In his articles on lightning protection in QST in 2002, Ron Block KB2UYT
emphasizes the need for grounding the coax at the top and bottom of the
tower (and perhaps at intermediate points, depending on the height of
the tower). I doubt that anybody will argue with this, but the question
is how?
Polyphaser sells expensive kits for grounding the coax: hefty
semicircular hunks of copper that are clamped around the coax shield
after removing its outer covering, then grounded to the tower by wide
copper straps. Of course waterproofing is then applied to the coax where
the outer covering was removed.
But would simply interposing a barrel connector and securing a ground
wire to that with, say, a hose clamp, then connecting that ground wire
to the tower be significantly worse? Again, of course, the section with
the barrel conenctor and PL-259s (or whatever) would have to be well
sealed against the weather.
Alan NV8A
_______________________________________________
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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