW wiring.
I feel that I have enough experience to believe that the cone
of protection concept is actually true.
--John W0UN
_______________________________________________
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.
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