That's my take. Both my tower and my low-band vertical are over 100 feet from
the house. They both have some driven rods but nothing as heroic as what some
other guys write about. Three lengths of Heliax and a rotor control cable run
to near the house where they are terminated in connectors.
Cables from inside come through a hole in the wall (8" concrete) and terminate
at a homemade version of KF7P's bulkhead ground rod clamps on a driven rod that
is bonded to the service entrance panel..
https://www.kf7p.com/KF7P/Ground_Rod_Clamps.html
During operation, short jumpers connect the two sets of cables. During
lightning season the jumpers are removed.
Wes N7WS
On Monday, December 15, 2025 at 03:29:15 PM MST, Jim Brown
<jim@audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote:
That depends entirely on the distance between the tower and the
premises. Lightning is an RF event, and at RF, a wire looks like a big
inductor. I've seen credible recommendations (IEEE, for example), that
says if more than 60 ft, (I've used 100 ft) a bonding conductor is not
needed for lightning safety. BUT -- if there is mains power at the
tower, wiring to it MUST, by law, carry a bonding conductor (green wire)
for electrical safety -- that is, to blow a breaker in the event of a
fault that makes a chassis "hot" to protect personnel.
73, Jim K9YC
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